My blind Thayeri

[Henry Kane]

Spotted this Thayeri at the local shop last weekend. Pretty much got her for free. Other than her eyes being useless, she healthy and eats just fine and all that good stuff. She's not exactly a graceful hunter but gets it done with a little help.
Anyhow, the shop got it in with a group of snakes from a trade. It appears that some jerk couldn't even provide enough moisture for her to shed properly over the period of several sheddings and her ocular caps remained behind again and again. Now they are embedded pretty deep although I can see her eye is still back in there, I'm not sure if they will fully recover. Time will tell after the next several future sheds.
Anyhow, she's still pretty neat and seems to have every intention of living on and doing her thing so that's what I'm gonna help her do.

Here's a couple pics. Perhaps if anyone has seen a snake recover from this condition, share the details. It's going to be suspenseful wondering if it's too late for her sight or not.

Gary

 

[defour]

Wow, that's interesting. I wonder if the cause really is a lack of moisture, or if it could have been something else, like a genetic predisposition (I'm not a Lampropeltis guy; are they more prone than others to this sort of thing?). I've personally never had a snake retain an eyecap, whether I lived in a dry climate or not. In any case, it's too bad it happened, but I'm glad it ended up with someone who appreciates it anyway. Beautiful snake, too.

Steve

 

[Anthony]

Good for you. Seems a healthy attractive snake.

 

[Mandi]

maybe something like this?
http://www.joecompelreptiles.com/ball_bits/retained_cap/index.asp

I dont think I could do that to my snake....

Id go to the vet..

 

[Schlyne]

I'd be really concerned about using the tape method. If you don't know what you're doing, you can pull the eye out. I don't think that would happen in this case, but considering there are probably several layers of retained eyecaps, I'm not sure that would do more help than harm.

They do sell a "Shed ease" product which may help. It is advertised as being safe to spray on eyecaps. I'd definately build a humid hide at the least and see how much that helps. I'd be afraid to use a q- tip or a moist washcloth near the eyecap itself..

Unforunately, unless you have a really good reptile vet, they're not going to be able to help much.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Mandi]

good herp vets are really hard to find, where are you biledrunk? The vet i take my iguana to may be able to reccomend someone for you.. Shes really good, and when my iggy had to have toes amputated, she referred me to a specialist because she wanted him to have the best care possible. When I moved out of state, she helped me to find an amazing vet there too, its worth a shot