Swollen eye

[Emil Eriksson]

One of my russian tortoises have gotten a swollen eye lately. She can barely open it but the other eye is fine. Anyone know what could have caused it and is it anything I can do before visiting a vet?

 

[wellington]

We will need much more info. Is it housed with other torts? What are you using for heat, types of heating used. Substrate, enclosure decorations, etc.
pictures of the tort and the swollen eye and pics of the enclosure will help.
If he is housed with another tort, that would be my first guess is they had a battle and the eye got scratched. Torts, specially Russians, should not be housed in pairs and some times even groups will have one that has to be removed for over aggression.

 

[Emil Eriksson]

We will need much more info. Is it housed with other torts? What are you using for heat, types of heating used. Substrate, enclosure decorations, etc.
pictures of the tort and the swollen eye and pics of the enclosure will help.
If he is housed with another tort, that would be my first guess is they had a battle and the eye got scratched. Torts, specially Russians, should not be housed in pairs and some times even groups will have one that has to be removed for over aggression.

It does not live with the other tortoises. It is still not fully grown and have it's own tortoise table. I use an UV-lamp for heating (Exo Terra Solar Glo Sun Simulating). I have hemp substrate and the enclosure decoration consists of small logs and rocks.
I don't have any better pictures of the eye and I not home at the moment but you can still see that it is swollen.

 

[wellington]

When you are able too, give him a warm water soak and gently let some water wash over his eye several times. See if you can see any dirt or scratches on the eye of lid.

 

[JoesMum]

Do you have a long tube UVB lamp or is it a compact bulb with a screw fitting like a low energy light bulb?

The compact (CFL) bulbs cause eye issues with tortoises time and again.

Try turning off your UVB for a few days, your tort will be fine, and see if it improves.

 

[Emil Eriksson]

Do you have a long tube UVB lamp or is it a compact bulb with a screw fitting like a low energy light bulb?

The compact (CFL) bulbs cause eye issues with tortoises time and again.

Try turning off your UVB for a few days, your tort will be fine, and see if it improves.

The bulb is not a tube. Kinda looks like a regular bulb but bigger. I can try to turn off the bulb for a couple of days but how will that affect the tortoise?

 

[JoesMum]

Can you post a photo of your bulb?

If it also gives off basking heat then it is a Mercury Vapour Bulb (MVB) and these are not known to cause problems

If it looks something like these and only gives off UVB then you have a CFL



Turning off a CFL for a week while you get something safer will do no harm. Your tort will be just fine without. It cannot cope for long without basking heat though.

 

[Emil Eriksson]

Can you post a photo of your bulb?

If it also gives off basking heat then it is a Mercury Vapour Bulb (MVB) and these are not known to cause problems

If it looks something like these and only gives off UVB then you have a CFL
View attachment 209425View attachment 209426


Turning off a CFL for a week while you get something safer will do no harm. Your tort will be just fine without. It cannot cope for long without basking heat though.

I'm not at home at the moment but I fund a picture of my bulb on the internet. I use the same bulb for my other two adult tortoises and they have never had any problems with their eyes. I also find it weird that only one eye is swollen on this one.

 

[Markw84]

Just one eye affected is normally a sign it is injury related. Scraped against a rock or log, or substrate got in the eye. You picture is too out of focus to really see the eye problem, but it could possibly also be if the tortoise was able to get too close to your Basking bulb you show above, it could definitely cause damage. Not sure if you're actually using a 160 watt one, but if so, it needs to be at least 18" from anywhere the tortoise can get. That type of damage would normally result in a closed and cloudy-looking eye. Vitamin deficiency would affect both eyes. Injury damage is more likely from what I can make out. Treat with some eye drops.

 

[Emil Eriksson]

Just one eye affected is normally a sign it is injury related. Scraped against a rock or log, or substrate got in the eye. You picture is too out of focus to really see the eye problem, but it could possibly also be if the tortoise was able to get too close to your Basking bulb you show above, it could definitely cause damage. Not sure if you're actually using a 160 watt one, but if so, it needs to be at least 18" from anywhere the tortoise can get. That type of damage would normally result in a closed and cloudy-looking eye. Vitamin deficiency would affect both eyes. Injury damage is more likely from what I can make out. Treat with some eye drops.

Ok, it's an 80 watt bulb and I have it about 45 centimeters above the inclosure. I will try to soak the tortoise and try to clean the eye as often as I can to see if it will get better.

 

[JoesMum]

I'm not at home at the moment but I fund a picture of my bulb on the internet. I use the same bulb for my other two adult tortoises and they have never had any problems with their eyes. I also find it weird that only one eye is swollen on this one.View attachment 209429

That's an MVB and unlikely to be the cause unless it's too close

 

[Eduardo Hernandez]

Sorry if this is off topic but is hemp a good substrate? I remember reading a while ago that its not recommended, but I can't remember if it was on this forum or not.

 

[Emil Eriksson]

Sorry if this is off topic but is hemp a good substrate? I remember reading a while ago that its not recommended, but I can't remember if it was on this forum or not.

Well, I've used it for a couple of years and it seems to work just fine. The reason I'm currently using it is because it's not as dusty as sand and soil. I think it can be a bit dry though. Do you have any ideas of other substrates? Is there any other "low dust" materials?

 

[JoesMum]

Substrate shouldn't be dry.

It should be damp. Many people use fine grade orchid bark or coco coir (cheapest from a garden centre)

Then you tip water in from a jug and mix it thoroughly with your hands so it is evenly damp (not wet - just damp)

The damp substrate helps to raise the humidity essential for healthy growth

I recommend that you read the TFO care guides and compare them with your setup. They're written by species experts working hard to correct the outdated information widely available on the internet and from pet stores and, sadly, from some breeders and vets too.

Beginner Mistakes
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Russian Tortoise Care
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

 

[Emil Eriksson]

Substrate shouldn't be dry.

It should be damp. Many people use fine grade orchid bark or coco coir (cheapest from a garden centre)

Then you tip water in from a jug and mix it thoroughly with your hands so it is evenly damp (not wet - just damp)

The damp substrate helps to raise the humidity essential for healthy growth

I recommend that you read the TFO care guides and compare them with your setup. They're written by species experts working hard to correct the outdated information widely available on the internet and from pet stores and, sadly, from some breeders and vets too.

Beginner Mistakes
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Russian Tortoise Care
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

Ok, thanks.

 

[Pearly]

Without reading your entire thread just quickly only one eye swollen makes me think of injury or foreign body. Get him to the sink asap and open your faucet to lukewarm setting, gentle stream, try to flush it out and look under that light, try to lift the eyelids if you can to check if there's something there. Put him in warm bath, get a good light (I always use my head light bcs it affords me 2 free hands). If anyone in your house used saline eyedrops (those moisturizing ones like fir dry eye with contact lenses) and try to put those in there liberally. There are also soothing eye drops in some petstores. Most of us know how painful eye problems can be. I believe torts experience pain just like we do, so to me this institutes urgency in getting him some relief. If you can't get him relief quick, take him to the vet for emergency visit. This should be fairly simple for the vet to treat. It's a first aid type of deal, any vet should be able to do it. Good luck

 

[Emil Eriksson]

Without reading your entire thread just quickly only one eye swollen makes me think of injury or foreign body. Get him to the sink asap and open your faucet to lukewarm setting, gentle stream, try to flush it out and look under that light, try to lift the eyelids if you can to check if there's something there. Put him in warm bath, get a good light (I always use my head light bcs it affords me 2 free hands). If anyone in your house used saline eyedrops (those moisturizing ones like fir dry eye with contact lenses) and try to put those in there liberally. There are also soothing eye drops in some petstores. Most of us know how painful eye problems can be. I believe torts experience pain just like we do, so to me this institutes urgency in getting him some relief. If you can't get him relief quick, take him to the vet for emergency visit. This should be fairly simple for the vet to treat. It's a first aid type of deal, any vet should be able to do it. Good luck

Ok, thanks for the help.

 

[Changa]

Any kind of eye drops over the counter?

Just one eye affected is normally a sign it is injury related. Scraped against a rock or log, or substrate got in the eye. You picture is too out of focus to really see the eye problem, but it could possibly also be if the tortoise was able to get too close to your Basking bulb you show above, it could definitely cause damage. Not sure if you're actually using a 160 watt one, but if so, it needs to be at least 18" from anywhere the tortoise can get. That type of damage would normally result in a closed and cloudy-looking eye. Vitamin deficiency would affect both eyes. Injury damage is more likely from what I can make out. Treat with some eye drops.

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