Eye question...

[divapixie]

OK... my 20 year old ball python has cloudy eyes... and one of them leaked some watery fluid out the middle of the eye cap this evening. It was only a little and he's done now but what on earth was that? Is that normal?

[Brandon.O]

cloudy eyes probably means a shed and the cloudy is a fluid that builds up under the eyecap before it sheds and if it was leaking then i guess maybe it hit its eye on something and made a hole in its eye and the fluid leaked out .

how long have you had your snake ?? If youve had him for 20 years than you should know that thier eyes turn cloudy before a shed

[Schlyne]

Brandon, I think this is the person who adopted a 20 year old ball

What's your humidity divapixie? If you're ball is going into shed you should probably bump up it's humdity. Can you get a picture of your ball up?

[Brandon.O]

ohhhh !!! now i remember .Sorry i was confused...........good luck with that leaking eye

[Schlyne]

I really don't know what to tell you for sure on the leaking eye thing, I don't have any experience with that.

[Brandon.O]

i dont think a trip to the vet would hurt.

[Cody]

The eyes go cloudy when they're going in to shed because that's the fluid seperating the old skin from the new skin. What leaked out is probably the lubricating liquid that makes the eye cloudy. As for how it leaked out, I'm not sure. But I don't think it's anything to worry about. As Brandon said, a trip to the vet wouldn't hurt, but if he's just going into shed, it might be a bit stressful for him. All I can recommend is to remember to bump the humidity up from the usual 60% to around 80% and keep it that high until he sheds his skin. The shed process usually takes around a week. Watch for his cloudy eyes to clear up, and once they clear, expect him to shed within a few days. Keep handling and other stressful things like that to a minimum, and hold off feeding until he's done shedding. If you just got the ball, and haven't made an appointment, it might be smart to get him in for a vet check-up after the shedding.

Any other questions, don't hesitate to ask. And good luck with the shed.

[divapixie]

I thought perhaps it had something to do with shedding... heer's a breif over view of Brego's previous sheds... the previous owners said he has ALWAYS had trouble shedding... it comes off in zillions of pieces. I've been trying to up the humidity because I suspected that humidity wasn't a thought for the previous owners. Anyway, I got him on Oct. 8th after he finished shedding most of his skin... we had to help his head and neck finish up (I LOVE the pillow case trick). So, I figured he wouldn't be shedding again so soon... guess I was wrong. He did eat 2 rats and one f/t mouse about 2 weeks ago... so I guess he must be gettin' ready to shed again.
Thanks for the help!
I should also say that I now have a baby ball in my collection as well who still is trying to get some pesky clingy head skin off from last shed... ugh!

[Blink]

20 years old! All I can say is BOOYAKASHA!
Your snakes in shed, give it a nice 10-15 minute soak in warm water.