Hi, attaching here pic of my Sleepy baby Tojo. Someone please tell me if it's eyes look puffy or are they normal? If puffy, what drops you suggest? I'm from India, would be grateful if someone has knowledge of what is available here.
Are these puffy eyes?
- Thread starter pinnie
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Hi, attaching here pic of my Sleepy baby Tojo. Someone please tell me if it's eyes look puffy or are they normal? If puffy, what drops you suggest? I'm from India, would be grateful if someone has knowledge of what is available here.
Thank you TammyJ
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Hard to tell for me. But until @Tom answers, you should give her a long warm soak and add baby food carrots to the water Incase there is an eye problem. It won't hurt.
I shall do this. Thank u
Thank you.
They don't look puffy, but the nictating membrane should not be stuck closed like that.
What are your four temperatures? Warm side, cool side, basking area, and over night low?
What type of substrate are you using? Is it damp?
What type of light bulbs are you using?
What type of UV bulb? How close to the tortoise is it?
UVB cum basking light keeps temp at 40°C, cool side comes to 28-30°C.
Ceramic heat lamp is 50 watt...keeps temp at 35-40°C throught the night.
Tojo has his dose of sunlight too for an hour evryday.
I had cocopeat substrate...which was getting messed up with food tray. After consulting here on forum I layered it with fir bark.
My bulbs and lamps are all 15-18 inches at distance from my tort.
Those temperatures are good for an Indian star. They like it hot.
Are you keeping it humid? Is the substrate kept damp?
What type of bulb are you using for UV? Is it a mercury vapor bulb, a cfl type, LED???
I try to maintain this temperature for Tojo (my tort)..coz it's pretty hot in Mumbai. We sit in AC all day long but i make sure Tojo doesn't suffer.
Yes, I keep substrate damp. When it dries up on upper layer i moist it with a spray.
Which type of bulb!!??? I dint even know there comes variety. Please look at the image and you tell me what kind it is? And is it good? Can I continue using it?
Btw, going back to the main concern, what abt his puffy eyes? Do they look ok to you?
Yes, I keep substrate damp. When it dries up on upper layer i moist it with a spray.
Which type of bulb!!??? I dint even know there comes variety. Please look at the image and you tell me what kind it is? And is it good? Can I continue using it?
Btw, going back to the main concern, what abt his puffy eyes? Do they look ok to you?
The eyes do not look okay to me, if they look like the picture continuously.
Spraying the surface usually is not enough to keep the substrate damp. Most people need to dump water into eh substrate periodically. I mention this because dry dusty substrate can cause eye issues.
Your UV bulb might be burning the tortoises eyes. Do you have a UV meter? I would not use that type of bulb. In your climate, you really don't need indoor UV if you can give the tortoise access to direct sunshine a few times per week in a safe outdoor enclosure for an hour or so. Be very careful he doesn't over heat and cook in the sun. The enclosure needs to have heavy shade in addition to access to sunshine.
Check this out. This info applies all over the whole world. You simply adjust and tweak wattage or other detail to get the correct temperatures:
Here is a breakdown of the four heating and lighting essentials:
- Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
- Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
- Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
- UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.
Info For New People. Please Read This First.
Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...
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I read it all a lil too hurriedly. But this is great deal of help.The eyes do not look okay to me, if they look like the picture continuously.
Spraying the surface usually is not enough to keep the substrate damp. Most people need to dump water into eh substrate periodically. I mention this because dry dusty substrate can cause eye issues.
Your UV bulb might be burning the tortoises eyes. Do you have a UV meter? I would not use that type of bulb. In your climate, you really don't need indoor UV if you can give the tortoise access to direct sunshine a few times per week in a safe outdoor enclosure for an hour or so. Be very careful he doesn't over heat and cook in the sun. The enclosure needs to have heavy shade in addition to access to sunshine.
Check this out. This info applies all over the whole world. You simply adjust and tweak wattage or other detail to get the correct temperatures:
Here is a breakdown of the four heating and lighting essentials:
And much more care info here:
- Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
- Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
- Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
- UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.
Info For New People. Please Read This First.
Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...
I ll read it again carefully...and make necessary changes on my end.
Also, Tojo's eyes seem to be better..not puffy anymore. Gave him only outside natural light and discarded the UV bulb.
I'm very grateful to all you guys here.
Please stick around, i may need you more often.
Hi again...
The eyes are so better now ...puff was all coz of uv bulb. I ve decided to get rid of it and let Tojo bathe in natural sun.
I have another issue at hand today.
Pls look at the pics and tell me what is this discoloration of skin under its mouth? Can it be mosquito bite?..or scratches from its own shell beneath the mouth?
Other thing ...those creases on plastron...is that normal?
For ref ...my Tojo is 4-5 mnths old, Indian star.
The eyes are so better now ...puff was all coz of uv bulb. I ve decided to get rid of it and let Tojo bathe in natural sun.
I have another issue at hand today.
Pls look at the pics and tell me what is this discoloration of skin under its mouth? Can it be mosquito bite?..or scratches from its own shell beneath the mouth?
Other thing ...those creases on plastron...is that normal?
For ref ...my Tojo is 4-5 mnths old, Indian star.
