Help! My little boy's eyes are hurt :(

ZEROPILOT

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I got rid of the coil bulb yes. I was planning on keeping his entire enclosure dark for a couple days. His substrate is rabbit pellets and sand. Just kidding he's actually using coconut choir with small patches of aspen mulch in the places he likes to rest. I'm happy to hear the word recuperate. I was worried my mistake would permanently harm his eyesight to an extent. He still opens his eyes occasionally and follows my finger in front of him with his little head so I know he's not hard at seeing, I'm thinking it was mainly about the pain of a bright light more than anything
The issue is not that the light from a CFL is too bright, but from the way it concentrates the beam.
I'm not one that ever used one of these, or ever had tortoises blinded. But there seems to be more than enough evidence to link these bulbs to issues. Though not all of those bulbs have caused issues. And not every case of eye problems can be directly blamed on these lights.
Still. Most of us simply say it isn't worth the risk. Since other options are available inexpensively.
If anyone is on this thread at the moment I want to point out the fact that (like a lot of people on this forum) I unexpectedly got my little boy as a gift, and I have been trying my best to get him on track. That's why my questions might seem dumb sometimes.
With the wealth of knowledge here, it would only be "dumb" to not ask questions.
 

Big Charlie

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Yeah I've been soaking him twice daily, is there any point where soaking is unhealthy?
Btw your tortoise looks great!
There is no harm in soaking your tortoise throughout his entire life. It is beneficial to him, but it becomes more difficult when they get very big, and pyramiding isn't as much of an issue after they reach a certain size. It would only be harmful to soak if the water was too cold or the tortoise didn't have a warm place to go to after the soak.
 

Tom

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Yeah I've been soaking him twice daily, is there any point where soaking is unhealthy?

This is a good question and it comes up often. If you read some websites and old books, or talk to people who learned from those sources, they will tell you that too much soaking causes all sorts of problems. It makes them poop too much and not digest their food, it causes shell rot, it upsets their "water balance"… I don't even know what "water balance is! All of that is false. They hatch in the beginning of the rainy season in the wild. There are puddles and marshes everywhere. If water was bad for them, how would they ever survive in the rainy season in the wild???

In reality, they thrive with daily soaks. If it did damage, or wasn't good for them, then why do I have so many healthy adults running around making babies that were soaked daily when they were babies. The truth is that soaking keeps them healthy and prevents all sorts of health issues related to dehydration. I have a friend who puts his babies in a big kiddie pool half in the sun with enough water to go about halfway up their shells and he lets them walk around in there for 5-6 hours a day, every day. He's got the healthiest, smoothest babies I've ever seen. If there is a point where too much soaking becomes unhealthy, it is somewhere past 5 or 6 hours every day.
 

Damien Szkatulski

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This is a good question and it comes up often. If you read some websites and old books, or talk to people who learned from those sources, they will tell you that too much soaking causes all sorts of problems. It makes them poop too much and not digest their food, it causes shell rot, it upsets their "water balance"… I don't even know what "water balance is! All of that is false. They hatch in the beginning of the rainy season in the wild. There are puddles and marshes everywhere. If water was bad for them, how would they ever survive in the rainy season in the wild???

In reality, they thrive with daily soaks. If it did damage, or wasn't good for them, then why do I have so many healthy adults running around making babies that were soaked daily when they were babies. The truth is that soaking keeps them healthy and prevents all sorts of health issues related to dehydration. I have a friend who puts his babies in a big kiddie pool half in the sun with enough water to go about halfway up their shells and he lets them walk around in there for 5-6 hours a day, every day. He's got the healthiest, smoothest babies I've ever seen. If there is a point where too much soaking becomes unhealthy, it is somewhere past 5 or 6 hours every day.

Well if 5-6 hours of soaking is good, then I'll try to soak him as much as I can
 

Tom

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Well if 5-6 hours of soaking is good, then I'll try to soak him as much as I can
20-30 minutes gets the job done. I'll sometimes go 45-60 minutes if I'm doing other things and forget about them. I don't think anyone needs to soak for 5 hours. Just listing that as an extreme example and noting that it did no harm and produced very healthy babies that grew into very healthy adults.
 

Tara E

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If anyone is on this thread at the moment I want to point out the fact that (like a lot of people on this forum) I unexpectedly got my little boy as a gift, and I have been trying my best to get him on track. That's why my questions might seem dumb sometimes.



No question is a dumb question! If you don't know you have to ask!! :)
 

David Salas

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What about the UVB bulbs that are not coiled but sort of "U" shape? Do these also cause blindness?
 

vladimir

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Glad to hear he's doing better! I guess this is another example of CFLs being harmful
 
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