Ornate with swollen shut eyes

[diaboliqueturtle]

A few hours ago I came home from a week away to find my adult Ornate's eyes swollen shut. There is no discharge from them or from his nose or mouth. I put him in his water bowl and he pawed and pawed at his eyes until they opened. Once opened, his beautiful eyes are looking pretty inflamed. Before we left Monday morning I did notice that his left eye was kinda pink in the inner corner but I thought he might have irritated it while romping around in his outdoor enclosure. Sure I was worried about it but not overly so. I'm very upset now to find him this way with both his eyes affected.

The temps and humidity are good, I had a friend come 3 times to refill their water dishes and give them food (I have 4 boxies and 1 redfoot). He did eat everything I offered when I came home but now his eyes are closed again and he's stumbling around blindly. Poor little guy, he's still getting used to his new home, I rescued him almost 3 months ago, and just starting to feel safe and secure and now I feel so helpless seeing him like that. Especially on a Sunday, everything is closed!

Luckily I have Nature Zone Turtle eye drops on hand that I've dripped in his eyes but is there anything else I can do? Any insights as to how/why this happened? We were making such great progress with him on all fronts, I'm baffled and upset :-(

Also, don't know if it's related or significant but it looks like his lower jaw is changing color, from beige to black. The inside of his mouth is nice and pink but the outside is black. It's not poop, it doesn't wash off and he hasn't been dropped so it's not bruising...

 

[Yvonne G]

Nine times out of ten when a box turtle has swollen shut eyes its because he hasn't eaten in a while. Box turtles seem to need more vitamin A than other tortoises and when they stop eating the vit.A deficiency shows up very quickly.

Your turtle will benefit from soaking in Gerber strained carrots and water. Soak for a half hour every day and you should see a marked improvement in three days.

 

[diaboliqueturtle]

What would be considered a while? It was 3 days max between the last meal I gave him and the sitter's visit. He also has a head of lettuce growing in there. I previously had concerns about vitamin A for my red foot so every batch of salad I make has carrot and/or sweet potato along with spring mix, Mazuri, forest tortoise and fruit. I then add a mix of bugs for the boxies. He does eat everything I give him. I'm scratching my head trying to figure out where I went wrong or if I'm missing something... I'll grab some Gerber tomorrow. Would Terramycin be helpful? The vet is across the street so I could easily grab some too.
Thanks for everything, Yvonne, we all appreciate it

 

[yagyujubei]

A dab of Vaseline will help keep his eyelids from sticking together.

 

[kimber_lee_314]

You can also use Terramycin for his eyes - twice a day. This will help clear up the immediate problem, but you will need to examine what the underlying issue is. Good luck!

 

[diaboliqueturtle]

I gave Hotrod a carrot soak before I took him to his vet appointment. Turns out his eyes were closed from irritation, as opposed to fluid filled and swollen shut. I suspect the cause is the outdoor turtle sand box in which the dirt may be too dry. He was prescribed Chloramphenicol, which I must apply in his open eyes. And that's a job and a half as he's a biter ;-) But I must say, today he already looks much better. Both his eyes were open this morning and although they are still red and irritated, while in the carrot soak he looked more like himself.
The before:



Today (and this was the worse eye):

 

[kimber_lee_314]

Good news! Thanks for the update!