could my tortoise have a possible eye infection

[haleigh]

Hi my name is haleigh and i have about a 3-4 month old yellow foot tortoise, I noticed he keeps rubbing his eyes. I looked and there doesn't seem to be anything in them, could his eyes possibly be infected. Also I realized he wont eat unless I hold the food in front of him, he also keeps hiding and wont come out of his little cave, but when hes outside hes all over the place bulldozing over things he cant walk through. Is that normal behavior I looked it up but cant find much.

 

[cmacusa3]

What type of lights do you have in the indoor enclosure?

 

[haleigh]

What type of lights do you have in the indoor enclosure?

I have a heat lamp and the repti glo 10.0 compact

 

[cmacusa3]

The compact spiral bulbs have been known to cause eye issues.

 

[haleigh]

The compact spiral bulbs have been known to cause eye issues.

Ok thank you ill try a new bulb

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Haleigh, and welcome to the Forum!

I'm pretty sure your compact fluorescent bulb is the culprit. You'll have to put a soothing ointment on the eye for a couple weeks before you start to see any improvement.

You get this one either from your vet or from a feed store:



And this one is sold in pet stores, however, you may have to ask them to order it for you:



You don't need both, just one or the other, whichever you can find.

 

[haleigh]

Hi Haleigh, and welcome to the Forum!

I'm pretty sure your compact fluorescent bulb is the culprit. You'll have to put a soothing ointment on the eye for a couple weeks before you start to see any improvement.

You get this one either from your vet or from a feed store:
And this one is sold in pet stores, however, you may have to ask them to order it for you:
You don't need both, just one or the other, whichever you can find.

thank you so much, ill change the bulb and try the ointment.

 

[jockma]

I also think the bulb is the culprit.

These bulbs burn the animal's eyes. He may find it difficult to locate food unless it's right in front of him for this reason, though he may be able to smell his way over. If he has no issues eating otherwise that's probably what's going on. He should recover fine, many, many torts have gone through this. I wish they'd just pull these bulbs off the shelves already.

Also, attempting to bulldoze through things they can't fit in is normal behavior but if his vision is impaired due to irritation/eye damage he may do it less often once his eyes recover.

 

[haleigh]

I also think the bulb is the culprit.

These bulbs burn the animal's eyes. He may find it difficult to locate food unless it's right in front of him for this reason, though he may be able to smell his way over. If he has no issues eating otherwise that's probably what's going on. He should recover fine, many, many torts have gone through this. I wish they'd just pull these bulbs off the shelves already.

Also, attempting to bulldoze through things they can't fit in is normal behavior but if his vision is impaired due to irritation/eye damage he may do it less often once his eyes recover.

thank you, i thought bulldozing was normal but i didn't know how often, and do you have a specific bulb to recommend.

 

[jockma]

thank you, i thought bulldozing was normal but i didn't know how often, and do you have a specific bulb to recommend.

I think most people use tube/fluorescent UVB.

I personally use Powersun MVB because it produces heat as well as UVB so I don't need two heat bulbs and one UVB. 2 birds with 1 stone.

 

[Yvonne G]

For RF tortoises I like to use the tube-type fluorescent bulb, similar to this:

And because this light is so bright, I also have lots of plants to help diffuse the bright light. Then for heat I use a CHE (ceramic heat emitter):



This provides heat without light so you can use it day and night.

 

[jockma]

I also second using CHEs if you aren't already, if YFs are anything like RFs (and I believe they are) they'll dislike bright lights. I should've mentioned my RF is kind of an anomaly, loves bright lights and basking, the MVB suits him perfectly.

 

[haleigh]

ok thank you guys for your answers