Ok, so I will be the first to say, I have never seen this happen to a snake ever! I have a 3 y/o Brazilian Rainbow Boa that is healthy other than this odd dryness on her head. I took her the the vet (one that came highly recommended by a well respected reptile store) and he tried to see if this problem was bacterial and it is likely not.

I can email pictures in a day or so if anyone wants to see. I have in the past noticed her humidity to be lower, in the 50's range and have found a few resolutions, primarily a better enclosure (boaphiles). She wheezes because her nostrils are plugged and it appears that she has retained eye caps and skin ONLY on her head and in the front portion.

I have her humidity higher right now (mid 80's-90's) since I believe it is a dryness problem (and she's about to shed) and I am also using an antibiotic ointment from my vet who is hoping that with the next shed things will pass. I have asked A LOT of experienced persons about this and everyone is baffled about what it is...thats scary when NO ONE knows.

Since I have raised the humidity and started the antibiotic "goop" she has decided she likes her hide box and her eyes seem to not look as "sunken". I have had a variety of boas and pythons for the better part of 10 years and this one is such a mystery. Anyone have any answers? My vet has high hopes for this helping, but I am still curious if anyone else has experienced this? She has NO other problems, eats, sheds, no URI...???

I think it was the humidity. the 50 range is way too low. If there is no bacterial diagnosis from your vet I would just say bad sheds from low humidity. You did not state how long it has had this dryness nor how long the humidity was so low. If, as you stated, the eyes already look better with the humidity increase, then I think you have solved the issue. Best of luck, and welcome to HC.

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Ken
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem." -- Ronald Reagan

The problem started probably 4-5 months ago, she had been wheezing here and there for a month or so before, but not bubbly or anything, nothing like a URI, the first vet I took her to said she thought her tank was a little dry, but get her off anything dusty...so she's been on carpet for a while, cleaning it as often as I notice it messed up. This seemed to help a little, but not nearly as much as I had hoped. When she was small she loved her hide box and shed every time in one piece, as she got bigger (her box did too) she stopped using it for a while until I changed from moss to cypress mulch and an even larger box (she only fills 1/2 of it). The humidity problem I think started when the heater in the house started in the winter (December), I only in the last few months realized it was lower as a whole, but I just misted her down more often. She has never liked soaking in water...I don't think I have ever had a snake that didn't. I wrote the initial post before I looked her over thoroughly today and the antibiotic goop really seems to be helping, I'll get pictures pre-shed and also post so anyone else who comes across this problem can hopefully learn from mine. Honestly I have never seen anything this bad that didn't have other serious issues involved. I just hope that the "clogged nostrils" problem goes with this current issue, though it sounded like the vet could go in manually and remove built up skin if necessary.

If the Vet said the problem was not bacterial why did he give you an antibiotic ?

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Ken
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem." -- Ronald Reagan

When the heat is on during fall/winter/spring, I make sure our house humidifyer is also on. I also take my reptiles and let them run around in a little warm water in the bathtub once a week. They not only keep from drying out, they usually drink some. too. My Bearded Dragon, btskink and box turtle are all best friends, so this is social time for them as well.
Janmccri

SUCCESS!!! She ate, went back in her home, wandered for a minute, found the water and rubbed off what looks like several eye caps. Her eyes look a little "wrinkled" but its probably from having so much restriction on them for so long. When examining the head of her shed, they eye caps seem to be amber in color and you can see a thick ring where her eyes were once suctioned in...I am so happy she's looking normal again!
Antibiotics...I think the vet saw a very minimal amount of bacteria in the slide he looked at and was concerned that might be why she had the amber discoloration in her eyes, last week was the first time I had noticed it looking like that and that was probably from my thoughts just from build up, but seeing as how we had a VERY uncomfortable snake a few days ago, I think it was the best assessment. She probably did have some bacteria from the build up of skin which for some reason she wouldn't shed in the past few months...I suppose my new trick is raise her humidity to 85-95 a few days before shedding and lock her in a hide/humid box on again off again as well.
She does seem to be breathing a lot better, though she still sounds a little clogged in the nostrils...I did notice some nostril shed in the head piece that I pulled from the rest of the shed, but thats probably a little trickier to get in one shed than eye caps.
THANK YOU!

Congrats!

Make sure you don't let the humidity drop back down into the 50's. That was way to low...

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Great news !!!!

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Ken
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem." -- Ronald Reagan

Yes, with the new set up, it should be a lot harder for it to drop that low (it usually wasn't much under 70%, but it did get too low...I'm a bad mother) AND since I have A LOT more information as a whole on Brazilian Rainbow Boa's I am much more familiar what to look for, how to take optimal care for her, etc. My biggest mistake is that I purchased her before I knew my career would have me traveling 2+ weeks a month. I have gone through almost everything with my boyfriend so he is now educated enough to know how to take care of her. She's currently soaking in her water and seems very content. She needed much larger (twice her size) hide and water area than her body...maybe she's has wee-snake syndrome and things she's much bigger than she is

Thank you for everyones support, I do really appreciate it

Also, if anyone needs a quick fix on a screen top enclosure until they can get a better one, I used aluminum foil over most of the screen, it helped hold in heat and humidity VERY well..and its working until her Boaphiles enclosure gets here I also have a thermostat on my enclosure and 2 thermometers to be sure its working correctly so it doesn't get too hot.