URGENT: eyes

[percyandlydia]

I just woke my baby Horsefeild tort up and he is woken up and moving around but he only has one eye open and won't open the other eye, any help? I'm really concerned here is pictures.


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Percy: Horsefeild, two months old.

 

[Yvonne G]

This happens frequently. He probably has something (dirt, substrate) in it, or maybe he scratched it.

Everyone should have a tortoise first aid kit on hand. And included in the kit should be something for eyes. My favorite product is Terramycin made by Pfizer, but its become very hard to find and I've been told they don't make it anymore. So I looked around for a second 'favorite' and my vet told me about Vetericyn. You can buy it online or most pet stores:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=24517

Try to flush out the eye. If you don't have an eye product, you can use sterile saline solution. You can buy that in the contact lens department of your pharmacy.

You can find a list of things to include in your first aid kit in the Tortoise Library listed under "Health & Medical' then 'Emergency Planning' You can find a link to the Tortoise Library at the bottom of the first page of the Forum.

 

[ascott]

Also, what type of light are you using? How far away is the light from the tortoise? Do you offer soaks? How long have you had the tort? Is he the only tort in the enclosure?

 

[percyandlydia]

I'm using a solar glow 160w light which is 6 inches from the substrate.
The substrate I am using is a 80/20 mix of soil to sand and then bark chippings on top of that.
I give him a 15/20 minute soak everyday in lukewarm/cold water.
He is the only tortoise in his enclosure.
He is 11 weeks old and I've had him for nearly three weeks.
He has only presented the problem in the last hours, before then he was outside enjoying the sun (I live in an area where getting very sunny days is rare) i brought him inside where I left him to his own devices in his tortoise table and found him asleep as typical so I woke him up for him to roam on the bed with me.

He is very much a digger, could it be the sand?

I gave him a soak just now for half an hour, he had a very very big drink and the closed eye opened but when I picked him up he shut it again so I decided to place him back in the water, again it opened fully, I placed him down and he closed it again.
He is showing no other symptoms.
He looks like he is trying to open it a little but quickly closes it again.

Is there any other information you need?



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Percy: Horsefeild, two months old.

 

[percyandlydia]

I placed him back in his table and he seems to have opened his eye again HOWEVER when I picked him up just to move him to see from a different angle his face he seemed like he took a bit too long to reopen his eye.
I am being an over protective mother??


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Percy: Horsefeild, two months old.

 

[mikeh]

160watt MVB at 6" from the substrate will burn/bake and kill the tortoise quickly. At least 20" bottom of the bulb to the substrate.

 

[WillTort2]

What temperatures are you maintaining?

 

[ilovemytortoise11211]

Try giving him a nice soak. It's caused by the substrate being too dry. Or there is something in it. A nice warm soak will do the trick!

 

[percyandlydia]

Update: I'm not sure exactly what temperature it is in the basking spot but in the middle of the table which is both covered by light on not it's around 25 degrees Celsius.

it's been a couple of days, we have been giving him regular soaks, sometimes twice depending on what is happening and also changed his substrate to only topsoil (which is cold and sort of moist)and bark chippings on top.

He still is closing his eye again but less often.
Is the saline solution the best option until I can get a better solution? I looked a his eyes and there does seen to be some slight partials that could be sand around his eyes. However I can not notice anything when his eye is open in his eye


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Percy: Horsefeild, two months old.