# Well. My sulcata has an eye infection



## Alaskamike (Jun 13, 2015)

I took my 3 yo sully "Tiny" to vet today. Seems like overnight he got conjunctivitis. observe him everyday, and he was fine yesterday. 

I cleaned out and sterilized his outside hide box to help. He's been so healthy this was a shock. 

The vet I took him to was a disappointment. He knew nothing about tortoises. Monday I'm searching for a new one. 

I think I'll get a fecal sample checked to make sure his immune system isn't compromised by an over population of those buggers. 

It is really difficult to get the salve on his eyes. He doesn't like it at all ! 

He may need an antibiotic injection to help him fight this off - don't know yet. Hope for the best  I'll keep you posted.


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## wellington (Jun 13, 2015)

Sorry to hear that. Any idea how? Don't know if your near Aldabramans vet, but I would pm Greg and see.


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## Alaskamike (Jun 13, 2015)

His vet is 250 miles from me. I asked the vet for an opthomic ointment / antibacterial . I used that. Then he charged me for an exam and office visit like he was diagnosing something I already knew. Kinda pissed me off. 

But it's difficult to get it on his eyes. 

I know sometimes if a torts immune system is weak - from another infection like upper RI, or parasite invasion they are more susceptible to eye infection. Dirty environments can contribute. 

So I'm have a stool sample checked Monday. I cleaned his outside hide., and will see if a better vet can give me a better diagnosis / fecal check / maybe an IM antibiotic.


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## wellington (Jun 13, 2015)

Darn, well good luck. That's my biggest fear, is if I ever have to take one to a vet. The closet one to me I already know has bad info on their website, so don't really want to ever have to call them


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## Tom (Jun 13, 2015)

Keep us posted Mike. Its not too common to see health issue with well cared for sulcatas, so I'd like to learn anything I can from your experience.


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## Yvonne G (Jun 13, 2015)

It may be just the third eye lid swelling. Can we see a picture? This is caused by some sort of stressor, and it's not an infection. Usually a soothing eye ointment helps it go down.

Helpful hint. Have someone be in front of the tortoise waving a red or yellow flower slowly and just out of reach, while you approach from behind keeping your hand and the tube of med low over the top of the carapace. Once he's looking and interested in the flower, quickly reach out and dab it on his eye. It's ok if it only gets on the eyelid.


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## DawnH (Jun 13, 2015)

Alaskamike said:


> I took my 3 yo sully "Tiny" to vet today. Seems like overnight he got conjunctivitis. observe him everyday, and he was fine yesterday.
> 
> I cleaned out and sterilized his outside hide box to help. He's been so healthy this was a shock.
> 
> ...



I hate to hear that. Tiny is one of my favorites on the forum!


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## Alaskamike (Jun 14, 2015)

Tiny 
Eye problems. My research indicates this could be due to a host of issues. It could be a simple localized bacterial infection of the eyelid from feces rubbed into eye , or a more serious indication of an autoimmune suppression due to another problem. 
Herpes virus can lay dormant a long time in torts and surface when stress is induced for a number of reasons. An infestation of parasites can overwhelm the torts immune system making them susceptible to eye issues like this. If it is a systemic problem treatment with only a local topical antibiotic will not generally clear it up - or it will clear up and come back. Neither is good 

Systemic infection is often treated with IM injection of antibiotic. 
Injectable intramuscular every 72 hrs. 
Fortaz. Based on weight 
Antibiotic. Or Ceftazadime meloxicam 

Dewormed also is recommended if fecal sample shows heavy infestation. 

Could be also be a micro plasma spp 
Generalized auto immun suppression 
Panacur. Fenbendazole. Is recommended for worms. 
Cream. Kg body wt x 0.25 = cc per dose 
Compounded liquid. 0.3-0.4 cc/ lb body weight. Or. 
0.66-0.88 cc/ kg body weight 

Please do NOT take anything I wrote here as " fact" 

Do your own research and use a vet. I'm just sharing what I researched , not recommending anything 




This is worse one - left eye


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## Yvonne G (Jun 14, 2015)

Did you do research on swelling of the nictitating membrane? As I said above, that is sometimes linked to a stressor. From the picture it looks like the nictitating membrane to me.


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## Alaskamike (Jun 14, 2015)

Yvonne G said:


> Did you do research on swelling of the nictitating membrane? As I said above, that is sometimes linked to a stressor. From the picture it looks like the nictitating membrane to me.


I'll look that up. You could be right , although his routine has not changed 
But the stressors could be another internal problem. 

Update : 24 hrs treatment and right eye looks normal , he can see fine out of it. Left eye shows no improvement ( to me anyway ).


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## Alaskamike (Jun 15, 2015)

Tiny today 
I did my research on nictitating membrane - the third lid reptile and some birds have. Upon close examination it does appear to be an inflammation of this membrane. There really is nothing lately that would stress him out except maybe me digging up his surround for a new underground hide. 

Vitamin A deficiency can also cause this. Though he gets a very varied diet I may get some vitamin paste to add to his greens. Carrots too. 

It is possible he got some dirt or feces in his eye trapped under the lid but this is unlikely. We did have a huge amount of rain in one day right after I finished his underground hide and when he crawled down in there to investigate it's possible the hide was full of water , but they get in mud and dirty water in nature and it's unlikely this was a cause. He ate very well and was active. Not acting sick at all - it's just his left eye swollen now. Right one looks almost completely normal. 

Left eye [
ATTACH=full]134441[/ATTACH]

Right eye 



I still suspect a bacterial infection. Will continue to treat with the topical cream. And have a fecal check done soon - got him out waiting to collect a sample  

Many of the possible pathogens that cause ocular or periocular disease can be latent or sub clinical infections to become clinical when the animal is immunosuppressed by either non- ideal environment conditions or concurrent disease. Bad UV lights have been known to prompt eye problems ( I don't use them ) 

I can see no problems in environment. But weird things do happen. I sincerely hope it is a momentary blip and will clear up with time and treatment. Not a deeper issue with immune suppression. 

If it's a worm infestation that's simple to correct. Other viral infections - not so easy. 

New vet today for fecal check - I'll let you know how it goes. I'm sure others have encountered this , and I want to pass on whatever I can learn. 

This is why I frequently discourage tort ownership if the expense of buying one is a problem. That's the cheapest part. 

Got Tiny as a rescue - free - but his environment and now some medical care is expensive. Lol.


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## Alaskamike (Jun 15, 2015)

Left eye


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## peasinapod (Jun 15, 2015)

Looks like a swollen third eyelid to me. Peter had an eye infection last year. I was told by the vet that one sided problems are way more likely to be due to scratches or other irritants. Problem with the liver or whatnot mostly show up in both eyes.


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## Alaskamike (Jun 15, 2015)

peasinapod said:


> Looks like a swollen third eyelid to me. Peter had an eye infection last year. I was told by the vet that one sided problems are way more likely to be due to scratches or other irritants. Problem with the liver or whatnot mostly show up in both eyes.


Thanks. You're probably right. But he's getting the anti bacterial ointment in both eyes to be thorough.


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## Alaskamike (Jun 17, 2015)

Day 4 of antibiotic ophthalmic cream 

I can see much more of his eye. Much less swollen. 

Took fecal sample in for parasite load test.


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## peasinapod (Jun 17, 2015)

I hope Tiny feels better soon! The eye does look better.


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## Alaskamike (Jun 18, 2015)

Got word back from vet. No worm problems for either Tiny. Or my other tort - CupCake. 

Eye looks even better today.


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## ZEROPILOT (Jun 18, 2015)

Mike, I sent you a PM with my new, local vets name.
Impressive. And owns a tortoise.


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## Tidgy's Dad (Jun 18, 2015)

Have been following this thread closely. 
Glad the eye's getting better.
And lots of other interesting information too. 
Hope to see further recovery tomorrow.


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## Alaskamike (Jun 20, 2015)

Update on Tiny's eye. 
Membrane still not fully retracted. The vet feels like this will take care of itself over time no infection present. He said unless it swells up again the ointment is no longer necessary. 

Still do not know for sure the cause. But crisis ( at least my feeling it was a crisis. Lol ) is over


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## Yvonne G (Jun 20, 2015)

Anecdotal third eyelid story:

Several years ago I took in a male gulf coast box turtle with swollen nictitating membranes. The owner didn't want to take it to a vet. While here with me, it would swell up any time I messed with him or his yard, but subsided when I left him alone. I was fairly new on the forum at that time and I asked the then Forum expert, Egyptiandan, if he cold help me with the turtle's problem, as I didn't feel I could adopt him out with this eye problem. Danny adopted the turtle and after quarantine put him in with his gulf coast girls. The swelling went down and never recurred.

We concluded this turtle simply couldn't endure any human interaction. It was stressful for him. And stress caused the third eyelid to swell.

I'm so glad your tortoise's eyes are getting better. It's too bad you couldn't figure out why it happened. Might be as simple as pollen, but who knows.


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## Tidgy's Dad (Jun 20, 2015)

Alaskamike said:


> Update on Tiny's eye.
> Membrane still not fully retracted. The vet feels like this will take care of itself over time no infection present. He said unless it swells up again the ointment is no longer necessary.
> 
> Still do not know for sure the cause. But crisis ( at least my feeling it was a crisis. Lol ) is over


Glad it's improving. Hope it continues to do so.
Thanks for the update.
Of course we worry! 
That's in the job description.


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## Alaskamike (Jun 28, 2015)

Yea! 14 days of treatment and Tiny's eyelid is normal


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## Tidgy's Dad (Jun 28, 2015)

Thanks for the update.
So glad Tiny has made a full recovery.


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## Alaskamike (Jun 29, 2015)

Tidgy's Dad said:


> Thanks for the update.
> So glad Tiny has made a full recovery.


Thanks Though I looked at everything in his environment, the only potentially causative variable I could find was creating a new underground hide box for him. To do this I dug up his surround, and rearranged it all. His eye swelled the very next day. It has been suggested that stress could possibly contribute to a swollen 3rd eyelid issue. And bold as Tiny is, it is still possible that he became stressed out at all the changes. 

I went over all the possibilities I could find in my research, and there actually are many; A scratch, infection, a compromised immune system, overload of parasites, and stress. 

Anyway, he's fine now, hope he stays that way


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## JoesMum (Jun 29, 2015)

Good news that it's getting better 

Apologies if this has been answered already: Is your tort being kept indoors and, if so, what type of bulb are you using for UVB?


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## Alaskamike (Jun 29, 2015)

JoesMum said:


> Good news that it's getting better
> 
> Apologies if this has been answered already: Is your tort being kept indoors and, if so, what type of bulb are you using for UVB?


HI
No, he is an outdoor tort, never been under artificial lights since I've had him these last 8 mos or so.


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