Tortoise eye problem

zolasmum

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Hello and welcome.Have you tried soaking him in warm water up to where his top shell starts, and splashing some of the water gently on his face? If you do this several times over a few minutes, it might soften up the area and enable you to see better what the problem is.
Angie
 

ZenHerper

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Hello everyone,
My tortoise is having problems in it's left eye and its keeping it closed for most of the time, I included pictures, does anyone know what this is or what to do?
What species is this?
How long have you had it?
Is it eating? What is its diet?
Please post some photos of your enclosure, including the light and heat elements...
 

Yvonne G

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Well, first of all, keep it cleaned off. Then look online for :

eye ointment b.jpg

Wash off the eye area and try to flush it out with sterile saline solution (can be bought over the counter at the pharmacy) and dry it well. Then, coming from up over his back so he can't see you coming, drop a bit of gel onto the eye. Do this a few times a day.

He may have gotten poked or had some debris in there.
 

Zohranas

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What species is this?
How long have you had it?
Is it eating? What is its diet?
Please post some photos of your enclosure, including the light and heat elements...
I’ve been trying to figure out what species it is , i think it’s a greek tortoise, we’ve had it for almost half a year I think, it doesn’t seem to be eating much so we’ve been trying different greens , it was eating iceberg lettuce but i heard that wasn’t nutritious, we tried rocca and we give it some sweet potato’s occasionally , I live in Jordan and people here don’t have much knowledge about tortoise care , most people i asked say feed it any kind of greens so i really don’t know what to do . Also for the enclosure, we put in a plastic storage container but we don’t have a light currently, there’s a sunny area in my house so we put it there and make sure there’s also an area that’s in the shade and the only time it doesn’t get light is in the night.
 

Zohranas

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Well, first of all, keep it cleaned off. Then look online for :

View attachment 324727

Wash off the eye area and try to flush it out with sterile saline solution (can be bought over the counter at the pharmacy) and dry it well. Then, coming from up over his back so he can't see you coming, drop a bit of gel onto the eye. Do this a few times a day.

He may have gotten poked or had some debris in there.
Well, first of all, keep it cleaned off. Then look online for :

View attachment 324727

Wash off the eye area and try to flush it out with sterile saline solution (can be bought over the counter at the pharmacy) and dry it well. Then, coming from up over his back so he can't see you coming, drop a bit of gel onto the eye. Do this a few times a day.

He may have gotten poked or had some debris in there.
I live in the middle east and I don’t think I’ll be able to get vetericyn easily, i asked a vet about the tortoise and she said she wants to give it shots but I’m not sure what to think of that, i feel like most vets here don’t know what they’re doing especially to tortoises
 

Zohranas

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Hello and welcome.Have you tried soaking him in warm water up to where his top shell starts, and splashing some of the water gently on his face? If you do this several times over a few minutes, it might soften up the area and enable you to see better what the problem is.
Angie
When i soaked it and tried to clean the eye I noticed that it’s third eye is kind of showing but i have no idea what the brown stuff around the eye is
 

ZenHerper

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I’ve been trying to figure out what species it is , i think it’s a greek tortoise, we’ve had it for almost half a year I think, it doesn’t seem to be eating much so we’ve been trying different greens , it was eating iceberg lettuce but i heard that wasn’t nutritious, we tried rocca and we give it some sweet potato’s occasionally , I live in Jordan and people here don’t have much knowledge about tortoise care , most people i asked say feed it any kind of greens so i really don’t know what to do . Also for the enclosure, we put in a plastic storage container but we don’t have a light currently, there’s a sunny area in my house so we put it there and make sure there’s also an area that’s in the shade and the only time it doesn’t get light is in the night.
This is the care information you need:

Babies need a special combination of warmth, high humidity, direct uvb radiation (15 minutes a day of direct sun exposure), and shelter in order to feel safe and take an interest in food.

If captive conditions are not optimal, a variety of infections and metabolic disorders can quickly become fatal.

Read the care sheet and ask any follow up questions here.

This is another helpful eye solution...you may be able to find a human equivalent of the ingredients:

Soak your pet in warm water for 30 minutes three times daily. If the kidneys are dehydrated, the digestive organs will not work.

Most of all, you must get your habitat-tub conditions optimized as soon as possible.
 

Cathie G

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This is the care information you need:

Babies need a special combination of warmth, high humidity, direct uvb radiation (15 minutes a day of direct sun exposure), and shelter in order to feel safe and take an interest in food.

If captive conditions are not optimal, a variety of infections and metabolic disorders can quickly become fatal.

Read the care sheet and ask any follow up questions here.

This is another helpful eye solution...you may be able to find a human equivalent of the ingredients:

Soak your pet in warm water for 30 minutes three times daily. If the kidneys are dehydrated, the digestive organs will not work.

Most of all, you must get your habitat-tub conditions optimized as soon as possible.
I like that eye rinse too. And glad someone said it.
 

Zohranas

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Jordan
This is the care information you need:

Babies need a special combination of warmth, high humidity, direct uvb radiation (15 minutes a day of direct sun exposure), and shelter in order to feel safe and take an interest in food.

If captive conditions are not optimal, a variety of infections and metabolic disorders can quickly become fatal.

Read the care sheet and ask any follow up questions here.

This is another helpful eye solution...you may be able to find a human equivalent of the ingredients:

Soak your pet in warm water for 30 minutes three times daily. If the kidneys are dehydrated, the digestive organs will not work.

Most of all, you must get your habitat-tub conditions optimized as soon as possible.
Thank you so much , I’ll be sure to check this out but i want to ask for now is direct sun not a good source for it to bask in until i get a proper light?
 

Cathie G

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I
I hate the heavy dropper bottle, but love the eye rinse! lol One of Fluker's greatest offerings, for sure.
I also like their reptile suppliment. Especially because my little Russian will eat something with it on it easier. It smells so good I want to take it myself.?
 

Cathie G

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Thank you so much , I’ll be sure to check this out but i want to ask for now is direct sun not a good source for it to bask in until i get a proper light?
Hello. Glad to meet you. Best hopes and prayers for your problem. Truely real sunlight is better than anything if the little one wants to be in it. But will also need a cooler place to hide if s/he gets to hot.
 

ZenHerper

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Thank you so much , I’ll be sure to check this out but i want to ask for now is direct sun not a good source for it to bask in until i get a proper light?
Direct sun is fine...for only 15 minutes a day during late morning. Put the tortoise in a pan and stay with it.

Sun through a window or screen will not be effective.

Too much direct sunlight will overheat the tortoise's internal organs. They do not sweat or pant, so they can cook.

If you use the short time of natural sunlight every day, you do not need a special uvb radiation lamp.

The purpose of a heat bulb is to maintain safe temperatures in the habitat.
 

TeamZissou

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It's definitely a Greek tortoise, and looks to be a testuo graeca terrestris which isn't a surprise since they occur in Jordan.

I agree with the others that it's probably a bacterial infection of some kind. Usually we see conjunctivitis caused by improper coil-type bulbs, but since you're not using any lighting at all, it's likely something else.

I would search for any products you can find that have the same active ingredient as the Vetericyn, which is Hypochlorous Acid (0.0120%).

I wonder if using a human product like Visine Red Eye (tetrahydrozoline HCL) which is antibacterial would be appropriate in this case. Something like this might be more readily available to you. I have no idea and am just thinking aloud.

As others have said, raising the temps up to appropriate levels as detailed in the care sheet (27 C minimum) may also help your tortoise get over this.
 

Yvonne G

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When i soaked it and tried to clean the eye I noticed that it’s third eye is kind of showing but i have no idea what the brown stuff around the eye is
It's just dried eye gunk like what's in the corner of your eye when you wake up in the a.m., except his is more prolific because of the injury. Wash it off.
 

Zohranas

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It's just dried eye gunk like what's in the corner of your eye when you wake up in the a.m., except his is more prolific because of the injury. Wash it off.
I just went to see it and there was blood? maybe from scratching the eye? I don’t know what to do
 

Yvonne G

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It' might be due to the fact that the crustiness at the edge of the eye was hardened and when he rubbed with he foot it broke the skin. Just use the eye ointment shown in the above threads to soothe and keep the skin moistened. It will be ok.
 
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csheikh

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I live in the middle east and I don’t think I’ll be able to get vetericyn easily, i asked a vet about the tortoise and she said she wants to give it shots but I’m not sure what to think of that, i feel like most vets here don’t know what they’re doing especially to tortoises
I agree. Unless they are specific reptile or tortoise vets you shouldn't take the risk. I live in Pakistan [No reptile vets l know of here!] and gave my previous tortoise who wasn't opening it's eyes to a good, normal vet and with the shots and everything, the vet just gave him an infection and killed my little tortoise :(
 
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