akane
09-22-18, 06:36 PM
My 5year old bull shed a couple months ago and while it was otherwise an intact shed he got both eye caps stuck. My husband won't help me hold the bigger snakes so I had a vet help 2 days after he shed. The one eye suddenly looked clear the evening before and that day so I thought it had come off. The vet and assistants did not see anything wrong with him besides that one obvious covered eye. We carefully removed most of it and what was left soaked off the next day.
For awhile he was eating the best he has since I got him. He's a rather sensitive bull and spent the first year being finicky. However, he's been acting a bit odd the past few weeks when taking rodents and especially trying to take a small rat I fed him instead of a large. He was reacting to touch but not aiming well. With bioactive soil bottom enclosures he'd been digging like the usual bulldozers they are and had some dirt clumped on his head. When he refused a medium rat I pulled him out to check him over. He doesn't usually bite but he's not the friendliest snake. After much hissing and having to convince 7' of bull snake to give me the use of my foot back I carefully cleaned his head off with damp paper towels. I see no issue with his mouth, nose, and his breathing sounds normal. Although most of it was some very serious hissing. One eye seemed like it was not as easy to see the black versus surrounding yellow but I had a very pissy snake by then and I had moistened the whole eye. I could see the pupil moving around as he watched me on that side so I put him back. A few days later as he's gotten over the ordeal I just came home to find him out basking and with the room lights off shined a flashlight on both sides of his head. One side is definitely less clear with a similar blue cast as a shed but there is nothing else visibly wrong such as discharge, any damage, or irritation. I'm thinking it's that eye cap and whenever I wet his head or mist his enclosure prior to feeding it becomes clear enough it's not obvious there is a problem.
What might be a sign it is a more serious issue? The vets in the area do not seem the most knowledgeable with most clinics no longer even seeing reptiles. I drove a city over to the vet another snake owner uses. I probably can't do better without going to the exotics vet 3-4hrs away that I've used in the past when necessary and so far he appears otherwise healthy with no infection to it. If it's simply some stuck shed is it likely to just shed off without issue the next time? He doesn't shed that often though. Once or twice a year. Should I keep trying to soak it? He probably won't eat for several weeks if I repeatedly get him out to moisten his eye but while he's not as plump as I'd like he's not thin enough it's any risk to upset him for awhile. Except maybe to end up rinsing bull snake teeth out of my skin. :rolleyes: So far each year he's refused food for a month in spring, a month in the middle of summer, and then lately for a month after moving to a new enclosure. Like I said he's rather sensitive compared to any of my others. I finally put him in the new enclosure with less ventilation and a fogger that runs for 2hrs every 24hrs to be able to keep his humidity consistently higher. The 2 in the same room act perfectly content with normal sheds and striking all the rodents you will give them if I just keep a room humidifier set to 50% minimum and mist their substrate mix once a week.
For awhile he was eating the best he has since I got him. He's a rather sensitive bull and spent the first year being finicky. However, he's been acting a bit odd the past few weeks when taking rodents and especially trying to take a small rat I fed him instead of a large. He was reacting to touch but not aiming well. With bioactive soil bottom enclosures he'd been digging like the usual bulldozers they are and had some dirt clumped on his head. When he refused a medium rat I pulled him out to check him over. He doesn't usually bite but he's not the friendliest snake. After much hissing and having to convince 7' of bull snake to give me the use of my foot back I carefully cleaned his head off with damp paper towels. I see no issue with his mouth, nose, and his breathing sounds normal. Although most of it was some very serious hissing. One eye seemed like it was not as easy to see the black versus surrounding yellow but I had a very pissy snake by then and I had moistened the whole eye. I could see the pupil moving around as he watched me on that side so I put him back. A few days later as he's gotten over the ordeal I just came home to find him out basking and with the room lights off shined a flashlight on both sides of his head. One side is definitely less clear with a similar blue cast as a shed but there is nothing else visibly wrong such as discharge, any damage, or irritation. I'm thinking it's that eye cap and whenever I wet his head or mist his enclosure prior to feeding it becomes clear enough it's not obvious there is a problem.
What might be a sign it is a more serious issue? The vets in the area do not seem the most knowledgeable with most clinics no longer even seeing reptiles. I drove a city over to the vet another snake owner uses. I probably can't do better without going to the exotics vet 3-4hrs away that I've used in the past when necessary and so far he appears otherwise healthy with no infection to it. If it's simply some stuck shed is it likely to just shed off without issue the next time? He doesn't shed that often though. Once or twice a year. Should I keep trying to soak it? He probably won't eat for several weeks if I repeatedly get him out to moisten his eye but while he's not as plump as I'd like he's not thin enough it's any risk to upset him for awhile. Except maybe to end up rinsing bull snake teeth out of my skin. :rolleyes: So far each year he's refused food for a month in spring, a month in the middle of summer, and then lately for a month after moving to a new enclosure. Like I said he's rather sensitive compared to any of my others. I finally put him in the new enclosure with less ventilation and a fogger that runs for 2hrs every 24hrs to be able to keep his humidity consistently higher. The 2 in the same room act perfectly content with normal sheds and striking all the rodents you will give them if I just keep a room humidifier set to 50% minimum and mist their substrate mix once a week.