Eye Damage?

[alittlebluealien]

My friend just rescued a ball python and I have been helping her since it's her first snake. The lady she got it from loved all her animals but did not know the first thing about ball pythons. She was feeding about a 3 year old ball python large rats, and on top of that would throw the live rat into the tank and leave because she couldn't watch. I've noticed some scars on the snakes body and eyes. Below is a picture of one of the eyes. We are pretty sure he cannot see for the most part. Any suggestions on extra ways to care for the snake would be greatly appreciated. Despite the less than perfect home she acquired the snake from, it has got the sweetest disposition I have ever seen.

[Inarikins]

From what I can tell.... It looks like a retained eyecap. If you can get a closer shot, that might help. Even if she was blind, it won't affect her much. People on here have snakes that were born blind or have gone blind and I'm more than sure they'll chip in. Because ball pythons hunt via heat and scent and not by sight the loss of vision doesn't affect them much if at all. I would make sure, if it does turn out your snake is blind, to make sure you touch them before going to pick them up so you don't scare them. But otherwise, they'll be able to take care of themself.

[satomi325]

I agree. Looks like a retained eye cap, which is an old shed that hasn't shed.
As long as your humidity is good, it will come off with the next shed.

Eye caps can impair vision. So the vision issues could be temporary.
However, even if it was permanent, it's not a huge issues. Ball pythons that are born eyeless can thrive just fine. They use their heat sensory and sense of smell to detect prey and the things around them.

As for prey size, what does he weigh?
Large rat for an adult male seems big. All of my adult males get a small rat once a week or less..

[alittlebluealien]

I agree. Looks like a retained ey cap, which is an old shed that hasn't shed.
As long as your humidity is good, it will come off with the next shed.

Eye caps can impair vision. So the vision issues could be temporary.
However, even if it was permanent, it's not a huge issues. Ball pythons that are born eyeless can thrive just fine. They use their heat sensory and sense of smell to detect prey and the things around them.

As for prey size, what does he weigh?
Large rat for an adult male seems big. All of my adult males get a small rat once a week or less..

Im hoping its an eye cap but from what you and inarikins said he sounds like he will be okay either way. And yeah large rat is way too big for him. I dont know his weight but hes smaller than mine which I would never feed a large rat to. My friend knows to stick to the smaller rats. I was considering suggesting to her to switch from live to F/T but that might be a bit difficult for someone new to snakes to take on.