Shed on eyes

[dr del]

Hi,

wet pillowcases..i heard that at the show 1. when they get wet the fabric extends and gaps will fill with water, they can get suffocated, ive heard that, but who knows.

For that to happen you would need to be using really high thread count pillowcases.

You can test it your self easily before putting the snake in by gathering some air inside it and then squeezing it. Since it gets less of a problem as the water evaporates if you can pass air through it easily at its wetest (is that a word? ) then there is no danger to the snake.

While I remember to mention it turn the pillowcase inside out before doing this so the seams are on the outside.

and anyway, ive heard a small amount of masking tap (the white or blue kind that doesnt leave residue) softly tapped against the eye can pop them off, someone did it for me once with my spider

That can work as well but it carries slightly more risks when done by people who have never had to do it before - they might not think to soak the snake first to soften the eyecaps and reduce the chances of them sticking to the new eyecaps beneath.

They may also be wrong about there being a retained eyecap in the first place and seriously damage the animals eye.

Generally I prefer advising people to choose a method with the least possible risk at any knowledge level - I would hate someone to hurt their snake because I told them to do something and forgot to explain some vital step I take for granted.

Simply leaving it till the next shed while keeping an eye on it has the least risk followed by the pillowcase method then gentle rolling with a damp q-tip so I always advise trying those before the more risky approaches.


dr del