SNAKE SHEDDING, RETAINED EYECAPS

Snakes periodically shed their skin.  When the old skin separated from the new skin underneath, lymph fluid collects in the cleavage zone between layers and makes the snake look dull or opaque.  Snakes (and some geckos) lack eyelids and instead have a clear scale, the spectacle, which covers each eye like a goggle.  Snakes are usually opaque for 5 to 7 days, after which they clear up for another 5 to 7 days before they actually shed. 

The outer layer of the spectacle is shed with the skin, and likewise it gets opaque before the snake sheds, making the eye look milky and blind. 

This Indigo Snake is normally jet black top and bottom, but become dramatically opaque when he was getting ready to shed.

The Rhacodactylus geckos, like this R. sarasinorum, left, have spectacles.  Here you can see there is a tear-filled space between the spectacle and the cornea of the eye.  On the right are some snake shed skins showing how the outer layer of the spectacle is shed with the skin.

Sometimes a spectacle is retained, or fails to come off with the shed.  The skin around the spectacle is thinner than that of the spectacle itself, so this is where it tears.  If a spectacle is retained, the eye looks dull and torn loose skin around it always is visible.

If the eye is gently rolled back a little, the edge of the retained spectacle becomes obvious.  Once loosened by applying a moist cloth for 5 minutes, it gently and without force can be lifted off.

Snakes with bulging eyes, like Ball Pythons and Indigo Snakes, can develop wrinkled spectacles (left).  This is normal, but is often mistaken for retained eyecaps.  Well-meaning owners try to remove them, but end up removing the full thickness of the living spectacle.  This exposes the cornea and results in scarring and blindness (right).  Don’t try to remove spectacles yourself unless you have been properly trained to do so.