ball python help

[fartkowski]

Hi
My friend asked me to post this for him. he dosn't have a computer.
He has a ball python that has gone thru 2 sheds and still has skin stuck to it's eye. What are some ways to get this off? I think he has already tried to increase the humidity.
any help would be appreaciated.

 

[ZooRex]

When I worked at a pet store, and if any snake (almost always a BP) came in with a bad shed, I would do the following: Soak the snake in warm water for 15min and dry it off. Then take a peice of masking tape, stick it to the countertop and peel it off, to remove some of the glue. Proceed to take off any eyecaps, or retained skin on the head VERY CAREFULLY using the tape. No snake likes to have its head touched, so go slow, it might take a few attempts. Hope this helps ~ Rex

 

[Mushroom Spore]

Just increasing humidity absolutely will not do it. What I did with mine was to put him in a small rubbermaid bin (THAT HAS A LOCKING LID) with warm, wet paper towels and some air holes. I put this bin on the bathroom floor, and set the shower to run as high and hot as it could. My hot water lasts almost an hour, so that's how long I did it. Shut the door and go do something else, but check every so often to see if the heat is running out yet.

(I do it this way because my snake decided he didn't like being given shallow actual baths in his plastic bin anymore, but this way soaks him almost as much.)

Then I took some wet paper towels and very lightly brushed them over the eyecap repeatedly, going in the same direction each time. Snakes have an instinct to rub on things when skin is stuck to them; mine figured it out fast and started applying pressure/rubbing with his own head against the paper towels. DO NOT apply pressure yourself, a human is too big and clumsy and just a little too much pressure could damage the eye.

 

[mindlessvw]

i second the tape idea..i have used this before myself...

 

[ZooRex]

I'll try that in the future Mushroom Spore, Sounds like a good idea. I wonder if it would work for my chameleon. I'm still confident in the tape method though, but it really is more of a last resort. ~ Rex

 

[Mushroom Spore]

I wonder if it would work for my chameleon.

In theory it should work on any shedding reptile, but all I know about chameleons is that they're really sensitive to stress and reflections and ventilation and who knows what else. Can you even put them into a closed box? If the enclosure is small enough to be moved, you could just move the whole thing into the bathroom and steam it up that way, I guess.

The extreme sauna method also does WONDERS for dehydration, too. My python used to get all saggy and wrinkly because I lived in a crappy apartment with wall units and space heaters that dried out the air, but a daily shower (except for on/after feeding day) got him through the winter. He came out each time looking like a brand new animal!

 

[Ted]

after misting them/increasing humidity i used to put a drop or two of mineral oil [non scented] on the affected eye, and let it soak in for a bit, then carefully removed it with tweezers, if it didnt come off i would add another drop and try again in ten minutes.
normally this worked well.

 

[ZooRex]

In theory it should work on any shedding reptile, but all I know about chameleons is that they're really sensitive to stress and reflections and ventilation and who knows what else. Can you even put them into a closed box? If the enclosure is small enough to be moved, you could just move the whole thing into the bathroom and steam it up that way, I guess.

Long story short is that my cham went through some rough times over the summer. Hes recovering rather nicely now, but still has retained shed from July :? :?. I've been misting him twice a day, supplementing his diet ect without result. I went to the vet, and all he said was to put him in a tupperware container with a towel soaked in warm/hot water. (He obvioulsy didn't have a real idea for treatment :wall So I tried his method and again no skin started to flake. What was interesting though was that my cham would turn really bright colors while in there, (have you ever seen a solid yellow veiled cham?) I'm not entirely sure if it was stress, or just the feeling of the humidity that did this, but it was sure a sight to see. Anyway, I'll be giving your sauna a whirl tommorow with hope for results. ~ Rex

 

[Jmugleston]

Quick side note and a word of warning.

I have soaked snakes and used fine tipped tweezers to remove retained eye caps without problem, but another problem can arise if you are not careful. I know this question may sound like a no-brainer, but are you sure there is a retained scale over the eye? The scale over an adult ball python eye is supposed to appear a bit wrinkled. Also, if an infection is under the scale, the eye will appear cloudy. This can be mistaken for an retained scale. If you remove the scale, the eyeball will be exposed and open up a whole new set of problems. Before you try to remove the scale, make sure that the last sheds were missing the suspect eye cap. While working with an exotic vet I saw a few cases where people tried to diagnose and remedy a problem themselves only to make matters worse. Be sure it is a retained scale before you try to remove it.
Joey

 

[Mushroom Spore]

The scale over an adult ball python eye is supposed to appear a bit wrinkled.

They absolutely ARE NOT. Wrinkled eyes is a sign of dehydration (usually poor humidity) or sickness.

 

[Jmugleston]

There was an old article in Reptiles mag. about this.

I am in the process of moving so I cannot show the reference for the article that was on this very topic and it mentions the dimpling of the eye scale. So if you are curious, you should type in a google search and put in ball python eye and wrinkled. There you will find more information on this. They are sometimes wrinkled. In fact let me make this easy. Here is a link to the article. Scroll down to the part labeled diagnosis and what do we find....... a mention of wrinkled scales over the eye! It can be both normal....or a sign of a problem.
http://www.animalnetwork.com/reptiles/detail.aspx?aid=2496&cid=3691&search=
If the link doesn't work, type in to google search, Ball Python Eye Wrinkled and scroll down until you come across the heading Reptiles Magazine - Guidlines.

-Joey

 

[ShawnH]

I've succesfully used the warm water/clear shipping tape combo before. Sometimes my hatchling carpet pythons have a shedding problem but since I've changed setups it hasn't happened in a long time.