a swollen eye?

[jmconnel]

i have a baby corn with a really white eye, and i dont really have a clue what it is..........has anyone encountered this before or know what to do. i have had her for about 2 weeks and she hasnt eaten since then and i am afraid she has an infection

[kenalotia]

I really don't know what that is. The coloring looks somewhat like the pre-shed eye cloudiness. Do you know when the snake last shed? Other than that, I suggest you bring her to a good herp vet. Sorry I can't be of more help.

[meretseger]

That looks infected. I'd definately go to a vet, before it spreads.

Erin B.

[jmconnel]

her eye has cleared up and looks normal. Everything is good now, but i still cant get her to eat. I have tried everything except force feeding. i guess thats the next step. Im kinda afraid because she is so small. She hasnt eaten in a while. Im worried. Maybe she will eat tonight

[Clay Davenport]

Glad the eye cleared up. As for feeding I'm sure you know most of the tricks to try, but if you have to resort to force feeding, mouse tails work very well, especially with small snakes. They are the perfect shape to gently push down the throat. Even small pinkies can be hard to get started going down with hatchlings.
They are of course not a long term solution, but it does give the snake needed nutrients until it decides to eat on it's own.

[jmconnel]

We broke down and force fed her a mouse tail. I had problems getting her mouth open and someone told me to use a credit card to open her mouth and it worked. Easier than i thought it was. She is just so small, we were afraid to break her. hahhah......Every thing looks good so far. Hopefully she will be eating on her own soon.

[drizzt_19]

Have you tried leaving her in a shoebox with an anole...I've found that most non-feeders that refuse everything from pinks to scented pinks will eat when left in a tank with an anole...It helps to mist the tank before the lights go out...

[SilverSnow]

Did you check her last shed to make sure her eyecaps came off? If those stay on, her eye can become infected (and then the only thing that can be done is removing the eye). If you didn't or you just got her, soak her in slightly warm water for 15-20 minutes and then take a piece of tape, gently stick it to her eye (one at a time) and roll it over it (don't stick and pull straight back) to see if you can get an eyecap off.

Don't worry about the not eating thing too much - she doesn't look abnormally thin so she could go a month without eating. I don't know if you know all the tricks; braining, scenting, tease feeding... but I've gotten a lot of babies to eat by basically totally mutilating a pinky - cut the head off and the body open (start with a live one, you're going for bloody).

[Clay Davenport]

The snake in question is over three years old now, as is this thread.