I’ve scoured the web looking for postings of Russian tortoise eye problems but haven’t found anything quite like what I’m dealing with. I’m hoping the experts on this forum can help. I got a Russian tortoise for my son for xmas. Actually, I spent 6 months building a custom enclosure for the tortoise. Then I bought the tortoise from Florida Herp (overnight shipped) and kept him and the enclosure hidden in a spare bedroom for 3 weeks to acclimate him to his environment ahead of xmas. My 2 year old son loves him and loves to get him fresh food and water every day, and we give him warm water soaks every couple days. He eats like a champ; he’s a real pig, still is.
All went well for 4 weeks or so and then one day we noticed the tortoise developed one bulging, puffy, swollen eye. I freaked out, gave him longer soaks in the tub, and watched him closely. After a couple days the eye seemed to get better on its own, he began opening it again and things went back to normal.
Then a week later, the eye (same eye) swelled up again. We soaked him, scoured the web for information, and then a couple days later the eye was better again and the tort was back his usual behavior.
Now another week or so has gone by and, wham, same eye swollen again! When the eye is really swollen, the tort's appetite subsides a little bit and he gets a little sluggish (probably because he just can’t see correctly with one eye swollen shut).
From what I’ read online, I’ve identified the following possible issues, but I don’t know really what’s going on. My reptile experience has been primarily with snakes and lizards and none of them have had such issues.
1. Something is just irritating the eye. i.e. dusty substrate, lack of humidity, or some other irritant or scratchy business.
2. Vitamin A deficiency: only having had him a few weeks it seems unlikely that vitamin A deficiency would cause just one eye to swell repeatedly, intermittently. I’ve held off on the powdered calcium/D3 because I wanted to rule that out as an irritant.
3. Respiratory issues: there is no noticeable wheezing or signs of respiratory issues (at least not apparent to me, maybe someone with more experience can help me identify such an issue).
4. Conjunctivitis?? I read that it occurs in aquatic turtles but it seems like it would affect both eyes and wouldn’t have gone away and come back repeatedly.
Getting frustrated with the recurrence of the issue, I ordered a tube of Terramycin. For the last two days I’ve been swabbing the eye with it twice a day (before I leave for work and when I come home). I haven’t seen any improvement for three days now (since the eye swelled up again) and I’m getting worried that this time the eye is somehow worse than it was the last time this happened. It looks the same as before but still I worry I’m not yet seeing improvement.
I’ve attached a picture of the bad eye, and of the good eye, and of the habitat so that someone with experience can hopefully help me diagnose and treat issues and tell me if I’m doing something wrong.
Also here is a breakdown of the enclosure, temperatures, and diet:
Enclosure:
Customer 2’x4x’4’ enclosure. Wood frame, double-wall plywood walls.
Tile floor w/tile on first 5 inches of wall.
Painted concrete divider w/food bowl spot in it.
Molded concrete hut w/basking spot on top of hut.
Open screened top. Mesh hardware cloth door.
Lighting:
2 x 2ft R-Zilla Desert T5 Flourescent tubes hanging 22†from substrate (at the maximum throw distance rating for the builb). Falls within 18inch throw distance when tortoise is basking on top of his hut.
1 x 60 watt red glow basking spot approximately 12†from top of hut / basking perch.
Lights on daytime only timed 6am to 9pm.
Daytime Temperatures (measured with infrared laser-type reptile thermometer that I've always used for my snake)
100 deg F on basking spot on top of hut.
85 deg F on substrate right next to hut.
75 deg F at middle of enclosure next to food bowl.
70 deg F on far end of cool side.
Temperatures have been pretty consistent during the day.
Nighttime Temperatures:
Roughly 60-70 ambient air temp on bottom floor of the house where the enclosure is (split level), depending on temperature outside.
Substrate:
Roughly 60% Eco-Earth coir, 20% sand, 10% sphagnum moss (the eco-earth type comes in a brick that I rehydrate with water. I soak 50% of the substrate every 3-4 days (soaking most all of the moss I can grab) and mix it back in the rest to help keep humidity up.
Diet:
(roughly as follows give or take a little variation of what’s on hand)
60% Romaine Lettuce (store bought, rinsed)
20% Collard Greens (home grown hydroponically, no pesticides)
20% Kale (home grown hydroponically, no pesticides)
10% canned green beans or shredded carrots on occasion
No fruit whatsoever.
All went well for 4 weeks or so and then one day we noticed the tortoise developed one bulging, puffy, swollen eye. I freaked out, gave him longer soaks in the tub, and watched him closely. After a couple days the eye seemed to get better on its own, he began opening it again and things went back to normal.
Then a week later, the eye (same eye) swelled up again. We soaked him, scoured the web for information, and then a couple days later the eye was better again and the tort was back his usual behavior.
Now another week or so has gone by and, wham, same eye swollen again! When the eye is really swollen, the tort's appetite subsides a little bit and he gets a little sluggish (probably because he just can’t see correctly with one eye swollen shut).
From what I’ read online, I’ve identified the following possible issues, but I don’t know really what’s going on. My reptile experience has been primarily with snakes and lizards and none of them have had such issues.
1. Something is just irritating the eye. i.e. dusty substrate, lack of humidity, or some other irritant or scratchy business.
2. Vitamin A deficiency: only having had him a few weeks it seems unlikely that vitamin A deficiency would cause just one eye to swell repeatedly, intermittently. I’ve held off on the powdered calcium/D3 because I wanted to rule that out as an irritant.
3. Respiratory issues: there is no noticeable wheezing or signs of respiratory issues (at least not apparent to me, maybe someone with more experience can help me identify such an issue).
4. Conjunctivitis?? I read that it occurs in aquatic turtles but it seems like it would affect both eyes and wouldn’t have gone away and come back repeatedly.
Getting frustrated with the recurrence of the issue, I ordered a tube of Terramycin. For the last two days I’ve been swabbing the eye with it twice a day (before I leave for work and when I come home). I haven’t seen any improvement for three days now (since the eye swelled up again) and I’m getting worried that this time the eye is somehow worse than it was the last time this happened. It looks the same as before but still I worry I’m not yet seeing improvement.
I’ve attached a picture of the bad eye, and of the good eye, and of the habitat so that someone with experience can hopefully help me diagnose and treat issues and tell me if I’m doing something wrong.
Also here is a breakdown of the enclosure, temperatures, and diet:
Enclosure:
Customer 2’x4x’4’ enclosure. Wood frame, double-wall plywood walls.
Tile floor w/tile on first 5 inches of wall.
Painted concrete divider w/food bowl spot in it.
Molded concrete hut w/basking spot on top of hut.
Open screened top. Mesh hardware cloth door.
Lighting:
2 x 2ft R-Zilla Desert T5 Flourescent tubes hanging 22†from substrate (at the maximum throw distance rating for the builb). Falls within 18inch throw distance when tortoise is basking on top of his hut.
1 x 60 watt red glow basking spot approximately 12†from top of hut / basking perch.
Lights on daytime only timed 6am to 9pm.
Daytime Temperatures (measured with infrared laser-type reptile thermometer that I've always used for my snake)
100 deg F on basking spot on top of hut.
85 deg F on substrate right next to hut.
75 deg F at middle of enclosure next to food bowl.
70 deg F on far end of cool side.
Temperatures have been pretty consistent during the day.
Nighttime Temperatures:
Roughly 60-70 ambient air temp on bottom floor of the house where the enclosure is (split level), depending on temperature outside.
Substrate:
Roughly 60% Eco-Earth coir, 20% sand, 10% sphagnum moss (the eco-earth type comes in a brick that I rehydrate with water. I soak 50% of the substrate every 3-4 days (soaking most all of the moss I can grab) and mix it back in the rest to help keep humidity up.
Diet:
(roughly as follows give or take a little variation of what’s on hand)
60% Romaine Lettuce (store bought, rinsed)
20% Collard Greens (home grown hydroponically, no pesticides)
20% Kale (home grown hydroponically, no pesticides)
10% canned green beans or shredded carrots on occasion
No fruit whatsoever.
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