Possible Cataracts in 2.5Year Old BEL

[bel_owner]

Symptoms:
My girl has somewhat cloudy pupils originating from a white point at the center of the pupil in both eyes.
I noticed this about ten days ago. It took me some time to confirm this and get a proper look. And it could have easily been around longer without me noticing. Because when she comes out to explore, I keep the room dark, and I have some photos from several weeks ago where she could have them, but it's hard to confirm.

She has otherwise been acting normal and eating well. I snake-proofed her room, and she explores if she chooses; she puts herself back in when she is done. Nothing seems wrong with her movements when she is out, and she looks healthy and curious. She also doesn't seem to have too much difficulty seeing. She notices when I enter the room, even when she is far from the door--stopping and then periscoping in my direction.

I do not think the cloudiness is from damage, as I have made sure that her enclosure does not have anything sharp. But she does have the freedom to explore and potentially scratch herself. Also, while I do think the photos look like they are from under the spectacle, it cannot be 100% that they are not from external damage.


Could it be from shedding?:
Her previous shed was in the last week of October, so the cloudiness most likely isn't because she is going into shed right now. I also don't think they are retained eyecaps because her last shed went great, and I can see both eyecaps in the shed. However, it could be some eye fluid from the last shed--maybe from the shed or produced just after.


The likelihood of Cataracts:
She is young for Cataracts at 2.5 years old. But from my knowledge, BELs can have eye issues. And I have found similar but more severe cases: Reddit1, Reddit2.
FYI: According to my breeder, she is either a Mojave or Super Lesser.


The Vet:
I have not gone to a vet yet. I will most likely do a phone consultation with the attached pictures. I'd prefer to wait until she has shed to see if they go away on their own before bringing her in person. It's not an issue of money, I just do not want any unnecessary stress. However, I want to make sure I am not neglecting something serious. Nor would I want an ailment that would benefit from immediate treatment to be untreated.


Pictures:
Left Eye 1:


Left Eye 2:


Left Eye 3:


Left Eye 4:


Left Eye 5:



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Right Eye 1:


Right Eye 2:


Right Eye 3:


Right Eye 4:



It would be great if anyone had any past experiences or input.
Thanks for reading!

[dakski]

Happy Thanksgiving.


First, it is possible they are cataracts, but I am not qualified to access that. Additionally, I do not think it would be a huge issue if they were. I would also add, that if it is cataracts, it is probably not from anything you did.

It is possible that the eye issue is from a shed, but I do not see stuck eyecap, etc.

Secondly, I've done some reading and cataracts can occur in snakes. Usually it is due to age, but Ball Pythons seem more susceptible than some other snakes.

Vets (qualified) can perform something called Phacoemulsification, which is surgery that fixes the cataract. It is usually done in only one eye and has risks and a long recovery. The reasons for one eye is the risks and recovery, but also because they can compensate well and can do very well with one eye.

Probably not a road you want to go down.

Snakes can compensate well and ball pythons do not have great eye sight to begin with. Further, and this is my opinion, they probably do better than other snakes because they do not rely on vision as much and have heat pits to help them identify prey.

On the prey side, do you feed frozen/thawed prey? If you do, great, it will be much safer for your BP if visions problems exist and worsen. If you do not feed F/T, now would be a good time to switch.

Additionally, I would be aware of potential vision impairment and be careful when taking your snake out your enclosure. Make sure your BP is aware you are there and going to pick them up. Hook training is a great way to do this.

Finally, getting a vets opinion makes sense if you want to know for sure what is going on. However, I would say, "do not cry until you are cut." In other words, if your BP is not having issues, and may never have serious issues, do not worry about doing anything about. Just be cognizant.

Bottom line: Find out what it is, if anything (to make sure it isn't serious), but you probably won't want to do anything about it, IMO, if it is just vision impairment.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[emerican247]

Happy Thanksgiving.

Another thing that I have seen (mostly in Corallus sp.) &that was not listed here is that if you are using a UVB light for this snake, especially since it is has a genetic mutation; can sometimes cause cloudiness &even blindness in certain species. Snakes do not need UVB in order to photosynthesize Vitamin D as they get it from their whole prey items. However there is some benefit to how it affects their circadian rhythm, even those most are indeed nocturnal animals. You just have to be very careful with it as most UVB bulbs are actually more potent than advertised once tested with a proper meter &also state that they should be a lot closer than they actually should. This can lead to multiple ocular problems &even has been directly related to some forms of cancer in ball pythons specifically. Just another factor to keep in mind, i hope all goes well with this little cutie &you can get it sorted out soon.

miles.

[bel_owner]

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks for the quick and detailed response. And I think we are on the same page. "Do not cry until you are cut" is a good way to put it. I don't think I would do any eye surgery. I can imagine it probably isn't a very practiced procedure on snakes (compared to more common pets and humans), and it comes with extra difficulties because of their size and anatomy. Also, out of all the creatures, BPs would probably deal with blindness very well. Nonetheless, thanks for bringing up Phacoemulsification; it's good to have some idea and specifically a name for what treatments are out there. It makes sense to do it on only one eye.

While I think the idea of her losing her sight does seem sad, as she often climbs (with supervision) and periscopes from high places, I think she is very familiar with her room, and I think I can set up an environment where she can still thrive if anything were to happen.

Thankfully, she has been on F/T rats for most of her life and takes them very well. While she isn't very bitey, I think hook training is a good idea--thanks again.

I spent the day calling up most of the vets in my city (Vancouver, BC) and the surrounding areas to find someone who handles reptiles. I will probably do a phone/online consultation when they are free next week. I'll basically send them what I posted here to double-check that there isn't anything too serious. And before I bring her in person, I'd rather wait until after she sheds to see if it resolves on its own. No need to bring any unnecessary stress for her, since she is otherwise doing fine and unfortunately the vet is not that close.

As an update for her, it doesn't seem to be affecting her too much, she still notices me opening the door from across the room while she hides in the clothes bin that she likes to explore.


https://imgur.com/a/SLmmi4D (couldn't attach it for some reason)

[bel_owner]

Happy Thanksgiving Miles!

Thank you for bringing up UVB. Fortunately, I am not using UVB with her. I was worried about some of the issues that you mentioned, considering that she is leucistic.
I read about the potency of the bulbs being off, but I did not know that the distance they recommend is too close--that's good to know. I sometimes bring her out to the backyard during sunset in the summer so she can at least get some natural sunlight at some points in her life.

On the same note, I also thought it could be from the light bulb in her home. I bought a dimmable full-spectrum LED from Amazon some time ago, it wasn't a cheap product, but neither was it a recognizable brand, so who knows what it is emitting. I'll switch it back to the Phillips daylight bulb I had before.

[bel_owner]

Hey, just to update everyone and add some closure to the thread.

I decided to wait out her shed to see if they were still there. She just finished shedding a few days ago and sadly they were still present.

So, I took her to the vet today and she is all around healthy with no issues. Her eyes most likely have some kind of cataract. There is nothing to really do about it, so life goes on as normal.

Thanks again for the helpful replies!

[Bogertophis]

We appreciate the update on this. Of all the snakes to have cataracts at such a young age, I think it will not likely affect a BP very much, because they use their heat-sensing pits to such a large degree when finding prey, rather than vision. I've had a very old snake that had cataracts (not a BP or any species with heat-sensing pits), & it didn't affect their appetite or ability to eat, at least not as a captive pet, so I wouldn't worry about it. It's always nice to confirm what's going on though. I suspect that extensive cataracts might impair (slow down) a snake in the wild from catching prey & shorten their lifespan somewhat, but our pets have room service. That's does help.