What's Up With My Ball Python's Eye?

[Kiljosh]

So I took my Ball out of the tank tonight and saw his eye like this..

ImageShack Album - 3 images (http://imageshack.us/g/257/img00080201111100113.jpg/)

I always heard this was from dehydration but I don't understand how he could be dehydrated. He weighed 406g on Sunday so I fed him 2 mice one 19g and another 20g. He has had water and his humidity has been between 40% and 70% depending on weather. The only thing I can think of is he maybe hurt it or else the humidity swinging so much is affecting it.

The link is to an album, I apologize if you can't view it and will post direct links to pics if you guys need them.

[ZARADOZIA]

When Sasha's humidity levels weren't right she got a dent on her eyes. Increase the humidity levels to no less than 60% up to 80% and wait for the next shed. The humudity level needs to be constant and maintained. I placed 2 pothos plants in her enclosure to help stabilze the humidity levels and fresh oxygen.

[Jenn_06]

yeah your humidity is too low you might need to spray down your cage a few times a week, soon as the humidity is where it needs to be the eye will look normal again.

[UwabamiReptiles]

Try to get the humidity to stay consistant and you could also try to do weekly soaks in warm(not hot) water once a week. I'm not sure exactly what I saw but that first pic looked like a little bit of a retained shed.

[jarich]

Ya, the pictures are a little hard to see but it looks like a retained eye cap to me too. Balls are used to being underground a lot so providing them with a high humidity hide is pretty essential. If you cant get your tank/enclosure up past around 60% consistently then give him a separate hide that gets up to around 80% humidity. (placing moistened moss inside a hide works well) For the time being, get him in a bath regularly. Make sure the water is warm (not hot of course) and let him soak in there for a good long time everyday or every other day until the problem clears. Make sure you dont leave him in there so long the water gets cold though.

What size water dish do you have for him and how often do you change it? It should be big enough for him to soak in and changed everyday. I actually have had balls that would only drink right after I changed the water. Picky little guys sometimes!

[mykee]

Retained eye cap from a bad shed. Get your humidity to where it needs to be for the next shed cycle and it should fix itself.
As the last poster mentioned about 80% humidity; if you keep your ball python at 80% humidity you are asking a few issues; scale rot being the main one.
60-65% is fine.

[Kiljosh]

Hey thanks for all the replies guys I really appreciate it.

Stubbs' last shed actually went really well. His first one in my watch was so bad from not knowing the blue would go out of their eyes a few days before the shed and I handled him in that period.

So this last time I really kept his humidity at 80% and didn't touch him till he shed, I realize the pics are bad but it does not look like there's a cap on his eye, although I could be wrong I am still new at herping.

I was worried about humidity being too high and his substrate always being wet so I misted the walls of his tank pretty often but only once a day did I give the actual floor of his tank a good soak. I will try the humid hide trick.

Now that I look at him though his one eye has the dent I've shown you all and the other looks like it has a small air pocket behind it, so maybe you guys are right and I just didn't see it. His eyes do look a bit bigger but I thought he was just growing.

I change his water daily and his bowl is a bit small for him to fully soak in NOW, although he did manage to get in it about a month ago when he had mites, which I've "nix'ed." This weekend I'm moving him to his new 55 gallon tank so I'll be getting him a new waterbowl and hides. I'll try to get some of those plants that Zaradozia is talking about too.

I'll keep you all updated and I'm gonna try to get my Digi Cam working to get better pics of him. Thanks!

[Kiljosh]

SO had a link sent to me on instructions to get this guy rehydrated, after giving him his bath I took the opportunity to snap some good pics off my cam while he was chilling on my arm.

They are massive so I'll just post the links. Do you guys see any evidence of stuck eye caps?

ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/85/005hu.jpg/)
ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/855/006jqv.jpg/)

[TeaNinja]

has happened to my bp before when the humidity was too low.

[snake man12]

Wow make sure he has a lot of ground cover in a 55 gal tank or he might get stressed

[mykee]

"Do you guys see any evidence of stuck eye caps?"
Yup. And stuck head scales too. If that last shed as you say went "very well", our definitions of 'very well' vary greatly.

[shaunyboy]

over here we use a product called viscotears

http://www.google.co.uk/aclk?sa=L&ai=CuD892K--TqKPC8Sb8AOY9PGdAtDcnf0CyISLzzWZnJq2CggAEAEoA1DRnL ClAWC79seD3ArIAQGpAg465ey9uro-qgQcT9AA94jhileDAzC-QdWTMiQSB23hz6N8I33Qf7oFEwir76-10rGsAhVFH3wKHXAwaULKBQA&rct=j&q=viscotears&ei=2K--TqujCcW-8APw4KSTBA&sig=AOD64_1E99_pHCS2dDjmdP4z_v_xeNZJMw&sqi=2&ved=0CAsQ0Qw&adurl=http://url.hurra.com/cgi-local/ProxyUrl.cgi%3Fkeyword_id%3D5604438301%26GOOGLE_TY PE%3DSEARCH%26remote_ad_id%3D14304428384%26GOOGLE_ PLACEMENT%3D&cad=rja

it removes retained eye caps

i'll pm you a link on how its used mate

cheers shaun

[Kiljosh]

Thanks Shaun, I will try what you speak of.

And mykee man, I appreciate you trying to help and all but I could do without the condescending tone. Sorry I don't have the same view of a real good shed as you. I am here to ensure my BP's health and just because I'm no super genius doesn't mean I can't learn. Ive only had him for 2 sheds, the first went horribly as Ive said. So I'm sorry if I didn't see stuck eye caps or head scales but the fact that I'm here should show you where my heart is. Compared to his first shed this last one was 100 times better.

Just saying man, not trying to be a **** but we all start out as noobs, why not help me learn because I care about my snake I'm not some idiot who's going to let it die in 4 months!

Where do you see the evidence of stuck head scales?

[shaunyboy]

Thanks Shaun, I will try what you speak of.

And mykee man, I appreciate you trying to help and all but I could do without the condescending tone. Sorry I don't have the same view of a real good shed as you. I am here to ensure my BP's health and just because I'm no super genius doesn't mean I can't learn. Ive only had him for 2 sheds, the first went horribly as Ive said. So I'm sorry if I didn't see stuck eye caps or head scales but the fact that I'm here should show you where my heart is. Compared to his first shed this last one was 100 times better.

Just saying man, not trying to be a **** but we all start out as noobs, why not help me learn because I care about my snake I'm not some idiot who's going to let it die in 4 months!

Where do you see the evidence of stuck head scales?

i've pm'd you a link on the viscotears method

re mykee
although he is our ball super genuis,sometimes he can come across a tad gruff

imo he don't mean anything bad mate thats just our mykee ;)

don't take it to heart its just his way of doing things

cheers shaun

[citysnakes]

Maybe its my eyes or the image quality but I'm actually not seeing any retained eye caps or head scales in the pics...

I've experienced this with some of my balls over the years and it doesn't seem like a major issue but I do think humidity does play a role in dented eye caps.

I think you just need to work on keeping your humidity within a more consistent range.

I don't mind anywhere from 55-60 but, as mentioned, a bit higher range can work as well.

Good luck! :)

[shaunyboy]

Maybe its my eyes or the image quality but I'm actually not seeing any retained eye caps or head scales in the pics...

I've experienced this with some of my balls over the years and it doesn't seem like a major issue but I do think humidity does play a role in dented eye caps.

I think you just need to work on keeping your humidity within a more consistent range.

I don't mind anywhere from 55-60 but, as mentioned, a bit higher range can work as well.

Good luck! :)

^^^^^
and julian's our more laid back ball super genuis ;)

good to see you back on here mate

cheers shaun

[Kiljosh]

Picked up some moss and some other stuff today at the expo, hope it will satisfy his needs combined with the bigger waterbowl and plants ill be putting in now that I have some floor space in the tank.

[mykee]

That 'shine' that you see on a few scales on his head; stuck scales.
The only good shed is a one piece shed.
There is no gray area.

[snake man12]

I don't think that's accurate my ball has perfect shed every time and he has that shine there as well

[Kiljosh]

That 'shine' that you see on a few scales on his head; stuck scales.
The only good shed is a one piece shed.
There is no gray area.

This was a one piece shed, complete with a head so fully intact you could tell where the lower jaw and upper jaw were. But I honestly saw the shimmer and figured it was normal since the scales are smooth and not trying to peel on top of the fact I've seen plenty of pics on this site where BP's have had it and not one person has said a thing to the OP of those pics.

Heres some new ones of the setups...55gal for my ball(who is already "modifying" it to his desire) and an empty 20g warming up for my baby MBK which I HOPE I put enough hides in haha.

[mykee]

Seems a bit big for a ball python of any size, but if he does well in it, works for me.

[Kiljosh]

Haha he seems to like it man, cruising up and down it. We'll see if he eats tonight, if hes stressed and refuses I'm gonna put some more foliage in there to cover some of the open space.

[Gungirl]

One thing that might help if he refuses to eat is cover the back and both sides of the tank with something. People use fish tank backings, black fabric or even just some cardboard. Doing this can help him feel more secure also.

[Kiljosh]

Yea, I saw some of that stuff when I was at Petsmart getting him a new hide for his hot side. Was going to pick some up but I didn't know how tall his new tank was exactly and wasn't sure if the sheet would be big enough.

I had his old tank's sides covered with paper but its cheesy looking and I'm really trying to make this setup look nice!

[alessia55]

My ball python's scales "shine/shimmer" in the light too- especially after he has shed. I looked at the photos and it doesn't look like there are any retained scales or eye caps. You've got nice setups. Like some people before me have mentioned, I'd cover some of that open floor space a bit more.

[kreaturekeeper]

Ya I agree with alessia. I don't see any stuck shed and my girls head shines like that after a fully intact shed also. As far as the dint in the eye I have also had this happen once even though my tanks meter reads 50% humidity. I just spritzed some water on and it went away in seconds :)
Good luck. He is a very cute snake

[kreaturekeeper]

Ya I agree with alessia. I don't see any stuck shed and my girls head shines like that after a fully intact shed also. As far as the dint in the eye I have also had this happen once even though my tanks meter reads 50% humidity. I just spritzed some water on and it went away in seconds :)
Good luck. He is a very cute snake