Eyes swollen shut

[JustJack]

Teeny, our tiny three toed boxie, is having eye problems that we can't figure out. Her little eyes are swollen shut. They've been that way for about three weeks! Even so, she is very active. She's got 85% humidity in her enclosure. The low temp side is mid-70's and the high temp side is mid-80's. She is usually fed meal worms. Her substrate is coconut shavings. Ideas? Suggestions?
b/r - JustJack

 

[Saleama]

What type of light are you using? If you have a coil UVB bulb, that could be it.

 

[Yvonne G]

Box turtles are very susceptible to lack of vitamin a, and if they stop eating, or are fed an incomplete diet, the first thing that happens is their eyes swell shut. So, if it's not the light, it's got to be lack of vitamin a. Here's where the baby food soaks (carrots or squash) come in handy.

Your baby's diet should consist of fruits, veggies and animal protein. Meal worms are ok on occasion, but you should rotate them among crickets, worms, chicken, etc. For brand new babies I will add a pinch of black worms (those tiny aquarium worms) to the soaking water. All the wiggling usually causes the babies to eat while soaking. Then I place some chopped up fruits and veggies on the feeding station with a little pinch more of worms on top and after their soak, place the babies around the food and quickly step out of sight.

 

[JustJack]

We have a 25watt reptile basking light on in the daytime, and a black light turned on at night. No coil uvb bulbs.

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Thank you for the diet direction. We'll make those changes today.

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We hadn't heard of the baby food soaks, btw....so we just warm it up and let her soak in it?

 

[Saleama]

I'm no expert, but I don't think box turtles need or benefit from night time heat as long as it is not too cold. There are some on here who say that when they are kept at constant high heat, it could cause health issues.

 

[wellington]

Add the baby food to the warm water soaks. The water should come up just a bit past where the bottom and top shell meet. Then stir in the baby food and let him soak. Be sure to keep him warm during the soak.

 

[Yvonne G]

The baby food flavors with the highest Vitamin a content are carrots, squash and sweet potato.

 

[ben32hayt]

I don't know much about box turtles but I bought turtle eye drops from lllreptile of you go to their website check out there medications maybe they can help. The also have an eye cream which is 16.99 and is more upscale than the eye drops. Read the descriptions they might tell you what you need. Hope I could help-Ben

 

[JustJack]

Thank you all for the suggestions! Teeny seems to be improving. We don't catch her eating very often so it's tough to tell how much she's eating, but she's active, marching around and climbing up on her log. Her eyes appear less swollen, so maybe she's absorbing the Vitamin A from her baby food soaks.