Tortillatort
New Member
When I looked at our tortoise today. Her eye appear to be red swollen and roll back slightly in her head. She's scratching your eye against her leg. She's eating normally. Any ideas?
sulcata eye problem
- Thread starter Tortillatort
- Start date
Bad idea feeding on carpet and letting her roam the house. So many things could happen. It's also much colder on the floor. AC air falls and heat rises, making house floors to cold
As for the eye, is it possible the food she is eating just poked her in the eye or close to it? It looks like it in the pic.
Is this when you noticed it or before eating?
As for the eye, is it possible the food she is eating just poked her in the eye or close to it? It looks like it in the pic.
Is this when you noticed it or before eating?
Tortillatort
New Member
We noticed it before eating. Then we fee her to see if she still is eating. Yesterday she looked fine. I am not exactly sure when this started
Tortillatort
New Member
Now it appears her other eye is starting to do the same thing
ZenHerper
Well-Known Member
The orientation of the eyeball is correct. What you are seeing is commonly called the Third Eyelid. It is a membrane that closes over the eye from front-to-back. (As we evolved, it shrank to that wee pink bump at the inside corner of our eyes.)
This membrane closes back in response to a number of things, including:
*injury to the eye - got poked or scratched
*something inside the eyelid(s) - dirt, dust, hair, carpet thread, etc.
*illness - viral, bacterial, fungal infection of the eye; illness of the body in general that produces dehydration
Your pet should be kept and cared for inside a proper habitat that provides the environment it needs.
Use this information to check on your set up:
www.tortoiseforum.org
This membrane closes back in response to a number of things, including:
*injury to the eye - got poked or scratched
*something inside the eyelid(s) - dirt, dust, hair, carpet thread, etc.
*illness - viral, bacterial, fungal infection of the eye; illness of the body in general that produces dehydration
Your pet should be kept and cared for inside a proper habitat that provides the environment it needs.
Use this information to check on your set up:
The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise
I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...
www.tortoiseforum.org
Tortillatort
New Member
we keep her in an enclosure. I use a 75 watt uva and a 25 watt t8 tube for uvb. I use ground up cocanut bark stuff for a substrate. She still has a solid apetite, and upon further inspection the other eye is ok. Maybe she just poked her eye. Any idea how long it takes to clear up if was just irritated?
i would suggest rinsing it well with some regular saline (any wal mart for a few dollars) do this a couple times a day for a few days if it continues then you may need some anti biotics or she may have scratched it which the only way to know would be to stain it to see.
There are chemicals and loose bits of fuzz on the carpet. These things are very bad for a tortoise. You need to set this tortoise up in its own enclosure, preferably outside where it can graze and wander on real grass, weeds and soil. I'm sure you'll see the nictitating membrane recede and the eyes start looking healthier once you do that.
Last edited:
Tortillatort
New Member
Her eye is back to normal. Took several hours. Thank you all.
