White ring around eye?

My year-old Ball Python has had a white ring around the outer edge of one eye for some time now. The kids that work down at Pet Co. say it's a piece of an eye cap that has failed to come off and, given, that's just what it looks like - skin. They've tried picking at it and rubbing it off, but still it remains. None of us want to go too far and harm her eye. Anyone have any kind of experience with this? Should I leave it alone or look in to visiting a vet? She seems to do just fine with it there, but it just doesn't look right.

Thanks in advance.
- Caitlyn

If it doesn't seem to be stressing your BP, I'd wait till the next shed and see it comes off. I think there was a similar question to yours asked quite a while ago. You might want to try a search...I couldn't find it when I tried, but your mileage may vary.

I did a search, as well, and didn't come up with anything more than a bunch of "bad shed" posts. I'm wondering specifically about this white layer of skin around one eye. It has to have been on for well over a couple of months now, and she actually just finished shedding today, so. I doubt that it'll be coming off on its own if it hasn't already during this period of time.

It doesn't seem to bother her at all, but I'm always worried about any kind of possible infection or harm done to her eye, etc. I've only had her since last January, and she's my first snake, so I'm not too experienced/knowledgeable about any of this.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shelby621

she actually just finished shedding today

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Does it look any different from pre to post shed? Any way you could post a pic? There are a ton of knowledgeable people here who have prolly seen something like it before.

This isn't a picture of Shelby, but one of another Ball Python that I found online just now. With Shelby, there's no visible eye cap over the eye, just that piece around it.

http://www.ballpython.com/pagePics/eyecap.jpg

Try wetting a pillowcase with warm water till damp (not dripping) and putting your BP in it. Place it on a warm spot and give it 45 minutes or so. It should come off when rubbing against a damp bag.

Let us know how it goes!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shelby621

This isn't a picture of Shelby, but one of another Ball Python that I found online just now. With Shelby, there's no visible eye cap over the eye, just that piece around it.

http://www.ballpython.com/pagePics/eyecap.jpg

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So it looks like that white half ring all around her eye?

Try giving her a room-luke warm soak. Then see if you can rub it off with a damp towel. :]

If it didn't come off with the recent shed, it's probably retaining, and could lead to problems if it keeps building up.
If it's not stuck shed, it could be a scar maybe? I don't know what else.

Yeah, I've tried giving her a number of warm baths already, as well as the pillow case trick, so I think I'll probably be bringing her to the vet this Wednesday. My aunt works at the local animal hospital and, luckily enough, they have a herp specialist. So, hopefully, this can all be resolved there - I'd much rather have a professional poking around at my little baby's eye anyway.

Thanks, everyone. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.

Um, since this thread seems to be going one direction, can I offer another?
I have 2 bps with the same thing right now. As long as the eyecap came off, you're fine. Sometimes when they shed, part of the lining of the ocular cavity (the orbit) gets inverted. It's nothing to worry about and will likely come off with the next shed. It generally looks like a little white membrane at the front edge of the eye, sometimes it is around most of the eye.

That said, without actual pics of yours, I would not guarantee it. If you are positive the eyecap came off completely, then this is the most likely explanation.
Hope it helps.


Cheers,
Kat

I am positive that the eye cap itself has come off. Thank you for the imput - I was actually hoping someone would offer a different explanation of sorts. And that is what it looks like - a tiny white membrane, just skin. So this should be fine, even though its been on for so long?

Hi, I'm a total beginner so don't have any experience to draw from but I read an article in Retiles USA recently where a snake had a white area around the eye which was caused by mites. I'll be interested to find out what you hear from a vet.

~Steve

Yeah, my snake had mites and it has that white ring.

I am waiting for it to shed and see if it comes off.

Yeah. The herp specialist actually wasn't available this week, so I guess Shelby is just gonna stay put for now, wait it out a bit longer. Thanks for all of the input.

Are you positive it's not mites?

I honestly hadn't considered mites until I read the responses from stevelvd and Venom. How would I be able to tell if she does have them? I don't know anything about them.

They tend to gather around the eyes. Is she trying to get into her water bowl at all?

No. She's acting completely normal and doesn't seem bothered at all - only, of course, when I try getting at the thing myself.

My male pastel had something like that about 2 months ago. ALmost looked like the membrane/eyelid shark close when attacking prey. Does his eye look like its slightly sunken in? Thats what mine looked like but then he went into shed about a week or 2 after ans once he shed it was gone. Also it could be a stuck shed I have one of my females that had a bad shed last week and had peices of skin all over and i noticed that the majority of her eyecap had come off but not a small ring around the outer edge of the eye but after a quick soak it came right out.

Not sunken in, no. Everything seems completely normal except for that white piece of skin/membrane material around the top edge of her left eye.