Box Turtle swollen eye

EE torts

Active Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2018
Messages
205
Location (City and/or State)
USA
Hello! so i have noticed my three toad box turtle's activity levels have been dropping, and she just comes out and basks under her heat then goes into her hid for the rest of the day. she is very picky and will only eat sweet potato and earth worms (and yes i have tried so many times to get her to eat well) so maybe she is deficient in some vitamins that she needs since she is on a pretty bad diet. normally the humidity is 60-80 where i live because it rains all the time (i live in north America) but lately it has been 40-50 so maybe that could be another cause.
i use a 10.0 tube UVB light. her eye does open but it seems a bit watery and swollen and hard to open, but once she opens it she does not look like it's much different from the other non swollen one. thanks for the help!! i am really hoping it is not a respiratory issue or anything to serious. i don't know how old she is ether.
 

mark1

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2015
Messages
1,932
Location (City and/or State)
ohio
Hello! so i have noticed my three toad box turtle's activity levels have been dropping, and she just comes out and basks under her heat then goes into her hid for the rest of the day. she is very picky and will only eat sweet potato and earth worms (and yes i have tried so many times to get her to eat well) so maybe she is deficient in some vitamins that she needs since she is on a pretty bad diet. normally the humidity is 60-80 where i live because it rains all the time (i live in north America) but lately it has been 40-50 so maybe that could be another cause.
i use a 10.0 tube UVB light. her eye does open but it seems a bit watery and swollen and hard to open, but once she opens it she does not look like it's much different from the other non swollen one. thanks for the help!! i am really hoping it is not a respiratory issue or anything to serious. i don't know how old she is ether.

smash some softened pellet type food into the sweet potato , I assume you cook the sweet potato until it's soft ? I do smash softened hakari cichlid gold , purina aquamax or various koi fish food pellets in with their sweet potatoes …… soak her , keep her warm 85 f ,lots of light 14hrs , and put some terramycin in her eyes …..
 

Maro2Bear

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 29, 2014
Messages
14,712
Location (City and/or State)
Glenn Dale, Maryland, USA
Hey,

Where in the USA do you live AND, more importantly, is your Boxie kept inside or outside? Makes a very big diffetence regarding info provided.
 

EE torts

Active Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2018
Messages
205
Location (City and/or State)
USA
smash some softened pellet type food into the sweet potato , I assume you cook the sweet potato until it's soft ? I do smash softened hakari cichlid gold , purina aquamax or various koi fish food pellets in with their sweet potatoes …… soak her , keep her warm 85 f ,lots of light 14hrs , and put some terramycin in her eyes …..
Okay i will try that, i have tried putting different things in her sweet potato like lettuce and some other stuff and she is so smart if she notices that she get's any thing other than sweet potato she will wipe it out of her mouth with her claws so it is really hard to get her to eat anything different with out her taking it out of her mouth.
 

EE torts

Active Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2018
Messages
205
Location (City and/or State)
USA
Hey,

Where in the USA do you live AND, more importantly, is your Boxie kept inside or outside? Makes a very big diffetence regarding info provided.
I live in Washington so defiantly not humid compared to like Florida but when it rains (which is basically every day but this year there is a lot less rain) the humidity is pretty high. she is kept indoors
 

Maro2Bear

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 29, 2014
Messages
14,712
Location (City and/or State)
Glenn Dale, Maryland, USA
What are the temps, what size of enclosure AND are you giving your boxie plenty of soaking time? Lights, temperatureso and overall day length have a lot to do with “issues”.
 

mark1

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2015
Messages
1,932
Location (City and/or State)
ohio
not lettuce , fish pellets , they like the smell , and once she taste them she'll like them …….. try hikari cichlid gold , soak it warm water a couple minutes …… i'd be surprised if she doesn't like it , and didn't start eating it by itself …… as far as respiratory , the eyes are a symptom ……….. i'd not be to quick to treat for something until she stopped eating and had other symptoms .
 

EE torts

Active Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2018
Messages
205
Location (City and/or State)
USA
What are the temps, what size of enclosure AND are you giving your boxie plenty of soaking time? Lights, temperatureso and overall day length have a lot to do with “issues”.
since it she is inside the cool side is around 71F day time and 69-70 night time the basking spot is 90-93. the enclosure is 5'x3' i do not give her soaks because it seems like she gets very stressed during soaks and she used to go in her very large water dish/pond thing that i built out of concrete atleast 7 times a day but now she goes in once a day since she is less active. she get's 13 hours of day light.
 

EE torts

Active Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2018
Messages
205
Location (City and/or State)
USA
not lettuce , fish pellets , they like the smell , and once she taste them she'll like them …….. try hikari cichlid gold , soak it warm water a couple minutes …… i'd be surprised if she doesn't like it , and didn't start eating it by itself …… as far as respiratory , the eyes are a symptom ……….. i'd not be to quick to treat for something until she stopped eating and had other symptoms .
okay, i have tried caned cat food and she doesn't care for it but i will go and pick up that fish food pellet thing. yeah, i am just worried because i know how fast a upper respiratory infection can kill, and i have heard they are very hard to treat.
 

mark1

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2015
Messages
1,932
Location (City and/or State)
ohio
they really don't kill that fast , folks either just don't recognize them until they are really far along , or put off treatment until the animal is on it's last leg …….. as far as treating , my opinion is just use injectable antibiotics , where you can properly and accurately dose the animal ……. I've had many turtles get respiratory infections , and never lost one to one ……...
 

EE torts

Active Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2018
Messages
205
Location (City and/or State)
USA
they really don't kill that fast , folks either just don't recognize them until they are really far along , or put off treatment until the animal is on it's last leg …….. as far as treating , my opinion is just use injectable antibiotics , where you can properly and accurately dose the animal ……. I've had many turtles get respiratory infections , and never lost one to one ……...
Hello! i meant to update you guys a while ago but i totally forgot to, anyways her eye no longer looks swollen, but she has stopped eating she used to love sweet potato and earthworms and only that but now she does not like sweet potatoes, i got the hikari cichlid gold and she doesn't like it, so now she is actually eating nothing but worms, and that is an awful diet for a box turtle since they are omnivores she should be eating a whole wide variety not just earthworms. i feel bad for allowing her to just eat whatever she wants but if i don't she would probably just starve. Lots of people have told me to just not feed her the stuff she likes and wait until she will eat greens and fruits and stuff (like a little kid you cannot just feed them what they want you have to give them healthy foods) so i tried not giving her her favorite foods and offering her the healthy foods everyday and of course she would not touch it and if i kept doing this she would probably eventually starve. so yeah, that is what i am dealing with and i really am stuck on what to do next.
 

EE torts

Active Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2018
Messages
205
Location (City and/or State)
USA
Hello! i meant to update you guys a while ago but i totally forgot to, anyways her eye no longer looks swollen, but she has stopped eating she used to love sweet potato and earthworms and only that but now she does not like sweet potatoes, i got the hikari cichlid gold and she doesn't like it, so now she is actually eating nothing but worms, and that is an awful diet for a box turtle since they are omnivores she should be eating a whole wide variety not just earthworms. i feel bad for allowing her to just eat whatever she wants but if i don't she would probably just starve. Lots of people have told me to just not feed her the stuff she likes and wait until she will eat greens and fruits and stuff (like a little kid you cannot just feed them what they want you have to give them healthy foods) so i tried not giving her her favorite foods and offering her the healthy foods everyday and of course she would not touch it and if i kept doing this she would probably eventually starve. so yeah, that is what i am dealing with and i really am stuck on what to do next.
 
Top