Sclera showing on ball pythons left eye? Help!

So my girl had her shed, perfect shed, eyecaps and all… but now I am seeing a thin white sliver in the corner of her eye. After doing some research and referencing other photos/posts, I have come to the conclusion that it is her sclera showing. I read this can be an early sign for a respiratory infection. I am not noticing any wheezing, sneezing, drooling from the mouth, or anything like that, so I don’t think she’s got that far down that road… What do I do to help her? I went over to Reddit but as usual, they are not much help and only bully me into feeling guilty for “not properly taking care of my snake” when I literally obsess over making sure everything in her environment is done right. Is there anything I can do to make sure this clears up? Temps, humidity, etc… Or do I immediately need to get her to a vet?

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Can you post a photo so we can see what you’re seeing?

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I will do that as soon as I can, I am not home at the moment! I have a friend who is experienced with ball pythons that was over today and he confirmed that that’s what it is, and he gave me some advice like keeping the humidity up to 70%-80% and it should resolve itself, but I wanted to get out there and see if anyone else had any advice on this. I feel bad for her.

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Well contrary to what you were told, you are doing a great job with your girl and btw if it wasn’t for your keen attention to details you wouldn’t have caught something that might or might not be trouble down the road!

You are doing a fabulous job with her AND PLUS SHE HAD A SUCCESSFUL SHED! CONGRATULATIONS! :pray::heart::+1:

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I would like to help, but I am a little confused.

  1. If it was a good shed, then humidity should be good. But I am curious what the temp and humidity is?

  2. if it is a sign of an RI, then making it more humid would make things worse. (this usually occurs with high humidity) if you keep it around 50-60%, then RI might not be the problem.

  3. if it is from dehydration, giving it a good soak could help. (but then again, if RI is involved, then it would be a bad thing to try).

  4. this could also just be normal. From time to time I can see this to some degree when looking for it. I did notice just the other day one that just shed had this. Since it shed, and it wasn’t there before, I am chalking it up to the shed process.

If it wasn’t there before, personally I would not worry about it. Depending on how bad, I would soak it a couple times. As RI most likely isn’t a factor if there was and is no signs of it. It could be a piece of scall, it could of had a rough shed process on its head.

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I saw this a few months ago with my blood python. After a shed, she had a bit of white visible on the side of each eye. It became less obvious as time went on and disappeared completely with her next shed. Since it went away, I haven’t been too concerned about it. I just assumed that it was the result of a shed that might have been a little difficult in the head/eye area (though she got the whole shed off in one piece). I occasionally notice it in various snake pictures and videos I’ve seen online as well.

You can see it in this picture. Is this similar to what you see with your BP?

Point being, I don’t think you need to be overly concerned. If it’s still there after her next shed, then you might consider a vet visit just to be safe (that’s what I’d do, anyway).

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I would be just as inclined to think it had something to do with friction in the shedding process as anything else. I’ve kept hundreds of ball pythons over the years so I’ve seen RIs never seen this in a BP with an RI.

It’s also possible the last eye cap was cracked and got some bacteria or something under it which caused this inflammation.

I wish @t_h_wyman was around because I’m sure he’d have some insight here.

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Yes, that is similar to what I’m seeing except it’s on the opposite side of the eye. I talked to my cousin who is a breeder and she seems to think it should be fine and pass with time. Just going to keep an eye on her! Luckily there is an exotic vet right down the road if I feel it needs to be looked at.

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This information was given to me by people in Reddit, and I thought that increasing humidity(if this was actually a sign of an RI) would have a negative effect on that… but Reddit information varies so much differently from what I hear over here. I keep her warm side around 84-86 degrees(recommended by someone over here) and 78-80 degrees on the cool side. Humidity I keep steady around 60% but I increased it to 70% during her shed. Back down to 60-65% now. I am guessing it is something that should pass with time from what everyone is telling me, it just freaked me out when I noticed it on her when it wasn’t there before.

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Hey again Tyler! So glad there is an exotics vet near you just in case! It’s important to have that part covered!

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You’re clearly paying wonderful attention to your snake, @tylerlovell999 . Gotta say, you’re in the right place here for good info. Reddit is great for lots of things, but husbandry advice ain’t one of them (pardon the grammar; I’m feeling emphatic). @d_y_python and @ballornothing know their stuff, for sure. Do keep an eye on the eye, but it doesn’t seem like a need to panic.

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Sounds like you have everything setup correctly and definitely nothing to worry about with the husbandry. You are doing good and I would just give it time. It could take another shed cycle to correct itself.

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Hey there! Yes, we actually have several surprisingly here in Northern Kentucky!

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Yeah I have found Reddit to be very toxic lol I take some advice from there but not everything, that’s for sure! And thank you! I’m doing my best!

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I will definitely keep a close eye on her progress to make sure it’s getting better and not worse! Thank you!

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I’m from Kentucky originally! Henderson KY. Have migrated to Indiana. Big jump huh! :joy:

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I don’t think I realized you’re in Kentucky, @tylerlovell999. What county? I was born in KY, though I grew up just across the Ohio in IN. Moved to Mississippi in 1998. Got lots of family in KY including a son and his family who moved there in the fall. And I’m doing my best to get moved back up where they’re are four beautiful seasons!

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I live in Kenton County! I’m originally from Appalachia but spent my late teen years in Boone County as well as Campbell County. My wife is from Ohio, born and raised in Cincinnati. I lived up there a few years ago but made my way back to Kentucky! Hope you can make it back up! You have family here so that’s a good start!

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Keeping it in the tristate area, nothing wrong with that hahaha.

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That’s so cool! Yeah, I’m trying hard to get back up there. Had a contract on a house in Montgomery County in October but that fell apart after the inspections. The house needed…a house.

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