Gail's garter - the snake kind silly.

[BLUESIRTALIS]

Sometimes a dab of mineral oil helps with eye caps.

i just don't know how i missed this, but i'm going to wait for the next shed and if it doesn't come off then, well off to the vet it is. I thought i had seen both caps on her shed in july, but then i've also gotten stronger reading glasses since then too. I got a magnifying glass to do a good inspection from now on.

[kueluck]

Shawn, I saw that on YouTube. They said it dissolves the eye-cap, I'm going to look at Wholefoods to see if they carry a food grade mineral oil. But this time around I'm going to wait for the next shed, maybe. It taunts me to remove it, I hear it calling to me........remove meeeee......remove meeee.

CIMG0005.jpg

[guidofatherof5]

Looking at that photo I would say leave it alone. Eye caps should come off in 1 piece.
That retained cap has fused with the new one. In my opinion the risk is too great that the eye will be injured.

[kueluck]

Like telling a little boy, DON'T PICK AT IT!! I'll try to fight the urge.

[BLUESIRTALIS]

I would leave it on until she sheds but if it don't come off then you might need to put some mineral oil on it.

like telling a little boy, don't pick at it!! I'll try to fight the urge.

[kueluck]

Zena shed today and it was not an easy one. First the end of her tail started, then small holes in the center started. She looked like she was wearing a loose fitting pant leg but the head seemed to be tight. I watched her open her mouth like a yawn, but I think she was trying to loosen the skin, then she did slow rubbing laps in her cage. I put her in the warm moist hide this morning for about 30 min then back into her cage. I came home and found lots of pieces parts of shed in the cage, but the head was still attached, loose, but still attached. So I "helped" with the removal. I held her head down and very slowly started to peel the skin, neck to nose since it was not loose any where else. I saw both eye caps come off, and then checked her out with a lighted magnifying glass. Not sure why all the issues since the cage humidity stays 50-60%, there is also a moist hide in there all the time but I have not seen her go into it. She also does not soak in the dish, none of mine do. When I do put them in water, be it their dishes or the tub they seen to hate it and just want out. If in the tube they head for the float I have in there for them. I guess they didn't get the memo on being water snakes. After all this she was breathing kind of hard and was kind of, sort of wheezing, or maybe more like a whistling sound, then stopped once she calmed down. She's got a 10 am appointment tomorrow at the Vet.

CIMG0014.jpg

[ConcinusMan]

After all this she was breathing kind of hard and was kind of, sort of wheezing, or maybe more like a whistling sound, then stopped once she calmed down. She's got a 10 am appointment tomorrow at the Vet.

CIMG0014.jpg

I don't think that's anything to be concerned about. The breathing symptoms you mentioned is most likely just because the old skin is very tight which is why they need to shed in the first place. It's very common for snakes at shedding time to require extra effort to breathe, especially when oxygen demand is high. Sometimes this is accompanied by a whistling sound.

I'm more concerned about why she is consistently having shedding issues. That often indicates an underlying health condition.

[guidofatherof5]

That eye looking great. It was worth the wait.

[-MARWOLAETH-]

Zena is one pretty snake.It's good to hear her eye is back to normal.

[ProXimuS]

Woa! Her eye looks great Way to go Zena and Gail!