I think my tortoise is blind or semi blind!!! Hermann almost 4 months old..

[Lady Thompson]

I'm seriously thinking my tortoise, who is 4 months old, might be blind or at least see only shapes.
He had an eye infection that was treated with antibiotic eye drops and since then he trying to eat the air. He misses his food a lot or doesn't know where it is unless I put him directly in front of it.

He goes in a circle going backwards in his food dish and his bath trying to eat the air.

I"m really confused. If he is blind how can I feed him? Please help I'm really worried.

 

[wellington]

When my leopard was little, he would always miss his food, like he was biting into the air. I found chopping the food small and piling it up helped him a lot. I would push the food back into a pile as he ate and flattened it. As he got older, he grew out of this. It is common among many torts. It could just be the same with yours. It also could be a problem of blindness from the infection. Does his eyes look funny? Does he bump into things?

 

[Lady Thompson]

Hi thank you so much for responding. This is a brand new thing he has started. He used to be so good at locating his food.
He did previously have a coil UVB light before I knew about how it can cause blindness. I have replaced his lights 3 weeks ago with a UVB tube light. But he started closing his eyes after I switched his lights so I figured the damage was already done.

Then I worried he might have had an infection as he was keeping his eyes closed all the time. I took him to the exotic Vet who prescribed the drops. They have seemed to help and his eyes stay open now but not as bright as before. I'm sure he can see some things though as he does react.

His humidity usually is 70. I hope that is okay. I will do the pile for his food after he is done his bath.

 

[Lady Thompson]

Oh and he has baths with baby carrot food in them. I have actually just clipped a piece of green leaf lettuce to the side of his bath with a clothespin as he was biting the air. He has FINALLY found it and is eating it, while having his bath. LOL. He is very silly at times.