Puffy head/eyes

Cleopatra 2020

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my sweet little Rosie girl has had puffy eyes lately more than usual and now her head seems a little swollen normally her eyes go back and forth from looking normal to looking a little puffy and this morning she looked really puffy I can't figure out what it could be I've been really careful with what I feed her in her environment and so on her temps are always the same high temp high humidity I figured maybe she was getting too much UV at one point early on so I cut her way back as to narrow down my search for what could be causing this so I've just accepted they always look slightly puffy and sometimes more than others but this morning's picture is the most she's ever been and now her head seems a little swollen as well....?❤?

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ZEROPILOT

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Curious
Can you post photos of your lighting?
Usually when we see a post like yours, the keeper is using one of those horrible spiral/coiled bulb or has a MVB combo uvb that is malfunctioning.
Just in case, discontinue the UVB light altogether until we get this sorted out.
No harm will come to your tortoise from lack of UV for a few days.
 

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KarenSoCal

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I'm sorry Rosie is still having this trouble. We'll do what we can to figure out the cause.
On the pictures, I really can't see the puffiness in her eyes all that well. But I do see that her head looks a bit swollen.
I saw that ZEROPILOT suggested you turn off the UVB light. You do have a fluorescent tube type UVB, don't you? If you do, what kind is it? Manufacturer...ZooMed, or Arcadia? Regardless, I agree with turning it off for a few days. Rosie will not miss it, and it will do her no harm. If the light is to blame, her eyes should look much better in 3 days.

Other than her UVB, what other bulbs are you using?

Piece by piece, we'll get to the bottom of this.
 

Cleopatra 2020

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I'm sorry Rosie is still having this trouble. We'll do what we can to figure out the cause.
On the pictures, I really can't see the puffiness in her eyes all that well. But I do see that her head looks a bit swollen.
I saw that ZEROPILOT suggested you turn off the UVB light. You do have a fluorescent tube type UVB, don't you? If you do, what kind is it? Manufacturer...ZooMed, or Arcadia? Regardless, I agree with turning it off for a few days. Rosie will not miss it, and it will do her no harm. If the light is to blame, her eyes should look much better in 3 days.

Other than her UVB, what other bulbs are you using?

Piece by piece, we'll get to the bottom of this.
I use the high output T5 bulb which is roughly 18 to 22 in above her I usually only run it for about an hour every morning while she eats then I turn it off in use a flame shaped LED bulb which puts out very little to none as far as heat ...she eats no problem and almost runs to her food plate when I set her back in her enclosure after a morning soak... she gets a small pinch of calcium twice a week mixed in with her food really well... and still poop everyday with the difference being that she doesn't always poop in her soak water everyday like in the beginning... I was just thinking she was just getting a little fat since she gains anywhere between five and 10 grams a week I gave her a piece of mazuri once a week and Cactus pad occasionally which I used to give her everyday... her shells starting to bump a little bit but not bad... other than that she seems pretty normal the only other behavioral change is she's been going in her little cave lately after eating in the morning instead of going to her basking tile but she still uses her tile everyday so I'm assuming it's probably nothing and as far as her feet swelling it just seems like the ball of her foot is the swelling part the rest looks pretty normal when I pick her up and she stretches her legs out if you look in the first picture her eyelids seemed so swollen that her eyes are sunken back in a little anyway I will quit using the light that was my first thought her daily diet spin yard grass with a little bit of fescue which is the thicker bladed grass and occasionally some Clover and grape leaves with either some Romaine or a little red lettuce I was thinking of getting some dried leaves from kalapidos Farm or however you say their name my other thought was maybe her plastic water dish is toxic to her... I was thinking of changing her substrate to Cypress mulch later today and put a clay pot dish in there just to get rid of the plastic and see if any changes come about I just worry about her eating substrate
 

Cleopatra 2020

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I'm sorry Rosie is still having this trouble. We'll do what we can to figure out the cause.
On the pictures, I really can't see the puffiness in her eyes all that well. But I do see that her head looks a bit swollen.
I saw that ZEROPILOT suggested you turn off the UVB light. You do have a fluorescent tube type UVB, don't you? If you do, what kind is it? Manufacturer...ZooMed, or Arcadia? Regardless, I agree with turning it off for a few days. Rosie will not miss it, and it will do her no harm. If the light is to blame, her eyes should look much better in 3 days.

Other than her UVB, what other bulbs are you using?

Piece by piece, we'll get to the bottom of this.
it's a Zoo Med bulb I heard the Arcadia bulbs are more consistent with UVB 12% or something like that I read any way where can you get these bulbs I was thinking about ordering one just to improve a consistency with regulating her UVB also I need a solar gun just haven't been able to afford one ...I'm going to take her out in the sun today before it gets too hot it's been 110 to 118 here for the last month so I'll have to get her out early
 

KarenSoCal

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Leave the UVB light off for 3 days. Then, if there is not significant improvement, turn it back on. The ZooMed bulb is fine. There is no reason to buy the Arcadia bulb now. When it's time to replace it, then you could order an Arcadia if you want. Also, if you're not able to take her outside, leave the UVB on for 4 hours each day. I really don't think the lights are the problem, but it's worth a try.

It sounds like her diet only consists of those few items you mentioned? She needs more variety than that. Those things are good, but you need to add more items, so she gets something extra besides grass every day. If you don't have more weeds, you could add endive/escarole and radicchio from the grocery store. It's a great idea to get some items from Kapidolo Farms, too.

You probably don't need to change substrate unless you just want to. What's she on now? Do you keep it damp?

I think you have a good idea to change her water dish. I know some plastic food bowls bother dogs' noses. Anything's worth a try.
 

ZEROPILOT

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it's a Zoo Med bulb I heard the Arcadia bulbs are more consistent with UVB 12% or something like that I read any way where can you get these bulbs I was thinking about ordering one just to improve a consistency with regulating her UVB also I need a solar gun just haven't been able to afford one ...I'm going to take her out in the sun today before it gets too hot it's been 110 to 118 here for the last month so I'll have to get her out early
I didn't realize you had the correct UV lighting already.
That light at that distance is not the issue.
 

Cleopatra 2020

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well the substrate she's on now is paper towels which I change daily to keep her enclosure clean I dampened it with a spray bottle it usually maintains 85 to 95% humidity with nighttime pimps 84 to 86 in daytime Temps between 86 and low 90s on her basking tile..... I am working on a new enclosure for her made out of one of those thousand gallon containers that sit in those aluminum framed baskets I was going to cut it in half I think it's like about a four by three and a half or something like that nice and huge for her for a while till she gets to move outside or takes over a whole bedroom to herself... LOL
 

Cleopatra 2020

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but until then I think I'm just going to throw some cypress mulch in her current box and get her a clay water dish and see if things don't get better
 

Cleopatra 2020

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also her eyes looked better this morning her head was still a little swollen in her feet still look swollen the way they stick out I still think she's just getting a little fat cuz she is so active and likes to eat and walk around a lot she never has a lack of appetite ever
 

Toddrickfl1

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Do you keep a food log? Since this has been happening for a while and you've ruled out many things like the uvb, and substrate, I'm thinking maybe some kind of food allergy? Purely speculation. Maybe keep track of what your feeding for a couple weeks. See if you can find a correlation between something specific your feeding, and noticing the swelling again.
 

Cleopatra 2020

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Do you keep a food log? Since this has been happening for a while and you've ruled out many things like the uvb, and substrate, I'm thinking maybe some kind of food allergy? Purely speculation. Maybe keep track of what your feeding for a couple weeks. See if you can find a correlation between something specific your feeding, and noticing the swelling again.
just grass and some Clover and some grape leaves once in awhile mixed in with the grass and I always give her either Romaine or some red leaf lettuce and lately thick bladed grass Fescue is what it's called and mazuri once a week and some Cactus pad every other day or every couple days
 

Cleopatra 2020

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this is making me nuts her head looks even more swollen today I might have to go see a vet this is really troublesome
 

Cleopatra 2020

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Do you keep a food log? Since this has been happening for a while and you've ruled out many things like the uvb, and substrate, I'm thinking maybe some kind of food allergy? Purely speculation. Maybe keep track of what your feeding for a couple weeks. See if you can find a correlation between something specific your feeding, and noticing the swelling again.
is it possible to get swelling from a respiratory infection? She doesn't have a runny nose or anything like that just trying to consider what else it could be
 

Toddrickfl1

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is it possible to get swelling from a respiratory infection? She doesn't have a runny nose or anything like that just trying to consider what else it could be
No I don't think so. Does it get any better when you turn off the uvb light a couple days?
 

Cleopatra 2020

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I'm thinking of adding her substrate tonight with a clay pot for her water dish so there's no more plastic for her... and sometimes when I turn her heater on at night it puts off a slightly burnt wood smell from the wooden lid very slightly though and she's been living in there since April so not sure that's really the culprit
 
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