Scared, eye infection? Blind snake?

[Hawkline]

Shed happened , thought it was retained eye cap, took off, then I could see his eye move and his eye was shiny, wanted to cuddle later, but then I saw his eye was glazed, like it was trying to make a new eyecap or something, to tell you the truth, I am scared for his life

[bcr229]

Unfortunately from the picture I can't tell if you removed an eye cap or if you removed the scale that protects his eye.

[piedlover79]

How easily did the 'retained eye cap' come off? It looks a little bit like the actual scale might have been removed, particularly if it went from glassy to this in a matter of hours. If that is the case there is a good chance he could go blind in that eye, and it could become infected. Although I have known plenty of snakes to live with one or no eyes I would head to a vet if you can.

[Hawkline]

That's exactly it, it came off easily but it was glassy, then like this, glazed... Can it repair itself?????

[Albert Clark]

How easily did the 'retained eye cap' come off? It looks a little bit like the actual scale might have been removed, particularly if it went from glassy to this in a matter of hours. If that is the case there is a good chance he could go blind in that eye, and it could become infected. Although I have known plenty of snakes to live with one or no eyes I would head to a vet if you can.

I agree with piedlover on the vet. It will make you feel better and if the reptile needs medication or treatments then that will get taken care of as well. Hope it's not too serious. Do you have a good herp vet that you can get to right away?

[piedlover79]

You don't happen to still have the shed? I always check my sheds to make sure the eye cap is on there, if it's not I wait for another shed since one retained eye cap isn't the end of the world. If you could check the shed you'd have a better idea if it happens to have the eye cap on it.

Short answer: yes, this can heal itself. However the snake will still most likely lose the function of the eye if the original eye cap is gone.

Long Answer: if something more complicated than mechanical trauma caused the eye cap to fall off that could be the sign of a deeper infection and medical care in the form of antibiotics may be needed.

In either case a vet trip would be wise due to the risk of infection either being there or setting in.

How is his over all behavior? Has he eaten in the past few weeks? For the most part is he bright an alert? Ball pythons do not depend on their sight so even if he ends up blind he will still function, you just need to keep very careful watch for infection (lethargy, wheezing, gaping, discharge of any kind).

Make sure the cage is nice and clean, put him on paper towels for now, no wood chips, no newspaper. Keep the water refreshed every day. Make sure there is good heat and good humidity.

[Hawkline]

Yup, clean everything, lots of water, he drinks a lot and eats REGULARLY, decently active, and I don't think he has an infection, really, but I m now pretty sure his permanent scale for the eye is off... So yeah I guess his eye is doomed, I feel terrible I did this, and frankly these kinds of things make me want to hurt myself , but that has nothing to do with ball pythons, and also I can't get to a vet that soon, a week, min, the money is suuuuper tight and my old house was 1 SINGLE BLOCK FROM A HERP VET it was crazy, but now we aren't, still isn't much of an issue other than money, so I really thank all of u for the support, we are currently cuddling, thx all<3

[piedlover79]

You are in no way the first person to accidentally pull an eye cap off. Accidents happen. I killed a whole clutch of eggs by not keeping a close enough eye on my humidity, I felt awful.

The eye is most likely going to crust over and in most cases the wound will just close. You wouldn't believe how hardy snakes are, they haven't survived on this planet for millions of years without good reason!

If some discharge starts and you can't afford a vet (which is understandable, even the most routine vet visits can cost hundreds) get some saline from walgreens, wash the wound clean twice a day. Only do this if it starts to give off a discharge.

[Hawkline]

The instant I read what you said I felt better, thank you so much!!! I love my snaki babi :3

[piedlover79]

I'm glad you feel better. You had the courage to seek out help rather than just hide the mistake so its clear that you have your little guys best interests at heart.

Give him some time alone in his tank, you're body is an okay source of heat, but he'll need lots of good rest to heal up. Keep up posted on how he does.