How to help a potentially blind snake?

Hi everyone, I have some questions as this is my first snake. While I don't feel he is totally a "rescue" I did get "him" (gender unknown) for free from where I work because we think he's either partly or totally blind.

Here's a basic rundown of what happened:
The ball python came in from the vendor with unshed eyecaps. After about a week or so the animal manager brought him into the vet, who removed them somehow and told us to give the snake eyedrops for two weeks. After reading around this forum a bit I'm not sure this vet knew exactly what he was doing. One of the snake's eyes seems almost sunken in, the other looks dried out and cloudy. After a vet recheck it was determined that he's blind and while I haven't owned a snake before, I have handled and helped to feed them before so my boss wanted him to go to someone who at least sort of knew what they were doing.

He ate well on Saturday, coiled right around a f/t fuzzy. He's got a hide, though I need to go out tomorrow and get him a smaller one, and he seems to prefer to coil around the base of his plant right now. Does anyone here have experience with blind snakes, and how to keep them healthy/happy beyond their basic needs? And how long should I give him to settle in before taking him to get checked out by my exotics vet?

Ball pythons can also "see" with their labial pits, the little dimples around the top jaw. As long as his f/t prey is well warmed up, he can have no eyes and still find it. A friend had one who had no eyes thanks to her former owner "helping" her shed retained eyecaps. It was a weird looking but chunky female who also bred successfully for her.

Great to hear hes in your care now. Dont really have any advice but wish you the best of luck! Also welcome to bpnet :D

I have a rescue snake that is blind in at least one eye, possibly both and she manages just fine. I wouldn't worry too much about it. They are more resilient than we give them credit for.

Regards,

B

Thanks everyone! He/it seems comfortable in his 10 gallon right now, tried to lay it out similarly to the way it was set up in the store. Good to hear he should function fairly normally. He's quite tame too, what with all the being dragged to and from the vet's and having to give him eye drops and all.

Oh, is there a limit to how long your snake can be safely out if its cage? I'd assume if I'm holding him that he'd keep warm enough, but should there be set time limits?

The pits should be good enough for the snake to take care of its dietary needs as long as its meals are warm enough. As far as its eyes go, as long as the eyes aren't showing any signs of infection and yes on going to the vet. I would say the sooner the better. There could be a chance of saving partial sight in the one eye. But the major concern is infection.

Good luck with this one. Keep us posted.

You should talk to angellady (I tink that's her name!) on here. She has a pretty little girl who was born with no eyes :)

They can live totally healthy normal lives being blind, they have many other senses to help them see! I'm almost certain she'll chime in, and hopefully post another picture of that gorgeous girl! :love:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...eyed-spider.-(

A thread about blind snakes that do just fine.

I have a very old Jackson's Tree snake that is completely blind. As the name indicates she is arboreal.

She manages around her cage just fine. She finds her water bowl and hide with no problem and is able to thermoregulate.

The only advice I can give you is to not change around the decor to much. After you clean things, make sure you put everything back exactly the way it was before.

Blind is no problem for an animal who sees in heat mainly.

And just to be obliging, here is my beloved Athena, who indeed was born with no eyes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...kes/Athena.jpg

This is an older photo, she's in blue right now, so I hope to get updated pictures when she sheds. People are fascinated by her.

Gale

http://images57.fotki.com/v80/photos...7b_8151-vi.jpgHosted on Fotki

I too have a mostly blind snake the only additional advise is to make sure the prey item is quite warm and the hemostats (feeding tool) is cool. Mine has terrible aim and will miss if it is not warm enough, I make sure the head is 100ºF and body is 90º or so give or take.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

I too have a mostly blind snake the only additional advise is to make sure the prey item is quite warm and the hemostats (feeding tool) is cool. Mine has terrible aim and will miss if it is not warm enough, I make sure the head is 100ºF and body is 90º or so give or take.

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Thanks for this! (And also thanks for everyone who gave similar heat advice.) I'm lucky enough to have a decent animal manager where I work, I'll try it at home the first week and then get her help if he doesn't eat a couple of times after. I know he may skip the first one or so due to the stress of the move, but I also don't want him starving due to something I'm doing wrong the first few times. Even through treatment though he's always eaten like a champ. :D

Had him out for just a few minutes this morning to give him a more thorough check over and it seems like he may have had some stuck scales from his last shed. I've got a vet appointment for next week (sadly the first available at a very busy but good exotics guy) so I'll have him verify it's nothing worse then maybe give him a light soaking.

Got some pics, Including the one from my avatar in larger form:

Settling in the first night.
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j7...n/IMAG0140.jpg

The right eye.
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j7...n/IMAG0143.jpg

The left eye, which appears to be sunken or missing.
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j7...n/IMAG0144.jpg

edit: And after reading around here I've replaced that half log with a smaller plastic one, but haven't wanted to bug him with more pictures yet. The flash didn't seem to bother him that first night, but he freezes when I stare at him too long so I don't know if he has some partial sight or just instinct that a possible predator is looking his way.

What a cutie :aww: I wish you luck with him.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tereghan

The flash didn't seem to bother him that first night, but he freezes when I stare at him too long so I don't know if he has some partial sight or just instinct that a possible predator is looking his way.

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My Spider does the same thing, if she's out and someone walks by or stops to look at her, she freezes. It's cute, because sometimes she stops in the funniest ways. :D I think it's mostly instinct, even if your little guy can't see he probably "hears" you there and stops in "don't see me and eat me!" mode. :P

Having never dealt with a snake with eye damage before, take this with a grain of salt but when you said the eyes seemed sunk in a bit I thought about a severe lack of humidity. Have you tried soaking him in warm water in a sealable plastic container with holes in it? When I got my first ball python I was horrible with his husbandry and his eyes sunk in but after researching I figured out why and it never happened again. Just a thought

It looks like there could be hope for the one eye. But the other looks pretty far gone. Wow I can't beleive a vet did that to him. That's awful. I would maintain optimal humidity. Don't mess with it etc etc. I think everyone else has given amazing advice and has shown that these guys can live great lives even without eyes.


Check out what's new on my website... www.Homegrownscales.com

Quote:

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Originally Posted by angllady2

Blind is no problem for an animal who sees in heat mainly.

And just to be obliging, here is my beloved Athena, who indeed was born with no eyes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...kes/Athena.jpg

This is an older photo, she's in blue right now, so I hope to get updated pictures when she sheds. People are fascinated by her.

Gale

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I think she is beautiful! Thank you for sharing.

Just wanted to report back and say that Crowley (as we've decided to call him/her/it) gobbled down a fuzzy mouse tonight with no problems. Snatched it right out of my tongs! Glad he's continuing to eat well even after the move from the store to here.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by angllady2

Blind is no problem for an animal who sees in heat mainly.

And just to be obliging, here is my beloved Athena, who indeed was born with no eyes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...kes/Athena.jpg

This is an older photo, she's in blue right now, so I hope to get updated pictures when she sheds. People are fascinated by her.

Gale

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I love this picture Gale. I've seen it in another one of your posts. One of the coolest things I have ever seen! I am always amazed!

Got some pictures of him eating! Flash off so as not to bug him, of course. I took out his hide and branch just to make sure things were going well, next time I'll leave him alone a little more now that I know he is eating properly in his new environment.


The initial grab: once he snatched to mouse (so quick!) he sat like this for nearly five minutes. I texted my animal manager and she said he likes to make sure it's dead first. :) Did I mention he's only ever had f/t mice?
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j7...n/IMAG0153.jpg

Sorry this one's kind of blurry, but he twisted around and started chewing. Didn't straighten his neck out so he could swallow yet of course.
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j7...n/IMAG0155.jpg

Getting there...
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j7...n/IMAG0157.jpg

Most of the way down...http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j7...n/IMAG0160.jpg

Yay!
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j7...n/IMAG0161.jpg

He stayed in is hide for nearly an hour after, and is just now poking his nose out again. Should have plenty of time to digest before his vet visit on Tuesday.

edit: Forgot to mention the thing behind his tank is the collar we put on the cat this last Christmas. Momo was getting a little too curious, and putting that back there has dissuaded him from going back again. He hates it for some reason...

Good job! that is great I hope everything turns out well. They are remarkably resilient critters and bounce back from injury very well.

Update:

(And the last time I'll necro this thread unless people keep asking for it.)

Crowley is female and a healthy 98 grams. The doctor was very impressed that she was eating (but I'm guessing 90% of the snakes he sees are in because they're not) and very gently peeled off some of the stuck skin over the eyes after rubbing some mineral oil on it. One eye is gone, the other may be viable after her next shed. He prescribed some ointment for both eyes but said not to touch it otherwise. Pretty much the exact advice I got here, but it's good to know it's right and that there's nothing else wrong.

Crowley was very good and didn't bite anyone, even when I was holding her front half and he was doing the probe. Didn't want to go in the carry box on the way there so I brought the plant too, then didn't want to go back in the box to go home. Poor thing went right into her hide, but I'll see her in a few hours.

Thanks again to everyone who posted here and offered help/encouragement!