How obvious are retained spectacles?

[requin]

So, one of my snakes shed this morning and I can't find the piece of the shed with the spectacles. It's like a good chunk of the head piece just disappeared. I poked through all the substrate and didn't see anything, and the rest of the shed was in one piece so I don't know where it would have gone. I even cut it open to see if that part was stuck inside the rest of the shed, but no luck.

I checked her over and I don't see any stuck shed at all. Her head looks normal and her eyes look clear. I feel like it would be obvious if she had failed to shed the spectacles - is that right? Or would the eyes look normal? I know that retained spectacles look milky - does that only happen when you don't help them come off? Any info would be very much appreciated! This snake is a bit "special needs" as it is so I don't want to accidentally hurt her or anything.

 

[Nanci]

It's not very noticeable at first. I would take a macro picture of each eye if you are suspicious. The spectacle has a "seam" dividing it into upper third/lower two thirds, too, so it can also partially shed.

 

[requin]

Thanks Nanci! Her eyes definitely didn't look like that (they look the same as always) so I went ahead and fed her because it had been a few weeks since she last ate. If I see anything strange I'll get some macro shots once she's done digesting, but my boyfriend and I are both pretty sure that she got the spectacles off.

Now I guess I have the mystery of where the rest of her shed went!