Brown Spot Above Eye

[Devonae]

Hello All,

My reedfoot tortoise has a brown spot over her left eyelid. I've also noticed that part of her upper lid is crusted and she isn't fully opening her third eyelid. The other eye is completely normal, all of her lids are open, no crust or hardening at all. From what I can tell, the brown spot feels completely normal, but it cannot be rinsed away. It doesn't seem to hurt her at all (she let me touch it and wipe over it with a q-tip without any objection), but she is taking some time to open her eye. Any ideas as to what this can be?

Best,
Devonae

 

[MPRC]

It's hard to tell, is it flat? Did anything come off when you wiped it with a q-tip? Is there anything she could have burned herself on?

 

[Yvonne G]

It doesn't look normal, as the skin around the eyes usually looks like the gray skin outside that brown spot. Is it a scab? I would dab a bit of Neosporin on it to keep it soft and see what happens in a week or so.

 

[Devonae]

Hey All,

Sorry for posting this in the wrong forum, I didn't realize there is a health section now!

To answer your questions: It is completely flat and nothing came off when I wiped. Honestly, it looks more like a stain than anything, but the the bit of the spot that overlaps with her eyelid is a little crusty and rigid, kind of like a scab. However, there is nothing she could be burned with anywhere near them.

I'll definitely try the Neosporin and see how that turns out, thank you!

 

[Gillian M]

A very warm welcome to the forum!

Sorry. cannot help you here-am not a tort expert. But how about seeing a vet?

Hoping to hear your sweet little tort is better soon.

 

[Devonae]

Happy Birthday, Gillian!

Thank you for the concern, her eye seems to have gotten worse today so we will be taking her to the vet. However, we've had problems before with using a vet in NYC (the one we visited had absolutely no idea what he was talking about ). Does anyone on the forum have a recommendation for a good reptile vet in NYC? It seems like no one specializes in tortoises here...

 

[SarahChelonoidis]

Try here: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/New-York.29698/

 

[Gillian M]

Happy Birthday, Gillian!

Thank you for the concern, her eye seems to have gotten worse today so we will be taking her to the vet. However, we've had problems before with using a vet in NYC (the one we visited had absolutely no idea what he was talking about ). Does anyone on the forum have a recommendation for a good reptile vet in NYC? It seems like no one specializes in tortoises here...

Hi Devonae and thanks very much the birthday wishes.

So sorry that your tort's eye is worse today. Can't help with vets, I'm afraid. I live in Jordan where there are NO vets for reptiles believe it or not! Hope your tort recovers soon.