I am starting to wonder if one of my little hatchlings is blind. He only has one eye, the vet and also they guy I got him off thinks that the other eye will open with time. Anyway he was born mid Oct apparently and is quite a bit smaller the my other hatchling who was born at start of Nov (different parents). I was not worried about this until now that I have had him for two weeks and observed his behavior. He is quite active now that he has settled in, but when he goes to the food bowl he snaps in the air in hope that he will find some food. I don't think that he has ever managed to eat that much and the vet did say that his shell was quite domed compared to the other. Could he be blind? He also needs his food cut up very small, whereas the other can bite of chunks.
Laura
perhaps because he has one eye open, he lacks depth perception.
It could be very similar to a human wearing an eyepatch.
i have a little russian tortoise that was born with a cleft palate, one eye smaller than the other and one nare. She had to have weeds cut up small to begin with and also liked them at head height to eat as she has grown she now eat well on her own and is doing really well try maybe hanging his/her food so it is just had head level and see how that goes
Hi Laura,
Can you post pictures of his eye? You might want to try artificial tears on his eye to soften and unstick his eye lid.
Danny
Hi Danny,
This is the best picture that I can get of the closed eye!
Laura
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Hi Laura,
I'm afraid he doesn't have an eye there. It looks like he was born that way. It shouldn't really bother him, it's just that his depth perception will be off. Thats why he's biting the air as he can't judge distance.
Danny
Danny, you saw what I thought I saw. The socket seems empty. Laura, remaimber animals are very adaptive, I bet it'll adjust just fine over time.
Same here, looks almost like that side of his head didn't develop as well. I don't know much about tortoises, though, so I kept my trap shut.
Now if the knowledgeable fellas say it, though...I agree.
Hi,
Poor little onei. Could his lack of eye / head formation have anything to do with the fact that he can not bite. I give him mega chopped up food, where as twoi (my other hatchling) can bite through anything and has whole leaves. I often have to help onei eat by pushing food into his mouth with my finger or a chopstick otherwise he does not manage to get any food (don't want to help him too much but want to make sure he eats something - he is often in his food bowl trying to eat - very persistent).
Laura
It would affect his depth perception. He knows there is something green in front of him, but can't tell exactly where it is, ie. close or far away, so he just bites hoping to find it.
Danny