retained eye caps

hi all...
can someone tell me how you know after a shed whether or not the eye caps were retained? Batista had ana awful shed...lots of little peices...my humidity was all out of wack.
Thanks!
Tammy

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Originally Posted by Tammy

hi all...
can someone tell me how you know after a shed whether or not the eye caps were retained? Batista had ana awful shed...lots of little peices...my humidity was all out of wack.
Thanks!
Tammy

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Tammy,find the peice from his head area and look for two "eyes" in it.If its not a full section look at both peices and you should be able to tell still if they both come off.If they did not come off let me know here and i can give you a way to remove them without hurting your snake.How is the mite problem going?

Morning Joe!
Batista shed so terrible i was not able to tell which peice came form where. he had some shed left from behind his eyas to about 3 inches back on his body on top. i wiped him with a warm cloth and got that off but i wasn't able to tewll if he lost his eye caps. is there a way you can tell by just looking? i don't want to try the tape thing and hurt the poor guy if he has already lost them. i must have just had a mild mite problem. haven't seen anymore. i am going to keep treating every 3 days for a couple of weeks though, just to be sure.

well... one easy way to remove eye caps is to put your baby into a moist cotton bath towel for a bit. it works almost everytime for my brother... twice it didn't and he ended up having to go to the vet to remove them...cool thing is you basically just leave the snake alone for a bit and it slithering around will dislodge any shed all by its self.. just dont leave your baby unattended....

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Originally Posted by RoyalGuardian

well... one easy way to remove eye caps is to put your baby into a moist cotton bath towel for a bit. it works almost everytime for my brother... twice it didn't and he ended up having to go to the vet to remove them...cool thing is you basically just leave the snake alone for a bit and it slithering around will dislodge any shed all by its self.. just dont leave your baby unattended....

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Throw it in a moist pillow case and tie it up. Why did he go to the vet to have them removed? Stuck eye caps are not bad as long as you don't have multiple ones on there. Just make a better effort to mist next time and they will come off with that shed.

I put The Dude into a critter carrier filled with warm moist towels for about an hour. I had to keep putting him back under the towels but they came right off along witht he rest of the bad shed. I took the critter carrier and put it in the bathroom sitting in about an inch or 2 of warm water, this kept it warm and gave me a place to rewarm/wet towels as they got cool. I also cracked on a space heater right next to the tub. Worked like a charm!

You can see the eye cpas on their eyes too if you look closely. The eyes will look kinda foggy, basicly like unshed skin. If you find my post in BP Pictures of the dude you can see his eye caps when they were still on.

He will be more skitish if they stay on, cause he can't see crap, lol ;)

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Originally Posted by tmlowe5704

Throw it in a moist pillow case and tie it up. Why did he go to the vet to have them removed? Stuck eye caps are not bad as long as you don't have multiple ones on there. Just make a better effort to mist next time and they will come off with that shed.

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Well... We were worried about Dasia... we tried everything but nothing worked... If by yourself you cant, succeed go see a vet...

Actually, eyecaps don't usually look foggy. They're usually clear, but can still be seen. It will look like the snake is wearing contacts that are a weee bit too big...and the edges right around the eyes will be raggedy.

Allowing the snake to slither through a warm, moist towel or something is ok to try...but do not try to directly remove the caps if they are still there. They won't hurt the snake if they remain until the next shed, but you can seriously or even permanently injure the eye if you try to remove them by many of the commonly recommended methods. (Tape, Q-tips, tweezers...anything that comes directly at the eye) Most likely, if they are still there, the snake will simply rub them off himself over time and you won't even notice.

He'll be fine. Just get those humidity problems tweaked and you'll be golden! :sunny:

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Originally Posted by Tammy

Morning Joe!
Batista shed so terrible i was not able to tell which peice came form where. he had some shed left from behind his eyas to about 3 inches back on his body on top. i wiped him with a warm cloth and got that off but i wasn't able to tewll if he lost his eye caps. is there a way you can tell by just looking? i don't want to try the tape thing and hurt the poor guy if he has already lost them. i must have just had a mild mite problem. haven't seen anymore. i am going to keep treating every 3 days for a couple of weeks though, just to be sure.

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Thats cool but keep a close eye out for awhile because if one mite is missed somehow it will start all over again.Sometimes you can tell if the eye cap is still thier sometimes not.The best way i have found in the past is after a couple days any unshed skin or eye caps left will "dryout" and you can see it better.Keep us posted on his progress :)

I was taught if you are having problems with the caps(and you are sure they are still attached) you can wrap a piece of tape around your finger, sticky side out, and gently tap the caps to snag them off.

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Originally Posted by Dureo

I was taught if you are having problems with the caps(and you are sure they are still attached) you can wrap a piece of tape around your finger, sticky side out, and gently tap the caps to snag them off.

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This is a VERY dangerous task as you could damage the snakes eye even if done gently.

thanks for the heads up

I live in VERY DRY southern California(last week 12% humidity)and bad sheds happen. I use two tricks together that are safe and work like a charm. First I use fragrance free lotion and apply it to the retained area (eye or skin). I get mine at Whole Foods market but make sure it's fragrance free. I got this tip from Reptile Depot and confirmed it with my Reptile vet as safe. Then you make a hide large enough for him to wiggle around in and you fill it 3/4 with damp (not dripping wet) moss and put it on the warm side. The moss is great because they love to rub and drag themselves along it and loosen the skin. I use sphagmun moss you can get it from a garden / plant supply. It's used with orchids and baskets. Soaking in water is great but good luck getting your snake to keep the area you want underwater especially an eye. You can apply the lotion once or twice a day. They will rub it off but it rehydrates the area better than water. I adopted a BP with a really bad retained eye cap and using these two tricks it was off within two days by itself. Trust me it will work. Next time you see he's ready to shed mist down the enclosure evryday until shed to kick up humidity and you will be fine.

Good luck :sunny:

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Originally Posted by westcoastjungle

Soaking in water is great but good luck getting your snake to keep the area you want underwater especially an eye.

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With 500+ ball pythons, I inevitably have a couple problem shedders every week ... from whole body sheds to retained eye caps, we see it all week in and week out ... soaking in water takes everything off every week without fail. If you use a sealed container with water half way up the snakes body the humidity generated in the tub loosens everything right up and causes it to fall right off.

Of course, if you're a hobbyist with a couple of snakes and a whole lot of time to dab lotion on your snakes eyes, that works too! ... But I've found water alone to be the most cost effective and simple way of getting r done!

There are many ways to care for these animals, this is just mine. :D

-adam

Adam is the man and you sure as heck can't bet a soak in good ole water.

If that doesn't work for you my Vet. Dr Scott Stahl recommended using a small dropper and a drop of mineral oil right on the eye then just use a cotton swab and it should slide right off.

To me the water in the container trick is the easiest and I am sure one the snake would prefer :)

With the lotion, does it matter what kind? I'm not so sure that a scented lotion or something of the sort would be good for them, am i right? (i just like to know incase i ever have this problem) Thanks!

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Originally Posted by jotay

Adam is the man and you sure as heck can't bet a soak in good ole water.

If that doesn't work for you my Vet. Dr Scott Stahl recommended using a small dropper and a drop of mineral oil right on the eye then just use a cotton swab and it should slide right off.

To me the water in the container trick is the easiest and I am sure one the snake would prefer :)

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Why would you feel the need to touch the snake's eyeball with a cotton swab? It has already been said that any method that something physically touches the eyeball can do severe damage if not blind the snake. A eye cap here and there won't hurt the snake as long as they are removed within the next few sheds

Scented lotions have additional chemicals that are not necessary and can be harmful for your snake.

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Originally Posted by tmlowe5704

Why would you feel the need to touch the snake's eyeball with a cotton swab? It has already been said that any method that something physically touches the eyeball can do severe damage if not blind the snake. A eye cap here and there won't hurt the snake as long as they are removed within the next few sheds

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Well since my vet., who happens to be one of the leading herp vets in the US told me to do this when I had my bp there on a visit I would assume he knows what he is talking about. Lightly touching the eye w/ a cotton swab will not hurt it. Using tape to pull of the old cap will. I see that as a difference.
Snakes eyes have protective cap over them other than the eyecap.

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Originally Posted by jotay

Well since my vet., who happens to be one of the leading herp vets in the US told me to do this when I had my bp there on a visit I would assume he knows what he is talking about. Lightly touching the eye w/ a cotton swab will not hurt it. Using tape to pull of the old cap will. I see that as a difference.
Snakes eyes have protective cap over them other than the eyecap.

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I just don't see the point in potentially blinding your snake all because you could not keep the humidity high enough around shed time. The eye cap will just come off next time with a good shed. But hey, I am ending it here

I guess my post and point wizzed by you.
Do you really think my vet who is a leading herp vet would tell and show me to do something that would blind my snake????????

As for me keeping my humidity high enough, I wasn't the one posting about retained eyecaps. I don't have the problem. Simply making a statement of a discussion I had with my vet on one of my visits there unrelated to retained eyecaps.