Eye problems with young Leo

[Turbotort]

Hello I have a young Leopard and it has been having some eye issues for a few days now. I first noticed he was keeping his left eye shut a lot. I'm at work and my fiancé sent me two photos and said he wasn't opening his eye's this morning. Does this look like an infection? I recently removed the coil uvb bulb on sunday after finding out it's harmful. Is there any over the counter eye drops I can buy to help this for the time being? also that's coco coir that's on him. Its the substrate I'm using.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Lyn W]

Hi there, I can't help I'm afraid but I'm sure someone will be along soon and I do hope your little tort is OK. Have you bathed it with anything yet?

 

[G-stars]

Hello and welcome.

Substrate is fine, the problem most likely was the bulb. What are you using now? What I would do is 2-3x a day soakings for ~20 mins, with baby carrot food mixed in the soakings.

 

[Lyn W]

Also try doing a search to see if there's any advice for similar problems.
Oh and Happy Birthday!

 

[Yvonne G]

​

The first thing to look at when talking about BABY tortoises with stuck shut eyes, is the light bulb. Coil shaped or 'U' shaped compact fluorescent bulbs are harmful to baby tortoises' eyes. If that's what you're using, turn it off immediately and get some soothing eye ointment. The condition those lights cause is similar to snow-blindness. So if caught soon enough, no harm will have been done. Just apply the soothing eye ointment and he should be fine in a week.

The second reason for baby tortoises' eyes to stick shut is that they've stopped eating and are now lacking vitamin A. You can fix this problem by soaking for about a half hour daily in a mixture of Gerber strained carrots and water.

Welcome to the Forum! So glad to have a new leopard tortoise keeper in our midst.

 

[Turbotort]

No I haven't. I've been seeing something about carrot baby food baths? I've been soaking him everyday for the last week now. And have been taking him outside in the sun to get proper uvb and be able to move around more.

 

[Turbotort]

Thanks! Haha yeah I threw out the bulb on sunday. My Tort is still eating but very little. Like maybe a few square inches of romaine. I put spring mix in but he wont really eat it. I'll have to do the carrot bath her soon. Here's a pic from yesterday. I can't imagine this is really an infection.

 

[Turbotort]

Where can I buy the eye ointment?

 

[Lyn W]

Yes I would start the Gerber baby food carrot soak as soon as possible so that he absorbs some Vitamin A, I don't know about the eye ointment but hopefully Yvonne will be back soon.

 

[Gillian M]

A very warm welcome to the forum and.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I'd suggest baby carrots as it's probably a lack of Vitamin A. Good luck.

 

[crimson_lotus]

I believe that bulb does cause eye problems.

I would suggest buying a mercury vapor bulb as it emits heat light and uvb, plus they don't hurt tortoises eyes.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Terramycin, I believe is one of the ointments available for this, but I'm no vet.
Happy Birthday, though I know you must be worrying about your leopard.
Poor little thing.
Hopefully it will get better now the coil bulb has gone.

 

[Robertchrisroph]

 

[Robertchrisroph]

Yes terramycin is the eye ointment

 

[Yvonne G]

You can buy this at a feed store:



...and you can buy this at the pet store:



The first one works better, but the second one works just fine too. Both will sooth the eyes.

 

[Tom]

You can also hand pack that coir to make it less messy.

That's why I prefer orchid bark for baby leos and sulcatas.

 

[Turbotort]

Thanks everyone for the advice and suggestions. I will post an update in a few days on my Torts condition.

Thank you!

 

[Turbotort]

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to give a quick update. My Leo is doing much better. I gave it a few some drops of regular eye drops in gel for a couple times a day for a few days. There doesn't seem to be any more eye irritation anymore. Thank you for all your help. I'll be making a thread to introduce my Leo and it's new enclosure I made yesterday.

Thank you!

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to give a quick update. My Leo is doing much better. I gave it a few some drops of regular eye drops in gel for a couple times a day for a few days. There doesn't seem to be any more eye irritation anymore. Thank you for all your help. I'll be making a thread to introduce my Leo and it's new enclosure I made yesterday.

Thank you!

Look forward to it.
Glad it's doing okay now.