Our school gave us this snake because they didn’t think the school was the best place for her anymore. They’d had issues feeding her and with sheds. I swore looking at her that she had retained eye caps so I took her to the vet to have them removed. They looked at her eyes, like very seriously looked, pulled the skin around them back a bit and everything. They said it was absolutely not retained eye caps, that she just had wrinkly eye caps and that some ball pythons are like that. The caps are opaque and have a cracked wrinkle look to them. I know sometimes the vets are wrong so I’m bringing it to the snake community. Does this look like retained eye caps? Should I seek a second opinion?
Hello, first of all, thank you for taking in the snake, and taking it to the vet. Was the vet a reptile vet specifically? I ask because if they are a vet who sees reptiles vs. a reptile vet specifically then that would certainly up the odds that the diagnosis could be wrong. Somebody more experienced will hopefully jump in to give their expert opinion. I am neither an expert nor have I encountered a situation like this so unfortunately I can’t be of help
Had a Saharan Sand Boa with eye caps like this. Based on the photo and background given, I’m in agreement with the vet. It’s likely the humidity is too low and/or she’s dehydrated. I’d try giving her a 15 minute soak in some 85ºF water to see if that helps any, but the really important part is going to be the enclosure humidity. What are her current temperatures and humidity, and how are they being measured?
Im so glad you said this. Her humidity is always above 50, but I’ve noticed that this particular snake is really into water. No mites or anything, just enjoys being in it. I got her a humid hide which she also enjoys a lot. I’m seriously debating really doing up a bin for her instead of a glass enclosure because I think she specifically just needs a more humid environment than the other snakes do. The caps do improve with added moisture.
Thanks for the input, it was at an exotic animals vet, but I request a herp vet specifically, and they put me with someone who specializes with and only prefers to work with the reptiles. She was well versed in everything about snakes and her husbandry info was all spot on
This made me happy.
I am very much a fan of the idea of each snake being an individual and housing isn’t always one type is best. I house a ball python I rescued in a shorter than usual tub because he is very shy after the injury and he kinda rubs against the sides to move because his belly scales are badly scarred. The higher humidity definitely helps the skin shed over his scars as well.
You can still try to cover the majority of the lid to keep the humidity up in a glass enclosure, but you’re right that a tub can keep the humidity up better. You could also try a PVC enclosure as well of you wanted a sort of middle ground.
The feeding issues can be a double whammy of the dehydration and stress. BPs are ambush hunters by nature and like having snug hides to feel safe and use for hunting dinner. I’d try to minimize handling until he has a couple meals in him. You can also add some extra fake plants of crumpled paper to make things feel more cluttered for him to hide comfortably in.
Generally, something around 10% of their body weight or slightly larger than the widest part of the body is a good meal size. You can always do something a bit smaller if you try a live meal to kinda ‘jump start’ him. I do recommend frozen thaw or pre killed for regular feedings long term. It’s just more humane overall and safer.
Thank you! I totally spent the night researching different housing for her, I’m going to have my husband help me this weekend. We’ve housed her before and I fixed their feeding issues for them. They didn’t have any heat on her so she was too cold. She’s also a monster sized snake and was in a small 30gal when she really could use more than 4’ to be honest, she herself is 4’. She eats like a hoss now though, and is an absolute trashcan. It’s just this eye cap but that I’d love to fix for her, but none of my other guys have this issue at all in the same conditions. I’m going to try moving her to a nice clean setup with a higher humidity hold and see if we can get this solved. I feel better doing that if no one else thinks the caps are retained.
@lgleask I had to chime in here. I am a tub keeper. I have quite a few ball pythons and a couple of STPs. PVCs would be great for my collection but I don’t have the space. Tubs hold heat and humidity well and are space friendly……
Welcome to the community, @lgleask, and welcome to the hobby! Kudos to you for taking on this sweet snake who needed a home. Kudos to the school for recognizing that the snake needed more than they were able to provide, too. It’s wonderful that you have taken the snake to a good vet, and done the research to help ensure it’s good health.
I especially love that you see your animal as an individual, with individual needs. That’s truly wonderful.
So, one “hack” I’ve come up with over the years (which is likely not at all original, but I never see anyone talk about it) is ‘silk’ flower vines. You can get them far cheaper for the amount of mass/groundcover you get than with individual plants or flowers, and it is easy to vary the density enclosure as needed.
Outside of basic science-based husbandry, I’m like you–I try to assess each animal’s needs. When I get a baby who is clearly more shy, I have found that giving them a section of super flowery vine works really well–better than the faux pothos sold in the reptile section. I think they like the variation in textures, and it gives them more cover if you sorta wad the vine up.
