Eye caps stuck; not eating

[Autumn2005]

I know there have been dozens of posts on stuck eye caps, and I read a few of them. I read about the mineral oil, the sticky tape, the Q-tips, and about the wisdom of doing nothing and calling a vet.

Here's the thing: I already took my snake to the vet. He is 14 years old. We got him as a baby. He has always had bad sheds, even when we increase his humidity, take him out for soaks, no matter what we do. As of the last few months, he stopped eating, and started acting like he was blind. We took him to a vet, and she said he has retained eye caps, but she didn't have the experience to take them out.

She recommended me to a vet 40 miles away, and said let him crawl around in a wet towel, to see if he might scrape them off himself. He hasn't eaten since January. He has a humid box which he rarely stays in. I soak him in the wet towel for half an hour every day. He still won't eat, still has very milky eyes--you can't even see under them anymore. He gas grown noticeably thinner. We don't have the money to take him to the specialized vet.

The real question is: at what point is it cruel to keep him alive? We don't want to watch him starve to death, but we don't want to give up on him if he still has a chance. He's a fairly good age, but he still has 10 or 15 years left. If he were your snake, at what point would you say enough? And what are the accepted methods of culling for a snake?

[ogdentrece]

Why not remove the retained eyecaps? Its not suffering a terminal illness but its cruel to keep him in that condition.

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

I'm going to say this again...

If the eye caps are messed with by using any object or tape to try to remove them, you can remove the cap that is under the one that gets shed off. This secondary cap is needed and the snakes eye can shrivel up if it's removed.

Another member took her snake to the vet who attempted to remove stuck caps. It obviously was not a stuck cap because the vet removed the necessary eye cap and the snake went blind.

Even if the outer caps are shed, the new caps can and will become dented or dull if humidity is too low. This can give the illusion of stuck outer caps.

Raise the humidity. High.
Very high! And keep it that way. Cover the lid completely. Make a humid hide. Get a hydrometer and be sure the humidity is about 70% at all times. This should fix the problem.

I have a pastel that has never shed well. His humidity must be 70-75% at all times or he just doesn't shed well. Some are like that. Don't mess with the eyes.

[Autumn2005]

Because we can't do it ourselves, and we can't afford the vet to take them off. Unless you're volunteering to do it for us...?

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

You don't "take" them off. I don't know where it was started that it is the right thing to do but it isn't.

[cecilbturtle]

You don't "take" them off. I don't know where it was started that it is the right thing to do but it isn't.

what do you do?

i have a large female bp who has had one of her eye caps stuck since i got her. i tried all the normal solutions but no luck. she eats. she relaxes when i pick her up. she acts totally normal. i know i need to take care of this but im not about to do something drastic while she is still eating and acting normal.

[Autumn2005]

I wouldn't be worried about mine either, except he's not eating and not acting normal.

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

If your BP is acting like that it might have some underlying problem. Could be sick. There is really no way to know without a reptile vet. It's quite possible, and very probable, that it has internal parasites. 15 years ago, the majority of BPs being sold in the USA were imports.

Internal parasites can cause a snake to act like that and lose it's appetite. You need to get a stool sample checked. If it isn't eating then it won't be pooping either. In that case, a precautionary dose of panacure by an exotics vet would be a good idea.

Of course you first want to rule out RI. In which case a mouth culture needs to be tested.

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

@ cecilbturtle.. Has the snake shed since you got it? If so, it still has a stuck cap? If you put a dab of bacitracin, neosporin, or A&D ointment on the eyes every day until the next shed, any stuck cap will come off.

[cecilbturtle]

@ cecilbturtle.. Has the snake shed since you got it? If so, it still has a stuck cap? If you put a dab of bacitracin, neosporin, or A&D ointment on the eyes every day until the next shed, any stuck cap will come off.

she did shed. she had a chunk of skin left on her head. i soaked her with a towel in a couple inches of warm water.

on the eye??? thats not going to hurt her? with the a&d or anything other than warm water?