Ornate hatchling eye problem?

[EricL]

I have had my ornate hatchling for about 3-4 months. She has for sure been growing but recently she has been just laying around with her eyes closed. Her enclosure gets misted every day and its been going on for about a week now. I have been giving her about 20 minute soaks in warm water every day now and they open up but whenever she goes in her enclosure, she heads right for the heat and uvb and goes to sleep. She hasn't been interested in any food either. My cool side stays around 70 degrees and the warm side is around 82-84. The humidity stays around 60-70 during the day until I mist it when I get home. The entire enclosure gets down to 70 from 8pm-8am. I have the zoo med tube lights for uvb and a 75 watt heat bulb. Not sure what is causing the irritation. I ordered eye drops yesterday so I will start doing that daily as well. Just wondering if anyone has any recommendations to help her out. Thanks

 

[JoesMum]

Please can you post photos of the enclosure and lighting?

My first thought is to ask what type of UVB bulb you have.

If it is a compact one that looks like one of these, they frequently cause eye problems.



If you have one like this. Turn it off and leave it off. Replace it with a tube UVB that is safe.

 

[Yvonne G]

I keep the baby box turtle enclosure in swamp-like conditions. Also I make sure the temperature is overall 80F degrees with no drop anywhere on the floor of the habitat, day or night.

 

[EricL]

Please can you post photos of the enclosure and lighting?

My first thought is to ask what type of UVB bulb you have.

If it is a compact one that looks like one of these, they frequently cause eye problems.
View attachment 221149
View attachment 221150

If you have one like this. Turn it off and leave it off. Replace it with a tube UVB that is safe.

I did have these in a previous enclosure but they now have the tube UVB. This picture of the enclosure is close to what it looks like now, just cosmetically different. I do not use the ceramic heater btw.

 

[JoesMum]

I did have these in a previous enclosure but they now have the tube UVB. This picture of the enclosure is close to what it looks like now, just cosmetically different. I do not use the ceramic heater btw. View attachment 221153

@lisa127 has experience with these I think

 

[lisa127]

You can buy some cod liver oil capsules. Poke a hole on the end and put one drop on each eye. You can also add it to food once a week.

How are you measuring temperature and humidity? If what you're saying is accurate and is measured correctly, it all sounds good. Something is telling me your humidity might be too low. Humidity and hydration are very important.

I keep my enclosures covered in plastic sheeting to keep it warm and humid. I like to keep my enclosures in a range of low 70s up to about 90 at hotspot for all age box turtles. Below are a couple examples of enclosures of mine.

ETA: I've never kept the ornate subspecies. I'd like to hear from someone who has...

 

[PJay]

It's eye looks a little puffy. That, in addition to camping out under the heat source and being lethargic makes me think it is not feeling well. I would use Terramycin eye ointment and keep it warm (90F) day and night. I had a sick adult turtle earlier this year and she would lay under the heat source all day. I kept increasing the basking temperature (TY @lisa127 , btw) and it wasn't until it reached 94F that she moved out from under it. Have you noticed any liquid or bubbles coming out of the eyes or nose. Any open mouth breathing or whistling noises coming from the turtle? You can hold it up right next to your ear and listen to it's breathing. Additionally, if you feel strong air puffs in random pulses on your ear it could be a respiratory infection.

 

[EricL]

It's eye looks a little puffy. That, in addition to camping out under the heat source and being lethargic makes me think it is not feeling well. I would use Terramycin eye ointment and keep it warm (90F) day and night. I had a sick adult turtle earlier this year and she would lay under the heat source all day. I kept increasing the basking temperature (TY @lisa127 , btw) and it wasn't until it reached 94F that she moved out from under it. Have you noticed any liquid or bubbles coming out of the eyes or nose. Any open mouth breathing or whistling noises coming from the turtle? You can hold it up right next to your ear and listen to it's breathing. Additionally, if you feel strong air puffs in random pulses on your ear it could be a respiratory infection.

I noticed today that there are some small bubbles coming from its nose every so often. Once i held her to my ear I didn't really hear or fell anything. Would you recommend me isolate her from the others into a 10 or 20 gallon breeder so I can control the temp and humidity better?

 

[PJay]

I noticed today that there are some small bubbles coming from its nose every so often. Once i held her to my ear I didn't really hear or fell anything. Would you recommend me isolate her from the others into a 10 or 20 gallon breeder so I can control the temp and humidity better?

You could try to go that route but you will need to be certain that your temps are consistent and safe. You don't want to overheat your turtle and it's easy to do in a small tank. Do you have a good digital thermometer that you could put in the tank? Even better yet, you could set up a heat source with a temperature controller and probe. Then if things get a bit too hot, the controller will turn the heat off and back on again when needed. Some turtles will recover from an infection when given heat and humidity but you should should also be considering having a good reptile vet see the turtle, sometimes antibiotics are required.

Good cheap digital thermometer: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0013BKDO8/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

Good temperature controller with probe: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0018CLYNG/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

 

[lisa127]

Definitely isolate the turtle from others. Do you have any reptile vets in the area? With puffy eyes, lethargy, and nose bubbles I would make an appointment. I had a 40 gram hatchling that had mild symptoms....just nose bubbles. At this size the vet and I were not comfortable with injections so we did oral antibiotics. I used smelly canned cat or dog food and mixed it in there. Just a small amount to make sure she ate it all. She recovered fine, never became ill again, and is a healthy robust 6 year old now. No vitamin A injections....just feed carrots, sweet potatoes, etc.

 

[EricL]

Definitely isolate the turtle from others. Do you have any reptile vets in the area? With puffy eyes, lethargy, and nose bubbles I would make an appointment. I had a 40 gram hatchling that had mild symptoms....just nose bubbles. At this size the vet and I were not comfortable with injections so we did oral antibiotics. I used smelly canned cat or dog food and mixed it in there. Just a small amount to make sure she ate it all. She recovered fine, never became ill again, and is a healthy robust 6 year old now. No vitamin A injections....just feed carrots, sweet potatoes, etc.

I have a temp controller on its way, when it comes should I keep the entire enclosure at around 90-94 like previously stated because it will be quite hard to keep different temps in such a small tank. Also, she hasn't been eating her typical worms,kale,pineapple, tomatoes.

These are the eye drops I have been using: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002RJMGE/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

EDIT: I also plan to get some extra 6MIL plastic I have laying around to place over top of the enclosure like yours to try and control the temp and humidity better.

 

[lisa127]

I have a temp controller on its way, when it comes should I keep the entire enclosure at around 90-94 like previously stated because it will be quite hard to keep different temps in such a small tank. Also, she hasn't been eating her typical worms,kale,pineapple, tomatoes.

These are the eye drops I have been using: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002RJMGE/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

EDIT: I also plan to get some extra 6MIL plastic I have laying around to place over top of the enclosure like yours to try and control the temp and humidity better.

What size is enclosure?

 

[lisa127]

I have a temp controller on its way, when it comes should I keep the entire enclosure at around 90-94 like previously stated because it will be quite hard to keep different temps in such a small tank. Also, she hasn't been eating her typical worms,kale,pineapple, tomatoes.

These are the eye drops I have been using: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002RJMGE/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

EDIT: I also plan to get some extra 6MIL plastic I have laying around to place over top of the enclosure like yours to try and control the temp and humidity better.

And no, 90 to 94 all over is much too hot for a box turtle.

 

[EricL]

And no, 90 to 94 all over is much too hot for a box turtle.

It's a 10 gallon breeder. Any recommendation on constant temp?

 

[lisa127]

It's a 10 gallon breeder. Any recommendation on constant temp?

Ideally something bigger would be better. Do you have any plastic totes you can use?

If you have to do one overall temperature, 80 is more appropriate. 90 is too hot and drying.