# Russian Tortoise Eyes Swollen Shut



## MsBeBe_E (Jul 16, 2013)

OMG! I just noticed today that my torts eyes are swollen shut. He has been lethargic and not eating for the last 5 days or so and has only been hiden under the substrate. What should I do? I'm scared. Is any meds I can buy? Could my uvb light be too close?


He's sits right under that light all day. It's a Repti Sun 10.0 tube light. Help!


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## wellington (Jul 16, 2013)

How far is the light from him? For now, give him a warm soak. Others will be one with more ideas.


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## Yvonne G (Jul 16, 2013)

This is normally box turtle complaint. I'm going to assume it's the same thing with your Russian tortoise. When they stop eating, for whatever reason, the first thing you notice is swollen eyes that don't want to open. This is usually due to a vitamin A deficiency because they aren't eating. I'm not saying that's what is wrong with your tortoise. I'm not a vet and haven't had the benefit of seeing your tortoise in the flesh. I'm only saying what I usually see is a problem with box turtles.

So, for the next three days, soak your Russian tortoise in carrot baby food water. Do it faithfully and it will work, I promise.

Buy several jars of Gerber strained carrots. I use a dish pan, but use something with tall sides and not a very big foot print so you don't need a whole bunch of water to make it come up to the middle of the tortoise's sides. If you don't have to use a lot of water, then only use a half jar of baby food. But if you use a lot of water, use the whole jar. Leave your tortoise sitting in the water for at LEAST a half hour. Don't worry about the water getting cold. Unless you have your air conditioning turned down to minus 30F degrees, room temperature is NOT going to harm your russian tortoise...and water won't get colder than room temperature. At the end of three days you should see a marked improvement in the tortoise's eyes.

But, while you have found a way to get his eyes open, you MUST do some detective work and figure out WHY this happened in the first place? This happened to your tortoise because of something. Getting the eyes opened, but not fixing the original problem isn't going to keep his eyes open for very long. Go back through all your husbandry practices and tweek here and there to make sure everything is as it should be.


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## MsBeBe_E (Jul 16, 2013)

Yvonne G said:


> This is normally box turtle complaint. I'm going to assume it's the same thing with your Russian tortoise. When they stop eating, for whatever reason, the first thing you notice is swollen eyes that don't want to open. This is usually due to a vitamin A deficiency because they aren't eating. I'm not saying that's what is wrong with your tortoise. I'm not a vet and haven't had the benefit of seeing your tortoise in the flesh. I'm only saying what I usually see is a problem with box turtles.
> 
> So, for the next three days, soak your Russian tortoise in carrot baby food water. Do it faithfully and it will work, I promise.
> 
> ...



Thanks! I think it is due to lack of eating. I just picked him up and he opened his eyes. They are still swollen but he did open them. He hasn't eaten in the last week. I will soak him in baby food carrots and also soak him daily fr the next week. Hopefully this will help him. I am also on my way to Petco to get some eye drops.


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## pfara (Jul 16, 2013)

I think Yvonne is asking you to figure out why your guy isn't eating. Double check your temps. The fluorescent light seems a bit bright to me, but I'm used to a hood that focuses all the light down. Also, where does he bury himself down at? Right under the bulb or in complete shade? I'm hoping for a quick recovery!


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## Laura (Jul 16, 2013)

I would turn off the light for now and use a CHE for heat.. or get him outside in the sun.. in a enclosure...


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