Eye Health issues with horsefield

Mickw

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Walefield
Our tort is 2years+ old. Bought him from a pet shop with a beginners setup.
Since October last year, his eyes have become closed and swollen and haven’t opened since.. we’ve tried eye drops, carrot baths. Those don't seem to be doing anything. Only thing i can think of, we changed the substrate around that time last year, from all tort soil to soil at the bottom and hemp bedding on top. Hes not eaten or drank since oct/nov last year. But we put that down to him choosing to hibernate.
Our setup is as follows:
▪wooden Viv
▪temp around 70-75f
▪Hemp bedding & soil
▪80w deep heat projector IR-A IR-B (basking)
▪arcadia desert 10%+ uv lamp
▪micro climate dimmer b1
▪tortoise food
▪earth-pro-a & calciumpro mg

All bought from petshop as a starter setup.
Today we are going to clean him out and replace the substrate with the tort soil.
Any advice would be brilliant as the next stage will be a visit to the vets (hoping there open during this coronavirus pandemic)

thanks in advance.

37164571-A0AE-480F-BE94-7544AA541A71.jpeg8B1603A4-E77D-499E-960F-3249A24DEAAF.jpegA7AA6033-1E43-42D2-AA50-BB8043A72CD3.jpeg
 

Yvonne G

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That's really a great set up for your little tortoise. The thing that popped out to me was that he's not warm enough????? I think it's a good thing to get rid of the hemp, and put in substrate you can moisten a bit. Warm him up and get him some humidity. That may help a lot. Oh, and lower that sensor down to tortoise level.
 

Mickw

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That's really a great set up for your little tortoise. The thing that popped out to me was that he's not warm enough????? I think it's a good thing to get rid of the hemp, and put in substrate you can moisten a bit. Warm him up and get him some humidity. That may help a lot. Oh, and lower that sensor down to tortoise level.

Thanks. What temp would you recommend for him? Weve gone off what the pet shop said to set it as. I’m also concerned that the exo terra thermometer won’t give a clear reading of the temp.
We’ve changed the substrate today, back to soil and I immediately realised how moist the soil is compared to the hemp bedding. I’ve also lowered the sensor as you mentioned. I will try and warm him up a bit and continue with his daily carrot baths and see how we get on from there.
9A0DA31D-34FD-4112-956D-B766A51D86F7.jpeg
 

Yvonne G

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In a closed enclosure like that, it's fairly easy to get an overall temperature. I would have it be about 78-80F during the day and allow it to drop down to maybe around 73-75F at night. When he's older he won't need it to be quite that warm.
 

Mickw

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In a closed enclosure like that, it's fairly easy to get an overall temperature. I would have it be about 78-80F during the day and allow it to drop down to maybe around 73-75F at night. When he's older he won't need it to be quite that warm.
I will keep that in mind. Thank you for your help and support.
 

Carol S

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What is the temperature of the basking area? I have my Russian Tortoises basking area 95-98 degrees. Is the Arcadia tube light a UVB light? If so, what is the distance of the light from the tortoise? I have an Arcadia 10.0 UVB bulb and it puts out a lot of UVB. I used a meter to adjust the height of the light fixture when I hung it to get the proper UVB reading. Perhaps, the UBV bulb is too strong and it is hurting your tortoise's eyes? Try turning off the light for a few days and see if the tortoise starts opening his eyes. Soak your tortoise every day in warm shallow water and gently pour some water over his eyes.
 

Blackdog1714

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Your basking lamp may be the culprit. It emits uvb as well and may be overloading the tort with the Arcadia bulb on too. Also the basking bulb looks like it might be a MVB-Mercury vapor bulb and those are very bad. A CHE may do much better
 

Mickw

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What is the temperature of the basking area? I have my Russian Tortoises basking area 95-98 degrees. Is the Arcadia tube light a UVB light? If so, what is the distance of the light from the tortoise? I have an Arcadia 10.0 UVB bulb and it puts out a lot of UVB. I used a meter to adjust the height of the light fixture when I hung it to get the proper UVB reading. Perhaps, the UBV bulb is too strong and it is hurting your tortoise's eyes? Try turning off the light for a few days and see if the tortoise starts opening his eyes. Soak your tortoise every day in warm shallow water and gently pour some water over his eyes.

basking area is currently about 80f. The arcadia uvb strip bulb is fastened to the top of the viv (the highest it can go) about 17-18”.
The uvb is on a 12 hour cycle, turns on at 7.30am and turns off 7.30pm..
we have had him 10month prior to his eye problems. During that time he was fine, very active, ate, drank etc.
 

Mickw

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Your basking lamp may be the culprit. It emits uvb as well and may be overloading the tort with the Arcadia bulb on too. Also the basking bulb looks like it might be a MVB-Mercury vapor bulb and those are very bad. A CHE may do much better

I am not sure if this basking lamp emits uvb.It is what the petshop sold us as part of the tort setup. 892AE2B5-4C4C-4B20-BB94-9AA5E702BD6E.jpeg
 

Blackdog1714

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Okay looking at the manufactures data sheet your heat lamp is way to low! Have you tested it with a laser temp gun to see? Here are the specs
TEMPERATURES

DISTANCE TO BASKING ZONE50W80W
150mm / 6″55ºC62ºC
200mm / 8″45ºC51ºC
300mm / 12″36ºC44ºC
400mm / 16″29ºC36ºC
 

Mickw

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Walefield
Okay looking at the manufactures data sheet your heat lamp is way to low! Have you tested it with a laser temp gun to see? Here are the specs
TEMPERATURES

DISTANCE TO BASKING ZONE50W80W
150mm / 6″55ºC62ºC
200mm / 8″45ºC51ºC
300mm / 12″36ºC44ºC
400mm / 16″29ºC36ºC
Theres no other way i can higher the basking lamp, as it’s fixed to a bracket. I went into the pet shop and they assured me that the setup is fine for shelly. And that they sell this particular setup to most who buy a horsefield from them. I am going to get him into the vets this week to see if they can help with any medication.
 

Yvonne G

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I wouldn't trust the info from the pet store. Afterall, they're in business to sell stuff and make money. If blackdog says the specs say your light is mounted too low, and you're problem is the tortoise's eyes, then I'd be more inclined to believe blackdog rather than the pet store. Since you have no way to raise the light, the next best thing is to turn it off.
 
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Mickw

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Mar 28, 2020
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Location (City and/or State)
Walefield
I wouldn't trust the info from the pet store. Afterall, they're in business to sell stuff and make money. If blackdog says the specs say your light is mounted too low, and you're problem is the tortoise's eyes, then I'd be more inclined to believe blackdog rather than the pet store. Since you have no way to raise the light, the next best thing is to turn it off.

The photo kind of explains why i can not adjust the height of the lamp.. it is 8” from the substrate to the lamp. And the lamp is currently 80-84f.
The uvb tube is 13” from the substrate. I think on a previous post i had the measurements wrong.
It is all kind of frustrating as you’d of thought pet shops whould show more support etc. Plus seeing the little tort in his state isn’t very nice. 194DC1CD-3AC2-4656-8315-A053917C5936.jpeg
 
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