Swollen eyes?

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hunterk997

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My Russian tortoise gets swollen eyes every now and then and yawns several time a day. And lately she only comes out of her hide to eat, unless I pull her out of it to move around. I don't think she has a respiratory infection because my vet said her heart and lungs sounded fine, and she doesn't have a runny nose, and I don't think she had watery eyes. I just recently changed substrates from alfalfa pellets to eco earth. Could that have something to do with it? The basking temp ranges from 90-95 depending on part of the day, the cooler end is around 73-75. The humidity is usually between 35-45 on the cool end because I only have one hydro meter so I'm not sure on the humidity for the warm end. Coupd it be a vitamin A deficiency? What about the yawning, she does it mostly after waking up, but sometimes through out the day.
 

wellington

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What kind of lighting are you using? If you are using any kind of coil bulb get rid of it asap, causes eye problems. The Eco earth is much better then the pellets as tortoises should not be raised on pellets. Your humidity for a Russian should be between 45-55 maybe try raising it a little. Also check the other end. Do you have it dark at night or are you Harding a light on at night? I prefer it to be dark at night time which is more natural. These are just my suggestions/guesses, maybe someone else will have more ideas.
 

hunterk997

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wellington said:
What kind of lighting are you using? If you are using any kind of coil bulb get rid of it asap, causes eye problems. The Eco earth is much better then the pellets as tortoises should not be raised on pellets. Your humidity for a Russian should be between 45-55 maybe try raising it a little. Also check the other end. Do you have it dark at night or are you Harding a light on at night? I prefer it to be dark at night time which is more natural. These are just my suggestions/guesses, maybe someone else will have more ideas.

I had a coil bulb when I first got her, but then I read about the eye problems so I now have one of those T8 tube bulbs. I have been using that for several weeks now. I have an enclosure with an open top so it's hard keeping humidty up, but I'll see about trying to raise it. I do have it dark at night because I also feel it is more natural for them. It cools down about ten degrees at night at the basking spot. So about 80 degrees. But I will raise the humidity.


So I just added more water to the substrate and the humidity is at 53%. I am using the petco thermometer and hydrometer the small ones you stick to the side, I don't feel these are being very accurate because her substrate is soaked and sticks to everything now, and the humidity apparently is still low. I use exo earth so it should be holding the humidity well.
 

Tech13

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I use the little round stick-on thermometers and hygrometer also, I wonder about their accuracy too. When I get a better one, I will post a comparison of them. Maybe someone already has done this though.
 

GeoTerraTestudo

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I wouldn't worry too much about humidity. I'm glad you moistened your coco coir, but humidity can range from 20-60% for a non-baby Russian. As long as her substrate is a moist (but not damp) coco coir, she can burrow into it if she wants more humidity.

Puffy eyes and lethargy, eh? Your lighting and temperatures sound good. I'm wondering why your basking spot still stays warmer at night. You can shut everything off at night.

It could be a deficiency of vitamin A (and possibly other nutrients as well). What are you feeding her? Does she get a nice variety of leafy greens and weeds? How about quality pelleted food, maybe a little grass sometimes, or a rare treat of fruit? Do you sprinkle vitamin and mineral supplements onto her food a couple times per week? Remember also to moisten pellets and rinse plants so your tortoise can get a little more moisture with every meal.

Does your tortoise have a shallow dish of water in her enclosure for drinking and soaking? As for bathing, a healthy Russian benefits from it once per week, but if she's feeling ill (as she seems to be now), you can increase that frequency as needed.

Finally, she should also be getting some time outside. I realize spring has been kind of late this year, but as soon as you get sunny, still days with temperatures at least in the high 60s, you should take her out. That will allow her to bask, forage, and get some exercise.
 

hunterk997

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GeoTerraTestudo said:
I wouldn't worry too much about humidity. I'm glad you moistened your coco coir, but humidity can range from 20-60% for a non-baby Russian. As long as her substrate is a moist (but not damp) coco coir, she can burrow into it if she wants more humidity.

Puffy eyes and lethargy, eh? Your lighting and temperatures sound good. I'm wondering why your basking spot still stays warmer at night. You can shut everything off at night.

It could be a deficiency of vitamin A (and possibly other nutrients as well). What are you feeding her? Does she get a nice variety of leafy greens and weeds? How about quality pelleted food, maybe a little grass sometimes, or a rare treat of fruit? Do you sprinkle vitamin and mineral supplements onto her food a couple times per week? Remember also to moisten pellets and rinse plants so your tortoise can get a little more moisture with every meal.

Does your tortoise have a shallow dish of water in her enclosure for drinking and soaking? As for bathing, a healthy Russian benefits from it once per week, but if she's feeling ill (as she seems to be now), you can increase that frequency as needed.

Finally, she should also be getting some time outside. I realize spring has been kind of late this year, but as soon as you get sunny, still days with temperatures at least in the high 60s, you should take her out. That will allow her to bask, forage, and get some exercise.

She isn't lethargic, just every now and then she gets puffy eyes and rubbs them on her leg. Could that just be too dry of substrate? The substrate in her hiding hole is much more dryer than the substrate in the other parts of her enclosure. Is there a way to keep substrate out of her eyes? Or just keep it moist? She does eatvaried diets, it usually changes week to week, this week and next week is eclscarole and red leaf lettuce. She has the Zilla 50 dessert series. It's the tube light. She also gets outside time, about maybe 20-30 minutes a day.


Oh and she has a water dish, an I have been soaking her three times a week.
 

wellington

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Maybe try changing to plain dirt. Russians shouldn't be on soupy ground. I also don't think those puck like temps/humidity gauges work good.
 

GeoTerraTestudo

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hunterk997 said:
She isn't lethargic, just every now and then she gets puffy eyes and rubbs them on her leg. Could that just be too dry of substrate? The substrate in her hiding hole is much more dryer than the substrate in the other parts of her enclosure. Is there a way to keep substrate out of her eyes? Or just keep it moist? She does eatvaried diets, it usually changes week to week, this week and next week is eclscarole and red leaf lettuce. She has the Zilla 50 dessert series. It's the tube light. She also gets outside time, about maybe 20-30 minutes a day.


Oh and she has a water dish, an I have been soaking her three times a week.



Ah, yes. Ya gotta mix it up. Good substrates hold moisture a long time, but not forever. Every few weeks, I take everything out of my tortoises' enclosures (half-logs, dishes, etc.), add some water, and then just mix the coco coir up with my hands for a few minutes until it's all nice and moist. Then I put back the "furniture," and the humidity is higher throughout the pen. Everyday I also dump out the previous day's water right onto the substrate, add some fresh water, and then repeat the next day. As long as you don't let things get soggy, this is a great way to maintain moisture. The top few millimeters might dry out, but the subsurface stays moist. Misting just doesn't add enough new water to the system, at least not if it's open-air.
 
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