Retained eye caps?

[HavenKnapp]

Hello everyone. I am a semi new snake owner. I have owned snakes for about a year and a half, almost two years. I have a second opinion on my ball python. She is a normal ball python. She is a super sweet girl, but I believe that she has retained eyecaps. She was surrendered to me by one of my friends and she was in ok shape, but had bad stuck shed and she was slightly underweight. since then, she has put on weight and has pretty good sheds. I just wanted to know if her eyes looked like she had retained eyecaps on them. if not, could someone explain why her eyes look like this? Also, I want to take her to the vet to get them removed if she does have them still on. If anybody could give me estimates on what they have paid for something like this? Thanks

[Eric Alan]

If they are retained eye caps, you shouldn't have to spend anything on a vet. They're not necessarily a health issue and typically come off with correct husbandry on their own. Just make sure that her temps and humidity are where they should be, and that she has water available to drink at all times, and she will likely shed normally next time around for you without a trip to the vet at all.

[kgrah1]

The eyes are dull enough to have retained caps, but they look pretty stuck on the eye and I wouldn't advise trying to remove them yourself. Get a damp towel and put it inside a pillowcase. Put the snake inside with the damp towel for half an hour or so. If this doesn't remove the caps, it will make it easier for the snake to do so. If the caps are still on, put the snake back in its enclosure and give the tank/tub/shoebox a good mist. They'll come off in time.

[M.P.C]

Best i can suggest is to just wet some paper towel with warm water and ring it out so its just damp... leave that in the hide for a few days and if they can come off she will do it her self

[BCS]

Retained eye caps are not as serious as some people make it out to be. Always check you snake's shed for the eye caps to be sure they came off.

One cycle of retained eye caps are fine. Usually they fall off with the next shed cycle. It becomes a concern when the eye caps are constantly stuck. If it begins to layer, then a vet trip may be necessary. I wouldn't do anything about it until the next shed. Taking off eye caps is more dangerous then leaving them for one more cycle. A vet will tell you the same thing. If the caps do not come off, make an appointment, but for now, they should not cause any harm.

[SKO]

Trying to take them off can easily cause damage also, even if it is a vet doing it. My adopted guy had such bad retained caps that there were these huge cross shaped dents in his eyes that were really deep. Each shed he had with me has been perfect and the cross shape would even be on the shed cap and slowly but surely, dive sheds later, the dents are completely gone. I thought he was going to have permanent damage or at least vision problems but his eyes are fine and he sees perfectly from what I see. So, just providing correct husbandry is enough to deal with stuck caps.

[alejandrosantana0420]

Just wait till next shed make sure you have the humidity where it supposed to be

[bcr229]

Just wait till next shed make sure you have the humidity where it supposed to be

This. Also shedding problems due to low humidity isn't fixed in one cycle, it can take several before you start getting perfect ones.

Keep the humidity up and your snake well hydrated, and the eye caps should take care of themselves the next time around.

[kgrah1]

That it can take a while to shed well is certainly correct. I've had my girl for a good year and her first perfect shed was last week. She doesn't seem to mind me helping her remove bad sheds, but I let her handle the eyecaps on her own. One shed I decided to try to take them off and put a big dent in one eye. I haven't tried since, and the dent is still there, though it gets smaller with each shed. I've learned(with trial and error) that she will allow me to touch some parts of her but not others. The back, sides, tail and stomach are fine, the neck is an absolute no. The head is iffy. It's a lot easier(and easier on the snake!) to just let them get nice and damp so they can do it themselves.