Half an eye cap?

[mackynz]

When I got Loki few days ago he had just come out of a bad shed. His previous owner didn't regulate humidity. I just noticed that he still has half an eye cap on one eye. I already did a soak and got most of the bad shed off. Should I just see if the eye cap comes of with the next shed? I will be monitoring humidity closely.

[snakesRkewl]

I generally want the eye caps off as soon as possible to get them eating sooner than later, but sometimes when they are on for a long time even a soak won't get them off easily.
To get off stubborn stuck eye caps I soak for a longer period of time.

30 minutes in a small locking lid tub with 1 to 1 1/2 inches of 85 to 88 degree water.
Replenish the water with more warm water and go again for 30 minutes.
Most stuck caps will come off after an hour of soaking in 100% humidity

[mackynz]

He fed immediately for me, thankfully. I will try a soak again tonight. Although he likes to wedge himself by the handle of the tub out of the water. Is it okay for them to put there head underwater? Obviously not by force.

[Kaorte]

I've had a stuck eye cap here and there, I usually just wait til the next shed, make sure the humidity is over 70% and it comes off more often than not. I don't like to mess with eyes too much, especially if the snake is eating just fine. I've just seen too much damage done to snakes eyes because an owner was overly concerned about the stuck eye cap. Sometimes it is just best to let it work itself out naturally But that is just my opinion.

[snakesRkewl]

He fed immediately for me, thankfully. I will try a soak again tonight. Although he likes to wedge himself by the handle of the tub out of the water. Is it okay for them to put there head underwater? Obviously not by force.

If they put their own head under water no biggie, seen it many times.

If they eat then I don't worry about the eye cap, as Kaorte said, the stuck cap should come off no problem if you get the humidity up high enough in their tub. If you're snake lives in a tank I recommend a soak, tanks rarely ever get to 70% humidity unless the humidity in your area gets close to that.

[mackynz]

He does live in a tank. I have him in for a soak right now

[mackynz]

So I got him out and some more old skin came off. I check the eye cap later. Now I have myself worried because he was wheezing a big when he came out. I am hoping it was from the soak and will clear up and not an RI.

Now back to constantly adjusting the dimmer switch until I get a thermostat to keep the stupid UTH where it needs to be

[Slim]

I strongly urge you not to mess with this stuck eye cap. Especially this case where you know why the cap got stuck in the first place, and have corrected the husbandry.

I know some keepers have success using various methods for eye cap removal, but for me, there is far to much risk for the possible reward.

[mackynz]

I agree wholeheartedly with your risk/reward statement. I could hurt him way too easily. I will keep a close I on him. The wheezing seems to have cleared up so I think it was just water from the soak.

[interloc]

One thing I have done is after a soaking, put the snake in a pillow case for a while. Maybe like 20 mins. Sometimes while the snake is poking around in the pillowcase, the eye cap works free. This is a good method because it doesn't involve pulling or rubbing the eye with things that could damage it. Its worked for me before, just thought I would pass it along. Good luck!