# baby leopard tortoise wont open eye



## Rexx Doopson (Apr 5, 2015)

Recently, my baby leopard tortoise hasn't been able to open his eye. Usually it's just his one eye, but sometimes both, and won't open unless he/she vigorously rubs it, or I soak him. I've also noticed that his head/face is white, like there is some kind of white powder on it. I've washed many times, but it doesn't go away. He is eating regularly, and is very active, acting like any baby tortoise should, but I'm worried about these things.


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## russian/sulcata/tortoise (Apr 5, 2015)

welcome to the forums! we need more information. are you using a coil bulb? whats the cage humidity? what substate are you using? what are the cage temps? how often do you soak him? posting pics of the tort, the lights, and the enclosure will be very helpful.


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## crimson_lotus (Apr 5, 2015)

What is the humidity in your enclosure, and what type of bulb? It's hard to tell without a picture, but often tortoises eyes don't open because 1. the humidity is too low, or 2. the bulb you are using is damaging their eyes


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## crimson_lotus (Apr 5, 2015)

Gah! russian/sulcata beat me to it!


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## russian/sulcata/tortoise (Apr 5, 2015)

crimson_lotus said:


> Gah! russian/sulcata beat me to it!


HA HA!!!!


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## Rexx Doopson (Apr 5, 2015)

I'm using a zoomed basking lamp and an exo terra uvb coil lamp. I'm not sure about the humidity but I switch from moist paper towels in the corner of the enclosure to moss from time to time. basking temps around high 80's. Please help. He is my first hatchling (i have a russian) and I love him dearly.


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## Rexx Doopson (Apr 5, 2015)

I soak him around 3 times a week, and keep a little dish in the enclosure (in which i've seen him soak by himself). The substrate i used before was eco earth, but that seem to irritate him (could this be the start of the eye problem?). He is temporarily with paper towels, but will transition to bark soon.


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## crimson_lotus (Apr 5, 2015)

Humidity is very important for all tortoise babies, you need to get something to monitor the humidity. Sounds like it's pretty low. Do not use paper towels, please buy a proper substrate like coco coir or orchid bark. 

The coil lamp could be the culprit, they're known to cause eye issues.


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## russian/sulcata/tortoise (Apr 5, 2015)

Rexx Doopson said:


> I'm using a zoomed basking lamp and an exo terra uvb coil lamp. I'm not sure about the humidity but I switch from moist paper towels in the corner of the enclosure to moss from time to time. basking temps around high 80's. Please help. He is my first hatchling (i have a russian) and I love him dearly.


coil bulbs make baby tortoises blind turn it off immediately. humidity is a must for baby tortoises soak everyday for 20 minutes and the cage humidity has to be at 80%+.


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## russian/sulcata/tortoise (Apr 5, 2015)

Rexx Doopson said:


> I soak him around 3 times a week, and keep a little dish in the enclosure (in which i've seen him soak by himself). The substrate i used before was eco earth, but that seem to irritate him (could this be the start of the eye problem?). He is temporarily with paper towels, but will transition to bark soon.


coco coir, cypress mulch and orchard bark work very well when moist.


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## crimson_lotus (Apr 5, 2015)

Do you have anything for night heat?

I would suggest buying a mercury vapor bulb (MVB) as they emit both uvb and can be used as a basking lamp as well. For night heat I would recommend a ceramic heat emitter (CHE) as it emits no light and only heat.


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## Rexx Doopson (Apr 5, 2015)

Thank you so much. I'm a newbie at hatchlings, but prepared earlier, only to be met up with this. what are your thoughts about his face tho?


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## russian/sulcata/tortoise (Apr 5, 2015)

Rexx Doopson said:


> Thank you so much. I'm a newbie at hatchlings, but prepared earlier, only to be met up with this. what are your thoughts about his face tho?


this is caused by him being too dry. does he have access to water all the time?


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## russian/sulcata/tortoise (Apr 5, 2015)

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/
read these


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## Rexx Doopson (Apr 5, 2015)

did the use of the coil bulb cause life-long health impacts on him? will he recover?


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## crimson_lotus (Apr 5, 2015)

Here's a care sheet! http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/leopard-tortoise-care-sheet.63792/


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## Rexx Doopson (Apr 5, 2015)

and yes, he has access to a small water bowl


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## crimson_lotus (Apr 5, 2015)

I just can't beat him!! Sometimes it can cause long term effects like blindness, but sounds like he should recover if you haven't used it long...and he's not walking into things/stopped eating.


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## russian/sulcata/tortoise (Apr 5, 2015)

Rexx Doopson said:


> did the use of the coil bulb cause life-long health impacts on him? will he recover?


how long has he been under it? he will be fine if its replaced.


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## Rexx Doopson (Apr 5, 2015)

about 2 weeks


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## russian/sulcata/tortoise (Apr 5, 2015)

Rexx Doopson said:


> about 2 weeks


yea he will be fine.


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## Rexx Doopson (Apr 5, 2015)

Im just wondering...... Can pure sunlight be a replacement for another uvb bulb? there is a huge window in my house that receives a lot of sunlight.


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## russian/sulcata/tortoise (Apr 5, 2015)

Rexx Doopson said:


> Im just wondering...... Can pure sunlight be a replacement for another uvb bulb? there is a huge window in my house that receives a lot of sunlight.


yes sunlight is way better than any uvb bulb, but UV doesn't go through glass or plastic.


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## Rexx Doopson (Apr 5, 2015)

thank you again. ill put him in front of the window + get a bulb. thanks for your help


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## Rexx Doopson (Apr 6, 2015)

would a reptisun 5.0 uvb be a good bulb?


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## Yvonne G (Apr 6, 2015)

Yes, if it's the long tube type, but no if it's the compact fluorescent bulb.


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## Tom (Apr 6, 2015)

Rexx Doopson said:


> would a reptisun 5.0 uvb be a good bulb?



No. They emit very little UV.

In the care sheet that was posted it explains the best options for indoor UV and whether or not you need it based on how much your baby can see real sunshine outdoors.

How big is the enclosure and what distance to the tortoise will the UV source be?


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## Rexx Doopson (Apr 7, 2015)

Its a tortoise house, but im closing off a big part of it, and the lights would be about 7-8 in. (based on my approxamation -dont know if i spelled that right- of how high the tortoise table hood is.) If it is needed closer for maximum uvb absorbtion i bet i can make some changes to make it lower. i just changed him into repti bark. hes not eating, but others in the forum say it's normal during a transition or change in the environment.


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## Rexx Doopson (Apr 7, 2015)

If i moved him to an open-top enclosure - any tips about on how to hang his lamps?


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## Rexx Doopson (Apr 7, 2015)

almost everyday he gets about 15-25 minutes of outdoor sun time.


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## Tom (Apr 7, 2015)

Rexx Doopson said:


> Its a tortoise house, but im closing off a big part of it, and the lights would be about 7-8 in. (based on my approxamation -dont know if i spelled that right- of how high the tortoise table hood is.) If it is needed closer for maximum uvb absorbtion i bet i can make some changes to make it lower. i just changed him into repti bark. hes not eating, but others in the forum say it's normal during a transition or change in the environment.



When you say tortoise house, do you mean the wooden ZooMed Tortoise House? That is an open topped enclosure. Any enclosure that is open on top is going to allow cold dry room air to get into your tortoises living space that you are trying to keep warm and humid. You need a closed top.

What are you using for night heat? What are your four temperatures? Warm side, cool side, basking are and over night low?

At that distance a regular 10.0 long tube will meet your indoor UV needs, if you feel you can't get the baby outside often enough.

Forgive my sense of urgency, but babies do not have a lot of room for error. You have got to get the environment sorted out and soon.

These were linked before but here they are one more time for convenience. Please read them and make the needed adjustments:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.78361/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/


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## Rexx Doopson (Apr 7, 2015)

yea its the zoomed one, and by enclosed, i close the sleeping quarters (got him a log instead), and put a little box in which he spends most of his time. By open top, i meant without any covers, but any good closed tops you recommend? I'll probably use one of these closed top ideas w/ tinfoil or something, but i want to make sure im raising him right. I raised my basking to 95-100, cool, cold area now low 80's, night (cold spot around low-mid seventies, and high (under the nightlight red) around mid to high 80's. Its fine about your urgency, i care about these little tortoises as much as you do. i feel you.


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## Rexx Doopson (Apr 7, 2015)

i have just one double dome in which i switch out his uvb and red light every day before bed. (if that kinda helps)


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## Tom (Apr 7, 2015)

Rexx Doopson said:


> yea its the zoomed one, and by enclosed, i close the sleeping quarters (got him a log instead), and put a little box in which he spends most of his time. By open top, i meant without any covers, but any good closed tops you recommend? I'll probably use one of these closed top ideas w/ tinfoil or something, but i want to make sure im raising him right. I raised my basking to 95-100, cool, cold area now low 80's, night (cold spot around low-mid seventies, and high (under the nightlight red) around mid to high 80's. Its fine about your urgency, i care about these little tortoises as much as you do. i feel you.



Low 70's at night is too cold for a baby. Get him up to around 80ish for an over night low.

Red bulbs are no good. It messes with their perception and sleep cycles. Tortoises have better vision than we do. If you can see the red, so can they. Imagine what it would do to your sleep cycles if there were a bank of those red bulbs right over your bed. Imagine walking around your house and everything was all red all the time. Get a CHE and a thermostat. Since it will be controlled by a thermostat, I would get a 150 watt CHE. Radiant heat panels work even better than CHEs in closed chambers.


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## Rexx Doopson (Apr 7, 2015)

Thanks. will do. Any other tips that the links didn't have?


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## Rexx Doopson (Apr 7, 2015)

I renovated a box for space issues and brought it in my room. The place w/ the log is coverable w/ pieces of cardboard best for keeping humidity. It has damp moss and is continuously now refreshed with more moist (water). there is a naturalistic terrarium hood w/ the reptisun uvb (in which will be replaced soon for a better bulb) and a lamp w/ a 75 w heating bulb.


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## Rexx Doopson (Apr 7, 2015)

There's a weird thing tho. Watson (his name) isn't eating his greens. in his dish he has watercress and napa cabbage(i know it has no nutritional value, but he likes it). even tho those are provided, hes walking around trying to eat cardboard and wet paper towels.


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## crimson_lotus (Apr 7, 2015)

Cardboard is really not a good choice, nor are the paper towels, it will eventually mold..I recommend plastic christmas tree storage bins if you're looking for a cheap fix and you aren't handy, they are rather big and a good starting enclosure for babies.


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## Rexx Doopson (Apr 7, 2015)

thanks. ill do that once this does start decaying. but why does he continuously try to eat them when he has perfectly good greens?


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