Tortoise Rubbing His Eyes

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srucker

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Hello,

I have a three-month old Leopard tortoise. His enclosure is a table design, around 2' x 3'. His basking light is a 160 watt Mega-Ray mercury vapor bulb positioned 18" above the table. The temperature under the light is around 100 degrees Fahrenheit and the temperature on the cold side of his enclosure is around 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The humidity level is around 45-50. The substrate is a 50/50 mix of Bed-A-Beast and play sand. There are plenty of places to hide and areas for him to explore.

He sleeps pretty much all the time. Once a day I wake him up and soak him in his water dish. Once in the water he takes a couple sips and very slowly wakes up, opening one eye at a time. After he's awake I put some lettuce in front of him and usually he will eat a few bites. After that he will find a new place to curl up and goes back to sleep. When he's waking up he is constantly rubbing his eyes. I took him to a vet and she said he was very small and hard to tell if there was any infection. She gave me some antibiotic cream to apply which I did for 10 days. I didn't notice any difference, he still rubs his eyes and sleeps constantly. His eyes look fine to me, they don't have any discharge and when they are open they look completely normal as far as I know.

If anyone has any suggestions I would really appreciate it. If it will help I can post some pictures of his enclosure and his eyes.

Thanks.
 

srucker

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I've read some more posts on this forum and I'm wondering if he's actually rubbing his nose, not his eyes. He does this sort of hiccup action. Its very subtle sort of like his head is bobbing up for a second. I read another post who's tortoise had the same problem and it was a respiratory issue. I may take him back to the vet for a second look.
 

jlyoncc1

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Do you have a humid hide? Although leopards prefer dry areas, many believe that especially hatchlings need a humid hide. I use a flower pot cut in 1/2 with a sponge screwed to it that I keep damp. I also put in some spaghnum (sp?) moss that I moisten with a spray bottle. Are there any bubbles coming from his nose? I know it is very difficult to see because they are so small but that is a sign of an infection.
 
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