Question!!!

[kaizer]

Hello everyone, I have a question that I hope someone is able to answer. I purchased a certain snake about 2 months ago, however I noticed shortly after its arrival that its eyes were a little sunken in, and the skin below the eye looked kinda baggy. I put the snake in a tub of water, cleaned the enclosure, applied mineral oil to eradicate mites completely. Its been about 3 weeks after that, I have not seen any mites anywhere in the enclosure but the eyes are still the same. What are the other causes of this? The snake is eating properly and seems to be healthy. He is properly hydrated. Does it take some time for the eyes to recover completely?

[The Snake Guru]

Stuck on eye caps from poor shedding can cause it, watch the next couple sheds to make sure they come off.

If it did have mites it can take a bit for the irritation to go away. But it will eventually.

~B~

[TailsW/Scales]

I agree with Guru but did want to touch on something you said.

You stated you were using mineral oil as a precautionary treatment for mites. Not good. Mineral oil can be very harmful to a snake. Shocked? Here is why.
Moisture can collect under /in the snakes scales. Normally with the snakes movement that moisture is realeased. Mineral oil traps in moisture. By the way ............. that's also how it kills mites. Traps them in the oil and they suffocate and die. But anyway. When the water is trapped between the scales and skin it causes severe skin irritation and scale /skin rot. Usually the irritation goes away within a couple weeks or however long it takes for the mineral oil to be removed and the moisture released. So mineral is really not good to use. It's also not good as it can glog the nasal cavities and heat pits. Also it's not good to get it in the eyes. It can kill a snake if ingested.

You didn't state how much you applied and where but I just wanted to cover all basis on it.
Just so you know I was a vet tech for 4 years sepcializing in exotics and so I've seen a lot of scale rot issues or severe irritation and in most cases it was due to the use of mineral oil.
But this is all in my opinion and experiences.

Good luck

[The Snake Guru]

Agreed, I actually think that is the reason why they discontinued the use of "Snake Oil" which was used for mite treatments, amoungst some other bogus treatments of skin type issues that I can't remember at this time.

However I do believe that one light application isn't going to cause the aformentioned health conditions, but definitely not something you should be applying on a regular basis, if at all.

~B~