Weird eyes on a lemon blast

Hey all, just wanted to poke in here and drop some pictures of my 2011 lemon blast's eyes. They haven't looked normal since I bought her over the summer at the NARBC Anaheim. One looks like a retained eyecap but both look like they're bulging to me. She moves around oddly, as well. She bumps into things quite a bit and her feeding has been odd since I acquired her.

I would offer a f/t rat and she would hunt around looking for it before seemingly giving up. After three weeks of this behavior, I attempted to assist feed. As soon as the rat touched her face, she began to eat normally. No assist feeding has been needed since then and three months later, she still needs to have rats prodding her mouth to eat them or else she hunts around her tub fruitlessly. She's eaten rats off of her tub floor twice after running into them seemingly randomly.

Her eyes dilate and contract with light normally and move, though not as quick as my other snakes' do.

http://i.imgur.com/uPozdZH.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/wiaJrKC.jpg

Maybe a head trauma? Her eyes are beautiful by the way, although I do agree that the bulging is odd.
Edit: does she strike and coil, or just start eating it?
Sent from my water bowl using Tapatalk

She just starts eating. She has struck and coiled very weakly once in the entire time I've owned her. She's never showed a proper food response start to finish. Also seems to be lacking in general coordination; she moves backwards a good deal when out of her tub and either fails to hold on entirely or clings tightly. No in between.

Her eyes look somewhat creased in both pics. That could indicate retained eyecaps, although they aren't as cloudy as I would expect. Being able to see that much of the whites of her eyes is unusual also. I'm not surprised so much by the lack of typical feeding response, but the moving backwards thing is a little odd. You're talking about backing her entire body up, not just pulling her head back, correct?

Sent from my HTCEVOV4G using Tapatalk

Yes, all my bps will move their heads/necks backward. This is the first one I've worked with that actually moves backwards, as in reversing. I've attempted to remove what I thought were retained eyecaps to no end, as well.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by anneplath

I've attempted to remove what I thought were retained eyecaps to no end, as well.

---

You're asking for trouble doing that...I'd just take her to a vet and have her checked out.

Yeah, I mean a vet is always the first recommendation, no matter what. I'm still thinking trauma or maybe a congenital anomaly. I would definitely see what your local herp vet has to say.

I do fully intend to take her in for a vet visit. I was just putting these up to see if anyone had seen something like this before. I've never taken in a snake for something as simple as a retained eyecap, however. After learning how to remove them about a decade ago, I've never had a problem doing it or cause unnecessary pain or damage to an animal. Once hers did not come off easily, I refrained from forcing them to.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by anneplath

I do fully intend to take her in for a vet visit. I was just putting these up to see if anyone had seen something like this before. I've never taken in a snake for something as simple as a retained eyecap, however. After learning how to remove them about a decade ago, I've never had a problem doing it or cause unnecessary pain or damage to an animal. Once hers did not come off easily, I refrained from forcing them to.

---

Got it...just wanted to make sure you weren't being too aggressive. And for what it's worth...I've seen bp's with eyes that bulged a bit like yours...maybe not to that extent but close....enough to see the white around the eye...I've seen it on morphs and normals...

Wait until she sheds before attempting to do anything with that eye.
If it's an eye cap, it will come off with the next shed with proper humidity.

And if it's still there after the shed, then we can conclude it's some other factor.

Indeed, I had originally though she just had bug eyes. But when combined with her other odd behaviors, it's making me think it is something more. I suppose there's nothing to do but wait and see at this point. Thank you for your input, peeps.

What's up guys and gals?

So I took my lemon blast in to get looked at by a veterinarian. She has no retained eye caps or visible scarring in her eyes. However, her eyes are not normally shaped. All of her other symptoms, lack of coordination, lack of feeding response, general odd behavior, the vet chalked up to her odd eyes. Pupils respond normally to light, her mouth looked good, no surface parasites.

The vet surmised she had congenitally deformed eyes, aka bug eyes. He did recommend an eye specialist to double check and a fecal test for internal parasites, just to be sure.

The only eye specialist in my area primarily sees dogs and has very little experience with reptiles and charges rather premium rates. Knowing that, do you guys think it's worth it to pursue seeing an eye specialist? As far as I know there's nothing to be done for bug eyes.

Beautiful eyes. While protruding a little, if she eats breeds poops and is relatively happy why mess with it. No point on messing with her for a strictly cosmetic issue.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

Not sure I would breed her - aren't bug eyes genetic? IIRC they crop up in certain morphs.

Personally I wouldn't bother with the specialist. I'll assume she eats f/t so you just put the feeder's head right in front of hers, and she starts to eat. I have a male like that, but with him it's not an eye issue - he's just lazy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bcr229

Not sure I would breed her - aren't bug eyes genetic? IIRC they crop up in certain morphs.

Personally I wouldn't bother with the specialist. I'll assume she eats f/t so you just put the feeder's head right in front of hers, and she starts to eat. I have a male like that, but with him it's not an eye issue - he's just lazy.

---

Only one way to find out if its genetic! Also as long as the eyes don't effect the animal from a happy healthy life, I think they happen to give the snake a cool look and a bit of character :)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

She doesn't eat of her own volition, no. She gets hungry and hunts around for her food while it sits in front of her face. I've had to assist feed her since I purchased her at NARBC Anaheim last year. That is, put the head of a prey item in her mouth and she takes over from there, eating like a normal ball python.

Other than that and her odd behaviors that stem from not being able to see perfectly (bumping into things and reversing), she's a gem of a snake. Awesome personality, super inquisitive and non-aggressive.

I do still fully intend to breed her, bug eyes aren't well known in either pastels or pins as far as I know. I'm not too worried on that front. My only real worry was that something was seriously wrong with her.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by anneplath

She doesn't eat of her own volition, no. She gets hungry and hunts around for her food while it sits in front of her face. I've had to assist feed her since I purchased her at NARBC Anaheim last year. That is, put the head of a prey item in her mouth and she takes over from there, eating like a normal ball python.

Other than that and her odd behaviors that stem from not being able to see perfectly (bumping into things and reversing), she's a gem of a snake. Awesome personality, super inquisitive and non-aggressive.

I do still fully intend to breed her, bug eyes aren't well known in either pastels or pins as far as I know. I'm not too worried on that front. My only real worry was that something was seriously wrong with her.

---

Sorry that's rough :(
Sounds like something neurological.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I did bring up the possibility of it being a neurological problem with the vet, especially with her traveling in reverse. He observed her movement and said it did not look typical of a neurological issue. She moves forward easily and navigates pretty well, especially if the surface is warmer or colder than the ambient air. She just bumps into room temperature surfaces and changes direction accordingly.

Being that the veterinarian was confident it was bug eyes and she doesn't have symptoms of anything else, I'm agreeing with his diagnosis.

She's a beautiful snake. I wonder how warm the f/t prey is when you feed? Sounds like you're taking good care of her and she's lucky to have you. As long as she's otherwise happy and healthy, no worries!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Lots of pastels get bulgy eyes, it's pretty normal. They do look like retained eye caps. Raise the humidity for the next shed.

Yea its just bug eye from what it seems, and her navigation being weird is the different view she has bcz her eyes. its very similar to the Lesser x Lesser BELS sometimes come with Bug eye

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rickys_Reptiles

Lots of pastels get bulgy eyes, it's pretty normal. They do look like retained eye caps. Raise the humidity for the next shed.

---

Both myself and the vet checked to see if she had retained eye caps. She has none, her caps split shortly (within an hour) after she sheds on a consistent basis. She apparently just has bug eyes big enough to cause that.

Break through on the bug eyed lemon blast peeps! Eating on her own at long last!

I was feeding my small collection today and decided to see if she'd react to mice (she hasn't in the past beyond smelling them and wandering off).
Something must have been appetizing about this particular f/t mouse because I witnessed the first full on feeding response from this snake ever.

Full bite, coil, and eating. To top it off, she immediately took a medium rat after without prompting and started eating it. I don't normally take pictures of my snakes eating but I felt the need to commemorate this occasion, lol.

http://i.imgur.com/wEq8WyH.jpg

Now THAT is cause for celebration - congrats to both of you!

Yayyy!! Congrats! I know your so proud of her for eating on her own. That's so great! :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk