Swollen Eyes (or eyelid)

[Anovick5]

Anyone ever seen something like this? My vet lives an hour away, and the the two times I've tried taking her in for this, the swelling has gone down in that hour. I've showed him pictures, but he's not sure what's going on. The first time this happened was a year ago, and since then it's only happened a handful of times that I've seen (but I don't have eyes on her 24/7, so who knows). I've tried flushing her eyes with a saline solution, but I'm not convinced that helps. I haven't been able to connect the times this has happened to specific circumstances, but here's some of my thoughts on potential causes:

• She lives in an enclosure on my patio, but she gets a lot of time when I let her walk around outside in my backyard. The first three times this happened, she was in the enclosure when I noticed it. The next two times, she was outside. Looking back, two of the times she was in the enclosure, I had just brought her in from grazing outside. That makes me think maybe it's in my yard. Is there any type of grass or weed that's been known to do this? I don't think my backyard has been sprayed with pesticides or anything of that sort in at least a year. I'm not positive what type of grass I have in my backyard, but if it's the culprit, it would seem strange that the grass would cause this only 5 times out of the 100 times she's grazed out there.
• I'm not positive, but I think the bulb in her enclosure is maybe an ExoTerra UVB 150 bulb. I know certain bulbs have been linked to eye problems in sulcatas. Is this that type of eye problem? Even if it isn't, I'll probably get rid of that bulb anyway. But, if it's the bulb, why does she sometimes have no eye swelling when I take her out to graze and only get the swelling after being outside for a couple minutes.
• Besides rubbing her eye, she's more lethargic when the eye swelling is going on. xxNot a big surprise I guess.
• The first time this happened, it was the day after I introduced one of those tortoise banquet blocks into her enclosure for the first time. Suspecting it was the culprit, I immediately removed the block (and have never tried giving her one since), but since it's happened 4 times since then, I'm guessing it wasn't totally the block's fault.
• 3 of the times this has happened, it's been soon after feeding her prickly pear cactus, and the other two times, she's been near the prickly pear cactus in the yard. I can't really work that into an explanation, but since it's been connected every time, I thought it's worth mentioning.
• Her substrate is crushed walnut shells. I know, bad on me. I'm soon to change that out, but I've been waiting because I'm not sure what the next step is. I kind of want to move her to being outside full time, but I'm not going to do that unless I'm sure my grass isn't harming her. Since the last two times she's gotten her swollen eyes, she's been outside, the substrate seems less likely the culprit.
• Is it possible this is caused by dog poop in my yard? I don't have a dog, but yesterday I watched two different dogs run into my backyard and do their business (the backyard isn't fenced in). I don't think that's it, but just thought I'd throw it out there.

 

[Anovick5]

Btw, this is Uno. And I'm Ari. She doesn't usually look this sad. I look forward to in the future posting pictures of her in a much healthier/happier state. And I know her beak may be a little overgrown. I'll work on it.

 

[DutchieAmanda]

That's his third eyelid which is swollen. Because it was on both sides I don't think it was due to something stuck in the eye. Could be due to an infection, vitamin definciency, or maybe the lights. Other animals can show this when allergic. Hope someone else can give you some more info!

 

[Yvonne G]

Sometimes this happens when the animal is stressed. I had a gulf coast box turtle who's nictitating membrane swelled like that any time I gave the turtle any attention. I sent it to Egyptian Dan to add to his colony, and once it was left alone to be a turtle it never swelled up again.

You can buy some Vetericyn at the pet store. It will help soothe the eye:

 

[HLogic]

Does it have any symptoms of a respiratory infection like forcibly blowing air out of its nostrils? I think what is shown there is prolapsed lachrymal caruncles or ducts.

 

[argus333]

ya that vetericyn really works!!!!!!

 

[Anovick5]

I haven't noticed any signs of a respiratory infection, but it's not out of the question. When I took Uno to the vet for her eyes, that was definitely one of the vet's main concerns. He didn't notice any outward signs of a RI but couldn't get Uno's mouth open for a good look without sedating her. Since he thought an RI probably wasn't to blame, he didn't want to do that. But I'm keeping an eye out for RI signs.

Stress seems like it would fit what's going on. So now the question is: how do I make her less stressed? I'm cautious to make changes to her environment, because those might only stress her more, right? Any ideas?

 

[Anovick5]

In case anyone comes across this thread in the future, here's the update: I've been treating Uno for an RI for the past month, and it seems to have made a difference.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Great. I was thinking fire ants!

 

[Tom]

Where are you?

 

[bouaboua]

In case anyone comes across this thread in the future, here's the update: I've been treating Uno for an RI for the past month, and it seems to have made a difference.

Thank you for the update.

 

[Anovick5]

I actually posted Monday's update prematurely, since today Uno had a vet appointment, and I learned a bit more. The vet thinks the swollen eyelids may have had to do with a swollen gut. He explained the specifics, but unfortunately my limited understanding of tortoise anatomy meant I didn't quite understand.

Tom, South Florida!

 

[Robertchrisroph]

Its sad you did not understand the vet. I can really understand this, maybe @yvonne can break it down for us or maybe @Tom why eyes are connected to the gut? I really love to learn things like this. good luck