Please help me :( won't open one of his eyes

[LeopardTortLover]

Today Marley has had trouble opening one of his eyes. The other one is fine. I've had a close look and I can't see anything in it regarding substrate. I saw some ants in his outdoor enclosure today. Normal Black ants. But he was closing it this morning i think. I've poured luke warm water over it and it was fine after that, he opened it. He started to close it this morning and now it's closed again and has been closed for a few minutes now and he wont open it.
His breathing is heavy these last few days and he hasn't been very active at all. He's still eating really good and pooping often but isn't walking much.
What could be wrong? I go on holiday on Sunday so if I need to get to a vet please tell me quickly. Thank you.

Additional info: a few weeks ago I added a new UV MVB non coil bulb. It said it has "a new and improved spectrum". Could this be anything to do with things? It is a exo terra 125 watt solar glow.

And a couple of days ago he started rubbing his eye with his arm after eating. I couldn't see anything in it and I thought he was choking on curly kale so I soaked him and washed his eye then he was fine.

Any help is appreciated

 

[yagyujubei]

He may have just scratched it, if you have some eye ointment or petrolatum, you could put a little in his eye for relief. That'll keep the lid from sticking. Keep you eye on him, and watch for any other symptoms. Eating is a great sign.

 

[Laura]

turn the light off and see if he changes.. also,, how warm is he? can you set into sunshine? use a different heat source;..CHE.. is he eating?

 

[LeopardTortLover]

Re: RE: Please help me won't open one of his eyes

He may have just scratched it, if you have some eye ointment or petrolatum, you could put a little in his eye for relief. That'll keep the lid from sticking. Keep you eye on him, and watch for any other symptoms. Eating is a great sign.

Do you have to use a specific type of eye ointment for animals or can you use human eye drops? I've never dealt with this problem before so I don't really know anything. And what is Petrolatum?

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turn the light off and see if he changes.. also,, how warm is he? can you set into sunshine? use a different heat source;..CHE.. is he eating?

It is night time here at the moment so all lifts are off and he's asleep. Night Time temps never get below 27oC with 80% humidity using 2 CHEs. Yeah he's eating like usual and had a snack before bedtime but as mentioned his breathing is heavy these past few days. I just don't know what's wrong with his eye the other is fine

 

[yagyujubei]

Petrolatum is the generic name for Vaseline. I wasn't sure if it was in the UK. They sell terramycin ophthalmic ointment at feed stores. Human eye drops should be fine as well.

 

[LeopardTortLover]

Re: RE: Please help me won't open one of his eyes

Petrolatum is the generic name for Vaseline. I wasn't sure if it was in the UK. They sell terramycin ophthalmic ointment at feed stores. Human eye drops should be fine as well.

Woah... I never would have thought you could put vaseline on eyes? I'd be so worried to do that. I haven't seen his eye stay closed today, but it is sunken in comparison to his other one. Is this a problem? Or is it part of the healing process? I still don't know what caused the problem