Retained Eye Caps

[FlynnTheBP]

Hi everyone,
My new ball python recently shed for the first time with me. It came off in a couple of pieces, (admittedly his humidity was only at 55%, next time I will increase it), but one of his eyes is still covered in shed. I raised the humidity, soaked him twice, used a wet towel to clean his face gently, and dried to manually peel it off, but I was scared of seriously hurting him. Nothing worked, and it's been over a week. Anyway, can I just wait until his next shed and raise humidity up higher, or should I continue to try and remove the eye cap? I'v heard of using vegetable oil, but I wanted to ask everyone's advice first. Thanks!

[SKO]

Stop trying to remove the cap, fix your humidity issues, and let it do its thing. You can add a humid hide in the enclosure and maybe he will work it off himself but if your husbandry is correct it will come off next shed.

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[ja88er]

I wouldn't use vegetable oil anywhere near your snake's eyes. As SKO said, it ought to come off with the next shed with proper humidity, and if it doesn't and becomes a serious problem, I would definitely consider an exotic vet instead of trying to fix it yourself.

[FlynnTheBP]

Okay, thanks! I did bump up the humidity a lot but still no change... Should I take him to the vet, or can I wait until after his next shed?

[EDR]

Wait for the next shed. He might even rub it off on his own while you wait. Just make sure to keep his humidity good the next time he sheds.

[cletus]

One of mine had a stuck eyecap before last shed. I just left it alone and bumped my humidity a tad and she shed it off the next shed.

[FlynnTheBP]

Thank you everyone for the input and help. I will definitely work on the humidity and see how the next shed goes.

[FlynnTheBP]

Just wanted to update, I soaked Flynn a couple of times and used a rough towel to help gently peel off the stuck shed. I know a couple posters said to leave it alone, but it seemed to be impairing his vision and he kept missing the mice he usually slams. Thanks for the help everyone, I'm going to take my humidity up significantly next shed and if the problem arises again I know what to do.