Is my tortoises eye infected?

[tutail]

Hello!
I just got my new tortoise the other day. He's (or she's!) a hatchling at about a month old and I'm a bit worried about one of his eyes.

Here is the "bad" eye:

For comparison, here's the "good" eye:

Sorry about the quality. As you can see one of the eyes looks a bit shut. I noticed that when I was handling him, he seemed to have some substrate around his eyes. Mind you, when I took these pictures I had taken him out from burrowing to eat. Does he look okay to you? Should I consider bringing him to a vet? How urgent is it?

 

[wellington]

I don't see a big problem myself. Have you tried washing his eye? Put him in a warm soak and gently poor water over his head/eye. Trying to get any dirt/substrate out. Also, are you using a coil bulb? If so, get rid of it. They have been known to cause eye problems. Hopefully it's nothing.

 

[tutail]

I don't see a big problem myself. Have you tried washing his eye? Put him in a warm soak and gently poor water over his head/eye. Trying to get any dirt/substrate out. Also, are you using a coil bulb? If so, get rid of it. They have been known to cause eye problems. Hopefully it's nothing.

His eye looks a little better now. It's still slightly less open then the other. Here's an updated picture:

The one in focus is the "bad" eye. I'll try giving him a bath later. I already gave him one this morning.

I'm using a mecury vapor bulb. I'm assuming that's alright?

Thanks for the quick reply.

 

[ascott]

What are you using for substrate....seems to me that I see sand particles...sand can irritate the eyeball for sure...along with increasing the chances for sand gut impaction....

I would offer warm water soaks and gently flush that eye out with warm water (not hot and not too warm) a few times a day until you see improvement...and what an adorable tort by the way

 

[tutail]

What are you using for substrate....seems to me that I see sand particles...sand can irritate the eyeball for sure...along with increasing the chances for sand gut impaction....

I would offer warm water soaks and gently flush that eye out with warm water (not hot and not too warm) a few times a day until you see improvement...and what an adorable tort by the way

80% coconut husk fibre, 20% playsand. Do you think I should remove the sand altogether? I followed the instructions here: http://russiantortoise.net/care_sheet.htm