Jump the TTBT has Puffy eyes

[karlyholmes]

Checked on/changed water for the boxies yesterday and Jump had very puffy white eyes. I took her inside and soaked her in warm water. She was able to open her eyes but they look raw- I gave her a carrot soak and saline drops to the eyes. She is in another warm water soak this morning but she isnt seeming active as usual and isnt eating. Im going to offer some earthworms to see if I can get her more excited but what do you think is the issue? Her outdoor enclosure has moist leaf litter and topsoil and fresh water. Its very humid here and the other turtles are all fine. Can I reuse the same carrot bath or do I have to buy more? Her eyes are again puffy this morning and she did not attempt to burrow into the cocofiber. Stayed in the same position all night. Thoughts?

 

[karlyholmes]

UPdate: I offered an earthworm, which she normally races for and gobbles within 45 seconds, and she took about 2 minutes just starring at it. Then she spent about 10 minutes biting it but only making bite marks and getting very small nibbles off of the worm. She ate some more of it but is now just staring at it again. Not her normal healthy behavior

 

[JoesMum]

Eye problems can be caused by a reaction to substrate. It might be worth removing the substrate and keeping her on something neutral for a few days to see if it clears.

What do you use for UVB? Coil type UVB lamps are reputed to cause eye problems in reptiles.

Could you post a pic so we can see the problem?

 

[karlyholmes]

Its only before the soak that she has the eye closing/puffiness. She has been outside, brought her inside to monitor the eyes, bulb is not a coil. She was in natural topsoil, the indoor enclosure has cocofiber. I dont have a picture- but i noticed she is rubbing the eyes with the back of her front feet.

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Not sure if it matters, but i had to the redo the entire substrate in the outdoor enclosure (soil and leaves) because we had a hard rain and it was like a mud pit in there. All the turtles were coated in thick heavy mud. No foreign substrates were added though.

 

[terryo]

Get some Terramycin..I get it from Amazon.com. Soak her in warm water, and keep her on clean paper towels in a seperate enclosure, and put a dab of Terramycin on each eye, after the soak, and again at night before lights out. If she got some substrate in her eye, it might be only one eye. This could be the start of a RI and I would keep her seperate from the others.

 

[dmmj]

2 main causes of eye puffiness are RI's and vitamin a deficient, vitamin a deficient is more common in box turtles.

 

[terryo]

David is right about both I think. I always add some chopped cooked carrots in their food every day for vit. A. You could try a baby food soak with carrots. I would get the Terramycin too. I always keep it in the house...just in case. Keep us posted.

 

[turtlemann2]

Terrimycin is less then 10 dollars shipped from amazon, also microwaved and cooled sweet potato can be irresistable and is chocked full of vit A.

 

[Hunahpu]

Pumpkin and cantaloupe are also good options for vitamin A. I realize everyone has their own opinions on supplements, but Herptivite once a week can help with vitamin deficiencies also.

 

[terryo]

Pumpkin and cantaloupe are also good options for vitamin A. I realize everyone has their own opinions on supplements, but Herptivite once a week can help with vitamin deficiencies also.

Yes, I agree. Every couple of weeks I add to their food.