bug eyed..boa?

[UpscaleBoas]

has anyone ever seen a boa with slittly bugged out eyes....thats not caused by mites.......the boa is clean and look very well fed/taken care of........is it just genticly ugly..or could it be something else

[JonD]

huh?

[UpscaleBoas]

have you everseen a snake with bad mite problem....there eyes get pushed out.....he looks like that only no mites

[JonD]

Im not sure of any thing that causes this in boas. I know with tropical fish, there are diseases that will do this, so there is probably something specific that causes it. Any vets drop in on these forums?

[mark129er]

I have never seen it in boas but I know that Leucistic (?) texas rat snakes are prone to bug eyes. In that case it is a genetic problem. Are just the eyes strange looking or is the entire head kind of caved in? Could be dehydration.

[UpscaleBoas]

hey mark, nah he looks perfect except for the eyes...he is albino wondering if it is inbreeding?

[mark129er]

do you have a pic of him? could be inbreeding but i really don't know, hjopefully someone else will have some more info.

[eyespy]

In herps that hatch out of eggs, eye and other deformities are often the result of a temperature spike during a critical period of development. Not sure in a live-bearer though.

[BoidKeeper]

I once heard of this in a Ball Python. Only in one eye. It was caused by a sinus infection that would not allow the eyes to drain into the throat much like when a human has a head cold and the swelling closed of the eustantion (sp) tubes that connect the eye into the back of the throat through the nose.
In the case of the ball python the pressure was building up in the eye causing the bulge. The vet cut a vent into the eye cap to relive the pressure and treated the infection with antibiotics.
This happen to one of our members I'll send him the link to this thread so he can comment on this more thoroughly.
Cheers,
Trevor

[UpscaleBoas]

thanks boid

[Bristen]

Hi,

Trevor asked me to read this thread and provide input. The Ball Python he was talking about used to be mine (but Trevor since bought this female from me). The reason I suspected that there was a problem that could be serious was not only that one of her eyes had gotten bigger, but it was not clear. One eye appeared to be like a ball bearing (almost silver color). The reason for this was that the fluid one her eye (under the eye cap) was blurred up due, almost certainly, to infected tissues and antibodies trying to beat the infection. If your boa is an albino, I would suspect it would be easier to verify if there is an infection (lighter colors and clear pupil as opposed to Ball Pythons). You can also open it's mouth. Check on the top part of it's mouth, under the eyes. There are un-noticeable openings there to drain the eyes. If there is an infection of any kind, there should be redish puffy and slimy fluid there. If it is nice and pink like the rest of the snakes mouth and you don't notice any inflammation, then an infection may not be the problem. I believe my Ball Python had problems with this due to too low relative humidity levels.

I also have a male Ball Python that is currently on a breeder loan at Trevor's place that has slightly larger than normal eyes (thus the name Popeye heh!). I'm not sure there is anything wrong with this male and it could be just a locality specific trait or perhaps the result of much inbreeding.

"Moral of the story" is: if your snake has good sight, if it's got clear eyes and doesn't appear to have any infection inside it's mouth, then it's probably nothing to worry about.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

Best Wishes,
Bristen.

ps: just another thought.. is this a male boa? I'm not sure, but I think head structure is a little different for males than females.. when looking at pictures, I think I've noticed males have slightly larger eyes.. don't take my word on this one though, as I may not know what I'm talking about heh!

[UpscaleBoas]

Bristen--thanks for responding....no there are no mites and no infection in its mouth.......funny enough yes this is a male and inbreeding may be the colprit.....he is albino...seams to me that when dealing with higher priced snakes inbreeding is too common...thanks for easing my mind a bit.......i have desided to keep him in quarinteen for 120 days instead of my usual 90days.....thanks if i notice anything infection or other problems then i'll take him to the vet................other wise he is eating...seeing perfect..and acting normal thanks to all............

[Bristen]

good move on extending the quarantine.. However, given the information you've provided, it looks like there may not be anything to worry about other than taking lots of pictures of it and enjoy the boa ;-)

Best Wishes,
Bristen.

[TheRedDragon]

Wow, that sounds really unusual....do you have any pictures?

[Linds]

<img src="http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/508/22hello.jpg">
<img src="http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/508/22bugssun2.jpg">

There are a few causes for bug eyes, though I do not know all of them. If you haven't met him yet, the above is the late Bugs. The cause of his bug eyes was brain damage creating pressure causing his eyes to bulge out, amongst other related problems. To learn more about Bug's story, click <a href="http://www.corallus.com/bugs.html">here</a> ;)
There are also genetic problems that may cause this, as Mark mentioned, it has become a problem with the leucistic texas ratsnakes, as well as I believe a few other colubrids, although I have never heard of it occurring in boids. Albino boas are notorious for bad news eyes. There have been more and more popping up with eye deformities, blindness, or missing altogether. Regardless of if he still appears to be healthy, I would refrain from using him in any breeding programs since the definite cause is unknown.

[UpscaleBoas]

cool post linds.........thanks for the info....lol...vet thinks i'm crazy....thinks the eye are fine...wow can you imagine when i have kids....i'll most likely have a break down from wory

tell me what do you guys think

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/36561094033-19c1108e9afc8cf9.jpg