Possible eye infection?

[SulcataSquirt]

Hi everyone, need some advice from you all. My 1 year old sulcata squirt may have come down with some sort of eye infection? I check him over everyday when i soak him so i know has just started today. On his eye right in the middle of it is a tiny white dot, about the size of a pen dot. and at the bottom of it is a bigger spot of white. I have put terramycin ointment on it after he got his soak. what else should i do for it? is terramycin ointment enought to cure any eye infection in tortoises? please any advice or directions any of you have for me please let me know! thanks you everyone! i will post a picture tommrow, i was going to get one tonight but he has already burrowed in his dirt.

 

[Yvonne G]

We're not ignoring you...just waiting until you get a chance to post the picture. In the meantime, the antibiotic eye ointment can't harm.

 

[kimber_lee_314]

I agree - keep going with the Terramycin for now.

 

[SulcataSquirt]

Here is the best photo I could get.. will try again later but with the lighting this is the best I could get the white to show up. I couldn't really see the white dot in the middle this morning but you can easily see the white "pool" at the bottom of his eye. He isn't responding the camera on that side either as he usually does but sucks his head in as usual from the other side.
Any ideas or information you might have is greatly appreciated.

 

[Yvonne G]

That looks like the nictitating membrane (third eyelid) is inflamed. The ointment will take care of that. But you need to try to figure out why it happened in the first place. What kind of substrate? What kind of light? How close to the floor is the light? Substrate too dry?

 

[wrmitchell22]

What substrate is in his enclosure, could he have been poked in the eye or have some sand stuck in it. Did you flush it out first and then put the ointment on?

 

[SulcataSquirt]

That looks like the nictitating membrane (third eyelid) is inflamed. The ointment will take care of that. But you need to try to figure out why it happened in the first place. What kind of substrate? What kind of light? How close to the floor is the light? Substrate too dry?

We use the coconut coir substrate and the Mercury vapor Zoo Med lighting. We keep his enclosure very damp, we are very good about that for sure. But Squirt does have those Sulcata tendencies and likes to dig (burrow) right underneath his light which dries out some of the substrate until we get in there to redampen. That's the only time I can think he's even around drier dirt.. which he digs literally everyday a majority of the day. Think this could be a possibilty?

WRMITCHELL: Yeah we flushed it out with his daily soaking and bath and also tortoise eye drops then put on the ointment.

 

[wrmitchell22]

That looks like the nictitating membrane (third eyelid) is inflamed. The ointment will take care of that. But you need to try to figure out why it happened in the first place. What kind of substrate? What kind of light? How close to the floor is the light? Substrate too dry?

We use the coconut coir substrate and the Mercury vapor Zoo Med lighting. We keep his enclosure very damp, we are very good about that for sure. But Squirt does have those Sulcata tendencies and likes to dig (burrow) right underneath his light which dries out some of the substrate until we get in there to redampen. That's the only time I can think he's even around drier dirt.. which he digs literally everyday a majority of the day. Think this could be a possibilty?

WRMITCHELL: Yeah we flushed it out with his daily soaking and bath and also tortoise eye drops then put on the ointment.

It sounds like you are doing a good job of caring for it. I hope some tort owners with more experience will help you out soon. good luck

 

[SulcataSquirt]

The light is about a foot or so up from the slate. We used to have cypress mulch in his enclosure, is it possible a piece of that could of stabbed him? There may be little pieces still mixed in with his coconut coir that didn't get taken out.