dented eyes

Pandora always has dented eyes. I see her drinking, and her water bowl looks like it's been used. When she hasn't been in shed, i've made the humidity around 75% all day, just to try and make the dents go away. i've also tried soaking her NUMEROUS times, but she still has dented eyes all the time.

I heard it could be because her electrolytes are low, and that soaking her in clear gatorade would bring them back up.

Any suggestions? :)

using a pedalyte/water mixture works to. someone will be along to give you more detail :)

I would actually say that, if it is neccassary, using pedialyte would be far better for your snake for the same reasons it is better for humans. Gatorage had all kinds of extra fillers, flavors, and crap that no one actually needs. I would get plain, clear pedialyte w/water and be done with it :)

Are you sure she doesn't have any retained eyecaps?

What the heck are dented eyes? Anyone got a pic?

Instead of the eye appearing smooth and round, like a marble, it is actually sunken in in one or more places.

And this doesn't do any long-term damage to the eye? Does it impair their vision?

It probably does to some extent, at least while the eye is dented. If it's just due to dehydration, a good boost in humidity should fix it. But if it's a retained eyecap that has adhered to the eye, it could do permanent damage.

Super_Smash,

Let me guess ... over head heat? bulbs? ceramic heat elements? .... The only time I've seen dented eyes is when using these types of heaters. They tend to cast a very dry heat even if the overall humidity in the enclosure is correct. I've never seen a snake on belly heat with dents like that. Soaking and misting really don't help, but the good news is that if your snake is eating and shedding properly, there is no harm or long term damage caused by the dents. I've rescued ball pythons that have had dented eyes for years and are now in my collection feeding aggressively and doing well (with nice smooth eyes).

Hope this helps.

-adam

I only use heating pads as my heat source and both Sophie and Smitty have experienced the 'dented eye' syndrome. However, it's never lasted more than a few hours and it was always right before a shed. Bumping up the humidity worked in all cases.

Actually, i stopped using my heat lamp because it sucked the humidity out. and i dont think it's a retained eye cap, but i really cant tell...

i took some pictures... she's not like Apollo, she hates her head being photographed. :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v9...1/MVC-938F.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v9...1/MVC-941F.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v9...1/MVC-944F.jpg

as you can see, it's both eyes. i feel really bad, i just thought that this was low humdity dented eyes, but the dents just don't go away. does it look like retained eye caps to you?? i hope not... :?

Really hard to tell by the pics if it's a reatined eye cap or not. With the amount of wrinkling I would tend to think it is (especially the right eye), but I can't be sure without seeing the animal in person.

Did you take the heat lamp away before or after it's last shed? If after, you'll have to wait for the next shed to see if it helps. It usually takes at least one (sometimes more) shed to clear up a crinkled eye.

Is your snake eating? If not, the eyes could be a big reason.

I would wait for the next shed and see if the problem goes away. I'd also check in that shed to make sure the eyecaps are coming off. If after the shed you still have the problem I can give you some things to try or maybe you can talk to someone local (ie. a vet) that can check to see if those are stuck eyecaps.

-adam

k well, i took the lamp away after her last shed. so she hasnt had a good one yet... she's eating great, she's a garbage disposal. :)

i noticed Apollo has some dents too. this is SO frusterating..

their heads arent in the shed, it wasnt completely perfect :(

It's really gonna suck, but for the next shed (if the eyes are still crackled afterwards) you're going to have to try and find the eye caps. They are not too bad to find cause they are perfectly round, but if the shed is in pieces it's a little tuff.

If there's anything I can do to help in the meantime, let me know.

-adam

Roxy had one before a shed, i got all worried about it and asked about it here, led told me to wait until after she shed and they would be gone...........and they were !

Other than waiting for pandora and apollo to shed, i dont really know what to tell you, sorry, good luck with that.