Cloudy Eye???

[Yvonne G]

I'm posting this for new member @Chefdenoel10 who sent me the post in a PM:

Chefdenoel10New Member
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Hi I am new to the forum but I read all the questions and answers as to learn more for my own tortoise ...
Everyone is so very interesting!!!
I love all the comments and answers ...
Lord!! You guys teach me soooo much!!!
But now I am at the point of needing help for myself.. because I’ve already tried everything .!
Let me begin by saying my baby is my life and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her...
I am constantly observing her and looking her over...
I actually get annoying at some point...
she must want to just bite me ....
but the vet by me doesn’t exactly make me feel warm and fuzzy .
when I get there ..I could have a serious problem and yet he’ll look down at her on the floor and say ..”yeah she looks OK ...?”
He will not get up and close to her he doesn’t check her eyes he doesn’t check her ears he doesn’t really look at her mouth the fact that he asks me if she’s eating and I say yes he takes as a sign of everything’s OK he watches her walk a few steps asks for a poop sample and charges me $400 then sends me home with Batryl (no matter what the problem is)....
OK guys please help as I know only you can..
I seem to have found a “cloudy pupil” in my tortoise and she is kind of lethargic... for a few weeks now... she still eats like a shark and is peeing and pooping perfectly...it is just that one eye has a cloud in the pupil part of it.....I noticed one day she just seemed “sad”..? Not angry or depressed.. just sad???? I almost cried!!
I thought immediately to get her to the vet but I know when I get to the vet he’s just going to say it will go away on its own...

so of course I read you website instead taking your advice I looked up to see any answers and found Terramycin which I have purchased since and used for two weeks..

I still see a cloudy pupil....
please help!!!!!!!
don’t make me go to this vet!!!!
He is the only one around for miles...(exotics)
I know only you have the answers
and i was thinking....if in fact it is a cataract does that make me a bad mother ?

 

[Yvonne G]

Bad mothers have no influence at all as to when, or if, a cataract grows on a tortoise's eyeball.

I think it may just be a slight injury. The only thing you can do, no matter what it is, is make the tortoise comfortable. Think about it. . . would you have surgery performed on the eye if it were a cataract? Would you have the eye removed surgically if it's not something that can be treated? What sort of outcome do you want? All we can do is give them the best care possible, and maybe all you can do for this eye problem is add soothing eye drops a couple times a day to make sure the eye isn't causing pain. I use this one, which can be bought online:



Flush the eye out with sterile saline to make sure there isn't something stuck to the inside of the lid, then apply the gel a couple times a day. The cloudy spot may never go away, but it should stop being painful as it heals.

 

[Toddrickfl1]

Honestly if it were me and the tortoise is still active, eating, and pooping, I wouldn't worry, or go to the vet.

 

[dmmj]

Eating & pooping is a good sign overall. Pic would be good. When it is 1 eye it is usually an injury (hell it happens) i would keep an eye on n him for habit changes. Maybe find a new Vet exotic or not.

 

[Chefdenoel10]

Bad mothers have no influence at all as to when, or if, a cataract grows on a tortoise's eyeball.

I think it may just be a slight injury. The only thing you can do, no matter what it is, is make the tortoise comfortable. Think about it. . . would you have surgery performed on the eye if it were a cataract? Would you have the eye removed surgically if it's not something that can be treated? What sort of outcome do you want? All we can do is give them the best care possible, and maybe all you can do for this eye problem is add soothing eye drops a couple times a day to make sure the eye isn't causing pain. I use this one, which can be bought online:

View attachment 273297

Flush the eye out with sterile saline to make sure there isn't something stuck to the inside of the lid, then apply the gel a couple times a day. The cloudy spot may never go away, but it should stop being painful as it heals.

Bad mothers have no influence at all as to when, or if, a cataract grows on a tortoise's eyeball.

I think it may just be a slight injury. The only thing you can do, no matter what it is, is make the tortoise comfortable. Think about it. . . would you have surgery performed on the eye if it were a cataract? Would you have the eye removed surgically if it's not something that can be treated? What sort of outcome do you want? All we can do is give them the best care possible, and maybe all you can do for this eye problem is add soothing eye drops a couple times a day to make sure the eye isn't causing pain. I use this one, which can be bought online:

View attachment 273297

Flush the eye out with sterile saline to make sure there isn't something stuck to the inside of the lid, then apply the gel a couple times a day. The cloudy spot may never go away, but it should stop being painful as it heals.

Thank you Yvonne I will do exactly as you tell me to!! I would not do any kind of surgery on the eye

 

[Chefdenoel10]

Also , I am soooo great full for your advice.
I would love to post pictures if I knew how??
I really don’t think it’s a cateract but I have no idea what it could be or why it didn’t go away with the Terramycin?? That was really good stuff!
I have searched every kind of possibility and seem to keep coming up with nothing.. except using Terramycin..
I also came up with it maybe being caused by a respiratory infection? She does sneeze from time to time but allergies are running rampant right now here in Jersey.. sometimes she has had wet eyes as well but not all of the time..

 

[Chefdenoel10]

Hey... I think I just figured out how to post a picture of this eye problem to you!!!!! Ya hoo!!

 

[Chefdenoel10]

Eating & pooping is a good sign overall. Pic would be good. When it is 1 eye it is usually an injury (hell it happens) i would keep an eye on n him for habit changes. Maybe find a new Vet exotic or not.

Thank you sooo much for the advice. You all make me feel better!! You guys really know your stuff!

 

[Chefdenoel10]

Honestly if it were me and the tortoise is still active, eating, and pooping, I wouldn't worry, or go to the vet.

Thank you that’s what I thought .. but I feel better that you said that.. I just don’t want to wait to see it get worse when I could have done something in the beginning of it all. I have posted pics for you to now see what I am freaking out about....

 

[Yvonne G]

Was this tortoise exposed to freezing weather? This looks like when an eye has suffered frost bite.

My previous info still stands.

 

[Yvonne G]

( That's either a VERY BIG tortoise or a very small bathtub!!)

 

[Chefdenoel10]

Was this tortoise exposed to freezing weather? This looks like when an eye has suffered frost bite.

My previous info still stands.

I am purchasing the gel as we speak .
Thanks Yvonne you are the best.
And I do think she was exposed to some sort of cold.
When I got her she was 4 months old in a basement of a store in Albany and she was all alone in a 10 gallon tank no lights except for the store. God knows HOW she was born???
But I never saw this blue steel in her eye before??? Or when she was young..? Could I have contributed to her problem with this cold icy winter we were having ?? Is this something she got recently or over time??? The. I will have my answer.. but yes she is all her lightbulbs for reptiles now and she seems to love being under them...

 

[Chefdenoel10]

( That's either a VERY BIG tortoise or a very small bathtub!!)

Lmao!!!
Yes she is a “BIG” girl.. nope that’s her size and a “regular” sized tub!! Can you believe it!!!
You guys say to soak your torts once a day...?
Well....?... I had to do as you say.. lol
She is 30” x 30” and somehow under my care she survived to be 21yrs old!!! I am just as shocked!
I bought her at a store called wet pets up in Albany New York the gentleman said she would grow to be The size of a small shoe and I could feed her pizza and Chinese food (wontons to be exact)..On the 10 gallon tank it said she was a little tiny rock ...he labeled the tank “Kleinman tort”...!!!!!
When she got a little bigger I started doing research and getting books and she didn’t look the way the picture showed so I started doing further research only to find out she actually is a Sulcata!!!!!! Never telling me she was the third largest in the world
When I went back to question him
Two weeks later .....the store had gone out of business Never to be heard of again!!!
She was such a little teeny tiny there was no way I was going to abandon her now not even sure what happened to her mom. that’s why I am fanatic about taking care of her.
And funny .....now she’s my whole world..

 

[Chefdenoel10]

Me and sally...
Her name used to be Salvatore but upon her 10th birthday we found out he’s a she!!!!!!
So what could I do but to convert her name is Salvador into Sally not living the name but I never call or Sally anyway how to call her everything under the sun but Sally actually..
Lol....
Pilaf
Boo boo kitty
Punk head ..( only when she is bad)
Etc....
Any suggestions???.... anyone???

 

[C. Nelson]

Hey... I think I just figured out how to post a picture of this eye problem to you!!!!! Ya hoo!!

View attachment 273332 View attachment 273333 View attachment 273334 View attachment 273335 View attachment 273336 View attachment 273337 View attachment 273338 View attachment 273339 View attachment 273340 View attachment 273341 View attachment 273342

Wow! How do you lift her into the tub?

 

[dmmj]

Lmao!!!
Yes she is a “BIG” girl.. nope that’s her size and a “regular” sized tub!! Can you believe it!!!
You guys say to soak your torts once a day...?
Well....?... I had to do as you say.. lol
She is 30” x 30” and somehow under my care she survived to be 21yrs old!!! I am just as shocked!
I bought her at a store called wet pets up in Albany New York the gentleman said she would grow to be The size of a small shoe and I could feed her pizza and Chinese food (wontons to be exact)..On the 10 gallon tank it said she was a little tiny rock ...he labeled the tank “Kleinman tort”...!!!!!
When she got a little bigger I started doing research and getting books and she didn’t look the way the picture showed so I started doing further research only to find out she actually is a Sulcata!!!!!! Never telling me she was the third largest in the world
When I went back to question him
Two weeks later .....the store had gone out of business Never to be heard of again!!!
She was such a little teeny tiny there was no way I was going to abandon her now not even sure what happened to her mom. that’s why I am fanatic about taking care of her.
And funny .....now she’s my whole world..

I like won-tons

 

[Gijoux]

Hey... I think I just figured out how to post a picture of this eye problem to you!!!!! Ya hoo!!

View attachment 273332 View attachment 273333 View attachment 273334 View attachment 273335 View attachment 273336 View attachment 273337 View attachment 273338 View attachment 273339 View attachment 273340 View attachment 273341 View attachment 273342

You are amazing with a camera. How big is your enclosure for Sally? I think she is one lucky Tortoise to have you. Sally probably accidentally injured her eyeball. I have used the Vetericyn also and have found it to be very helpful. I don't know how you manage to lift Sally. How much does she weigh?

 

[Chefdenoel10]

Wow! How do you lift her into the tub?

Not as easy as that sounds....but I used a harnes.. is that spelled properly???
Never know if it’s me who spells things wrong or if it’s spell check that’s making me look bad!?!??!!...
Oh.... and last time I was at the doctors (2018)
She was reportedly.... 109lbs.... and trust me....
ALL MUSCLE! Sally sounds like such a wimpy name for her she should have a stronger name no???

 

[Chefdenoel10]

You are amazing with a camera. How big is your enclosure for Sally? I think she is one lucky Tortoise to have you. Sally probably accidentally injured her eyeball. I have used the Vetericyn also and have found it to be very helpful. I don't know how you manage to lift Sally. How much does she weigh?

Ok to answer your questions in order...
Let’s see...
Ok :
1)- well.... see.... her enclosure is kind of the whole house.... yes I have soft 42” dog crates in every corner for protection... but mostly she is allowed to just roam... she even comes over to sit by my side most nights o. The floor and we watch “the Big Bang theory”...!
I think now looking at her eye it might be frost bite??? I have heard of that in hatchlings when I used to read about tortoises in books (1998)..
2)- maybe I didn’t use the terimycin long enough?? I used it every day for two weeks but only twice a day...? Maybe it should have been three weeks three times a day???
And last.... but most important... :
3)- she is as of 2018— 21/yrs old and weighs
Well....kind of .... 109 lbs..! I use a harness to get her into the tub... and now MY arms look like poppie the sailor mans!!!!