Retained Eye Caps in Snakes: Causes, Treatment & Prevention

Snakes are fascinating creatures protected by unique transparent scales called eye caps or spectacles, which cover their eyes instead of eyelids. These eye caps normally shed along with the snake’s skin during the shedding cycle known as ecdysis. However, sometimes these eye caps fail to come off and remain attached to the snake’s eyes — a condition known as retained eye caps. This condition can impair a snake’s vision and, if untreated, may cause infections or eye damage.

What Are Retained Eye Caps?

Unlike animals with eyelids, snakes have fixed transparent scales over their eyes that serve as protection. These protective eye caps grow with the snake and are shed regularly with each skin shed. When the eye caps do not shed properly, they remain stuck on the eyes, leading to discomfort and vision impairment. Retained eye caps are commonly linked to shedding difficulties.

What Causes Retained Eye Caps in Snakes?

The primary cause of retained eye caps is inadequate humidity in the snake’s enclosure. Snakes require specific humidity levels depending on their species to shed their skin comfortably, including the eye caps. Low or inconsistent humidity makes the skin dry and difficult to shed, which can cause partial shedding or retention of skin and eye caps.

Other contributing factors include:

• Poor husbandry practices such as incorrect diet or insufficient hydration.
• Underlying infections or infestations like mites around the eyes.
• Stressful living conditions that affect natural shedding.

Signs Your Snake May Have Retained Eye Caps

Monitoring your snake during shedding is essential to detect retained eye caps early. Look for these signs:

• Cloudy or dull eyes: When a snake is about to shed, its eyes normally appear milky or bluish. However, persistent cloudiness or opacity after shedding indicates retained eye caps.
• Eye holes missing in shed skin: The shed skin should include the eye caps. If missing, the caps may still be attached to the snake.
• Behavioural changes: A snake with impaired vision might become nervous, aggressive, or refuse to feed.
• Visible retained eye cap: Sometimes you may see the old, stuck eye cap still covering the eye after shedding.

Since it can be tricky to diagnose retained eye caps by eye alone, consulting a qualified reptile vet is important for an accurate assessment.

Treating Retained Eye Caps

While some keepers hope retained eye caps will come off naturally during the next shed, letting this condition go untreated entails significant risks, including eye damage, infection, and distress to the snake.

Professional removal by an experienced reptile veterinarian is the safest option. Vets have the expertise and tools to remove retained eye caps without hurting the delicate eye tissue.

At home, you can gently assist shedding by providing a shallow soak in lukewarm water to help soften the skin and eye caps. Always supervise your snake closely during soaking to prevent drowning risks. Repeat soaking over several days may help loosening retained caps, but lack of improvement warrants veterinary attention promptly.

Preventing Retained Eye Caps

Prevention is always better than cure. Maintaining proper husbandry can reduce the risk of retained eye caps considerably:

• Maintain optimal relative humidity for the species. For many snakes, humidity between 50-70%, with occasional spikes during shedding, promotes healthy ecdysis.
• Offer a nutritious, balanced diet to support overall health and skin condition.
• Ensure clean, well-kept enclosures with suitable temperature gradients and hiding spots to reduce stress.
• Regular health checks by a reptile-savvy vet can catch infections or parasites before they complicate shedding.

Important Warnings

Never attempt to forcibly remove retained eye caps yourself. This risks permanent eye damage or causing painful infections in your snake. Eye caps are very delicate, and professional intervention should be sought if you suspect this problem.

Remember that cloudy or wrinkled eyes before shedding are normal signs during premolt and do not necessarily indicate retained caps.

Conclusion

Retained eye caps are a common but preventable shedding complication in pet snakes linked mainly to suboptimal environmental humidity and husbandry. Careful monitoring during shedding, maintaining ideal humidity, and consulting a reptile vet for treatment are essential practices to keep your snake’s eyes healthy and vision clear. If you are considering getting a snake as a pet, be sure to research the species’ precise care needs and prepare their habitat accordingly. Proper care ensures your fascinating pet thrives and avoids eye-related health issues like retained eye caps.