Russian tortoise has eye problem

hi everyone, I'm a new tortoise owner and new to this site. I rehomed 2 Russian torts 10 days ago. I am unsure of their age but the last owner had them 2 years. Unfortunately they were kept in an indoor rabbit hutch divided in two sharing 1 uvb and 1 uva between them. They looked dry and both had overgrown beaks. They were fed on lettuce, cabbage and had a woodchip like pellet for substrate. We made them a 6x2.5 ft table each, I use graded topsoil as substrate, slate to eat from and now fed on safe weeds. Two days after receiving them they went to the vets for a general check up and beak trim. He advised that they had MBD and one in particular was really dry. My set up has a 160w combi bulb with reflector, positioned 13 inch from top of torts shell. I reach 31 degrees under the lamp and 20 in the cooler end. I soak them each day and will reduce to every other day once they look less dry

Dave eats well, is very active and is generally happy. I noticed 2 days ago that the other one, Geoff, had his eyes closed. I then discovered that his right eye in particular looks rolled back and his rubs it with his front leg. I have been bathing it in normal saline and it improves for a few hours then starts irritating him again. I have noticed that he patrols around a lot, in particular through his water bowl, which in turn gets covered in soil which he then wipes in his eyes. Someone suggested that it could be RNS and now I'm paranoid as I can't get in the vets until Monday morning. Other than his eyes being closed he seems quite active, however other than the first few days of being here I haven't noticed him poo or wee, but he isn't eating much either. I put this down to being in a new environment and so forth. Would welcome any advice from you guys xx tia

Sounds like you've been given the correct info about caring for these new tortoises of yours.

The eye might have something in it, a piece of substrate or something. I don't know if you can get these products in the UK, but these are what I use. You don't need both, just one or the other:



Put this tortoise into warm water once a day, in a little tub that he can't climb out of. Soaking him for about 15 minutes daily might be helpful to him.

Thankyou Yvonne, I don't think I can get that in the UK without a prescription. I'm going to a local reptile store tomorrow to see if he can point me in the right direction. In your opinion is the toileting and not eating much due to the settling in period. Gayle x

This is his previous set up and his new one

I've tried to get a pic of his eye. It's only one x

Previous and post beak trim

Greetings

I think i would remove a lot of those large boulders, and create a proper humid dark hide for your tort to go hang out in. Add a few plants, some mosses, leaf litter, etc. i don't really see him spending much time on those rocks, but they are cutting down on the available crawl space.

Maro2Bear said:

Greetings

I think i would remove a lot of those large boulders, and create a proper humid dark hide for your tort to go hang out in. Add a few plants, some mosses, leaf litter, etc. i don't really see him spending much time on those rocks, but they are cutting down on the available crawl space.

Click to expand...

Hi, I removed most of them this morning, my daughter got a bit carried away putting them in. There's only about 5 in there now. He had plants in but trashed them in days

Maro2Bear said:

Greetings

I think i would remove a lot of those large boulders, and create a proper humid dark hide for your tort to go hang out in. Add a few plants, some mosses, leaf litter, etc. i don't really see him spending much time on those rocks, but they are cutting down on the available crawl space.

Click to expand...

I agree, a humid hide would be a very good addition. Having a hide may help with the settling in, they do take awhile to adjust to any environment changes.

CurlyGayle said:

Thankyou Yvonne, I don't think I can get that in the UK without a prescription. I'm going to a local reptile store tomorrow to see if he can point me in the right direction. In your opinion is the toileting and not eating much due to the settling in period. Gayle x

Click to expand...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_s...as=aps&field-keywords=terramycin+eye+ointment