Eye Problem--Out of Ideas

[Pokeymeg]

Hi Everyone,

I originally wrote about my tort's eye problem (third eye lid not opening) mid-August. I originally thought the problem was due to Repti-Cal because the problem manifested the week I started giving it to him. At the time the eye problem started, he was under a 160W Solar Glo MVB (which I now know is too strong) and I had the substrate too dry I think. I took him to the vet, who admitted she had never treated such a small tort (2 1/2"). She treated him for a respritory infection, because of his head bob, which I now know is just what he does. He got 2 weeks of antibiotics. No change. During that time I also got Terramycin and have treated him a few times with it. No real change. I gave him new dirt substrate. No change. I switched to a 2 bulb set-up, 100W heat and Zoo Med Repti-sun 5.0UVB. After about 2 weeks (last week) his eyes became quite swollen, so he went without a UVB light for 3 days last week. Swelling is gone, but original issue remains.

I was hoping his eye problem would continue to get better, but it is just back to where it started. Yesterday I got Cod Liver Oil and he has had 3 applications so far, no real change yet.

His eyes still only open half-way, and they look cloudy/dry. He has no bubbles out of his nose, etc. He eats, poops, pees, sleeps normally. Unless you look at his eyes, you wouldn't know he has a problem. He did lose 5 grams during this (from 33g to 28g) due to eating difficulty, but we've accommodated his bad sight by giving him a giant pile of finely diced greens, which is easier for him to get into his mouth. He's now back to 32g, as of tonight. I have a 125W MVB coming in a couple days, but for now he is under the 160W.

Oh, also, we've been giving him vitamin spray with his food to get him more Vit A and changed his diet slightly for more Vit A.

...I am really at a loss as to what to do. I know I must be doing something wrong, but I've tried everything I can think of/find in the forum. I feel like taking him to the vet again will accomplish nothing. Please please please everyone put on your thinking caps and help my poor little guy out! His eye problem started Aug. 13th, so it's been a month...

 

[HipsterTorts]

Honestly, I'd take him to the vet again. But not the one you went to. Your vet treated him for a respiratory infection when really torts heads bob while they breath.
What's your humidity at?
For right now I'd just soak him a lot and keep the substrate very moist. Look for a good vet, one that has experience with torts of all sizes.

 

[SulcataSquirt]

Hi, Your tortoise needs the Terramycin badly. I dunno if you just got discouraged because it didnt work right away but you have to keep using it. i would flush the eye and put on the Terramycin. do this twice a day until the eye gets better. DO NOT just stop the treatment bc its not getting better right away. Most likey it will take 2 weeks for the eye to gets back to normal. How long did you do the first treatment of Terramycin for? also, for the 160 watt MVB if have it atleast 18 inches away from him for intensity reason.

---

Also i would get some mazuri so you can get some weight on your baby. that will also help stregthen him up. just soak the mazuri till soft shape into a little wall and let him go to town. you can also mix your supplement in the mazuri and they will never know unlike sprikling on the greens.

 

[Tony the tank]

What are the chances he scratched his cornea?.. A while back one of my dogs scratched his cornea.. After a few days his eye clouded up real bad... Brought him to a opthemoligist for dogs... He was put on atropine ( not sure of spelling) and I was told to let him sleep as much as possible as the opening and closing of the eye just exaggerates it even more.. Took about a month before the cloudinest started to shrink...

Try to get a eye specialist to look at it..

 

[Pokeymeg]

Hi, Your tortoise needs the Terramycin badly. I dunno if you just got discouraged because it didnt work right away but you have to keep using it. i would flush the eye and put on the Terramycin. do this twice a day until the eye gets better. DO NOT just stop the treatment bc its not getting better right away. Most likey it will take 2 weeks for the eye to gets back to normal. How long did you do the first treatment of Terramycin for? also, for the 160 watt MVB if have it atleast 18 inches away from him for intensity reason.

---

Also i would get some mazuri so you can get some weight on your baby. that will also help stregthen him up. just soak the mazuri till soft shape into a little wall and let him go to town. you can also mix your supplement in the mazuri and they will never know unlike sprikling on the greens.

---

I used it for a few days at a time, once a day, several times. I did get discouraged because everyone talks about how quickly it works....I can try a more intense round of Terramycin as you suggested and see if that works.

---

Honestly, I'd take him to the vet again. But not the one you went to. Your vet treated him for a respiratory infection when really torts heads bob while they breath.
What's your humidity at?
For right now I'd just soak him a lot and keep the substrate very moist. Look for a good vet, one that has experience with torts of all sizes.

Yeah, after I got back from the vet and researched the bob (which he had ben doing for the whole month we'd had him before his eyes got weird), it became clear to me that she really didn't know what she was doing. My options were limited at the time due to vet's summer office hours, but I will start looking around again for someone much better.

The humidity is around 60% which should be sufficient I believe. But, even when the soil was really dry, the humidity was over 30%. Now I mist almost daily, put water in the soil, and soak every other day.

---

What are the chances he scratched his cornea?.. A while back one of my dogs scratched his cornea.. After a few days his eye clouded up real bad... Brought him to a opthemoligist for dogs... He was put on atropine ( not sure of spelling) and I was told to let him sleep as much as possible as the opening and closing of the eye just exaggerates it even more.. Took about a month before the cloudinest started to shrink...

Try to get a eye specialist to look at it..

I suppose there is always the possibility, but both of his eyes are affected, so I am doubting the scratched cornea theory. He is on dirt, which, being the most natural substrate, I hope that is not the cause of his eye problem

 

[exoticsdr]

Can you take any macro pics or have someone take some, I would like to get a better look ..if I could.

doc

 

[SulcataSquirt]

Yes, I would start that asap. My sulcata had an eye problem going on right around a year old. Not sure what caused the problem but since i treated the eye it has not came back. What i did every day for him was clean the eye with zoo med turtle eye drops then apply the Terramycin straight out of the tube on to his eye so it was globbed on. Then let it soak in before i put him back in his enclosure. With that treatment it took 2 weeks for the eye to be completley normal again. I continued the treatment for another week after that just to make sure it was gone for good. Good luck with your little guy.

 

[Pokeymeg]

Can you take any macro pics or have someone take some, I would like to get a better look ..if I could.

doc

I will try with my camera, I should be able to get a good macro shot with it, but I can't do it until tomorrow night. He is sleeping now Zzzzz

---

Yes, I would start that asap. My sulcata had an eye problem going on right around a year old. Not sure what caused the problem but since i treated the eye it has not came back. What i did every day for him was clean the eye with zoo med turtle eye drops then apply the Terramycin straight out of the tube on to his eye so it was globbed on. Then let it soak in before i put him back in his enclosure. With that treatment it took 2 weeks for the eye to be completley normal again. I continued the treatment for another week after that just to make sure it was gone for good. Good luck with your little guy.

I will get turtle eye drops this week and keep up his Terramycin treatment for 2 weeks. I had gotten the impression that Terramycin worked very quickly, but apparently not!

 

[Pokeymeg]

Unfortunately I couldn't get any good macro shots like I had hoped...He just wouldn't cooperate, and the lighting was bad. I started the 2x daily terramycin treatment today. I will have the turtle eye wash tomorrow, and Ill use that too. I'll update on his progress. If I don't see ANY improvement in a week or so, I will take him to the vet. If I see anything improve, hopefully I won't have to. Thanks for your help everyone, I appreciate all the suggestions and expertise!

 

[Pokeymeg]

Hi Everyone,

Just an update--It's been 6 days with the 2x daily Terramycin and 1x daily turtle eye drops/wash. DEFINITE improvement can be seen already. His eyes are still not all the way open, but they are BLACK, not cloudy. I'm ecstatic to see his beautiful black eyes again and I expect they'll open up more in the next week. I'll update again in a few days. Thanks for all the advise everyone! I clearly wasn't using the Terramycin correctly, but I know better now.

 

[dmarcus]

Glad to here that there is some progress....

 

[Jacqui]

You must be tremendously relieved! Glad he is improving.

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm sorry that I missed this thread until just now. For future reference, the Terramycin Opthalmic ointment should be used 3 times a day.

It sounds like your little guy had some scarring on the eye. That's what the white-looking film was. It probably all started with the original bulb.

For now, until he is totally well again, take out any UV bulb and replace it with a regular 100 watt incandescent bulb like what you would use in your own lighting (but definitively NOT a spiral bulb). After he's all well and eyes looking clear and bright, then you can put back the UV bulb.

Don't use this bulb - Zoo Med Repti-sun 5.0UVB unless you can mount it sideways (like in an aquarium hood). You said that you have an MVB on order. What kind did you order?

 

[SulcataSquirt]

Im glad the the treatment is working for you this time. keep up the good work!

 

[Pokeymeg]

I'm sorry that I missed this thread until just now. For future reference, the Terramycin Opthalmic ointment should be used 3 times a day.

It sounds like your little guy had some scarring on the eye. That's what the white-looking film was. It probably all started with the original bulb.

For now, until he is totally well again, take out any UV bulb and replace it with a regular 100 watt incandescent bulb like what you would use in your own lighting (but definitively NOT a spiral bulb). After he's all well and eyes looking clear and bright, then you can put back the UV bulb.

Don't use this bulb - Zoo Med Repti-sun 5.0UVB unless you can mount it sideways (like in an aquarium hood). You said that you have an MVB on order. What kind did you order?

Good to know, for future reference. Hopefully this forum will pop up the next time someone searches how to use Terramycin. Unfortunately I myself can only do it twice a day due to work, but it is helping at least.

For the first month I had Pistachio, he was under a 160W Solar Glo MVB, and it is under this bulb that the problem manifested. I know now that 160W was a bit strong, but I did not have the bulb close, it was a safe 24" away from Pistachio. I now have the 125W Solar Glo. I am keeping it mounted at 18"+ away, but it does not provide enough heat, so I have a second 100W regular bulb mounted much much higher, which gets the temp up to a balmy 95'. Do you think I forgo the 125W until his treatment is done?

 

[Yvonne G]

Yes. I would eliminate any UV lighting until his eyes are 100%.

 

[Pokeymeg]

Managed to get a picture this morning! Its terrible cell-phone quality, but you can see how nice and black Pistachio's eyes are!

 

[lynnedit]

They do look a lot better than your previous description. What a relief for you.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Managed to get a picture this morning! Its terrible cell-phone quality, but you can see how nice and black Pistachio's eyes are!

Looks like Pistacio's on the mend!

 

[Pokeymeg]

Hey Everyone!

Quick update--We've done 2 1/2 weeks of 2x daily Terramycin (going for three weeks total). Pistachio has only one thing to say:


"Life Is Good"



Once again, thanks for all the advice everyone! This is the last update!