Eye Caps :(

Ok so pretty sure this question probably gets asked a ton on the forums but here it goes. .

My boy just shed . . It was mediocre . Not all came of but I soaked in warm tub and rubbed with washed cloth that's all gone. However he still has his shed stuck on his eyes. I feel so bad and am not sure the method to use to correct it. I've herd of the tape method and pealing it off. But I figured I'd consult the forum people first to see if you had any other advice.

I find the tape method to be a little risky for me.

I would just soak him and GENTLY rub his eyes with the end of a q-tip. usually the eye caps will come off in the next shed if nothing seems to be working.

you could also try putting a moist pillowcase in his enclosure overnight to see if the rise in humidity and maybe him crawling across it will remove them.

Try the method suggested in our Bad Shed sticky or the wet pillowcase method (put the snake inside, tie closed and place back in the enclosure). Personally I don't like to physically mess with eyecaps too much since there is such a large margin for error there. If they don't come off easily with the above two methods I'd be tempted to just leave them be and work hard to make sure the snake's enclosure humidity is such that the next shed would be complete and get those old caps off naturally.

Brian B.. from bhb has a tip on eyecaps on a snakebytes episode....you could check that out...he uses a cover over his thumb that has little bumps on it, he shows you how he does it and which direction to stroke........check it out at snakebytes tv...dont have the link...:)

I haven't seen that particular episode but he probably means these, found at any office supply store.

http://stonesofficesupply.ssiwebonli...76,20137,20053

the pillow case trick has never failed me.

-Dies laughing.- So I just woke up, and for a second, that read, "My boyfriend shed..." Anyhoo...

The pillow case method, soaking, etc...those methods have all worked well for me, but I have to ask...What's our humidity like in his enclosure? Fixing this current problem is important, but the long run on the humidity will have repeats of pillow-casing and such.

take a piece of tape and gently touch the sticky side to the eye cap. most of the time it comes right off

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Originally Posted by zombie&lemons

take a piece of tape and gently touch the sticky side to the eye cap. most of the time it comes right off

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dangerous. Don't do this.

Use the pillowcase method. If that doesn't work, the rubber thumbs method as others have suggested.

There was a similar thread recently. Reading it might help:
http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=87170

Thanks all for the advice =] I'm not going to mess with his eyes I'll wait for next shed and just do everything I can.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Melicious

-Dies laughing.- So I just woke up, and for a second, that read, "My boyfriend shed..." Anyhoo...

The pillow case method, soaking, etc...those methods have all worked well for me, but I have to ask...What's our humidity like in his enclosure? Fixing this current problem is important, but the long run on the humidity will have repeats of pillow-casing and such.

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Well we have forced hot air in our house which naturally makes it 10x dryer. I had my snake next to my fish tank for awhile (had no problems with sheds) and just recently moved it to my bed side (which is near the vent where the air comes from) . . I have to smack myself right now for not paying attention to the humidity it never crossed my mind (well it did after this bad shed haha) and it does turn out it's in its 40s I mean low 40s. So I put my humidifier on full blast stuck it near his cage and also put a wet sponge in there (not sure if that's going to do anything for the humidity but I'm hoping) right now I'm sitting at humidity about mid 50's but I'm trying to get it to 60 or above to try and get the eye caps off. I just got home from a long day so I'm going to try the wet pillowcase method right now and see where that brings me. I'll let you know if that fixes it and if it doesn't I'll wait till next shed.

My problem with the whole shedding process is when he sheds I know I have to knock up humidity to the 80s but I am away at college and come on home the weekends to feed him. Me and my mom have a system where she calls me and tells me that he's about to go into shed and she sets up the humidifier near his cage and that usually takes care of everything. But the humidifier I had apparently wasn't humidifying which resulted in his bad shed. I replaced the humidifier so hopefully this will not happen again.

*Sigh* I wish I could just take him with me! I have had other issues with temps going nutty while I'm away for the week and my mom has no idea how to fix it =[ . So it has to wait until that weekend when I come home. It's frustrating because I don't want to have to get rid of him. I'm only in college for 1 more year. . Ugh. When I get another job this summer I'm going to invest in some major temperature moderator stuff and set him up real well.