Unhappy Eyes

[Granolagal]

Good day,

I recently moved and am not entirely sure that all of my guys have transitioned entirely well. Turbo, my one year old appears to be having difficulties opening his eyes. They don't appear gummy nor caked- but are rarely opened, and when they are they are cloudy-appear to have a film(inner lid?) over them. I have begun soaking him every day again. He is eating and is active-but not overly. Not sure what may have caused this- the seriousness of it- what I need to do to remedy it. Any advice would be appreciated.

Cheers, Carley

 

[Yvonne G]

Have you changed the kind of substrate? What about the UV light? These are two of the main causes of eye problems in tortoises. The UV rays from a light too close can be harmful. And a too dry substrate, or a pine substrate, or something he's allergic to in the substrate can also cause eye problems.

Yvonne

 

[Granolagal]

Thank you Yvonne! The light is approx. 10-11" inches away... I don't think that I realized it could be too close- just too far? The substrate is Aspen which is misted every afternoon. Zippy is directly beside Turbo in another rubbermaid and hasn't been affected by 'whatever' it may be...

 

[Granolagal]

How close is too close?

 

[Yvonne G]

I don't use them so I don't have first-hand knowledge, but from what I've heard, the package will tell you the distance. I think its usually 12"

Yvonne

 

[Isa]

Hello Carley,
Sorry to hear your Turbo have eyes problem. What kind of light do you use? I have a T-rex MVB flood and the minimum distance is 12''.

 

[Granolagal]

Hi there Isa!
The bulb that I use is a 48" Zoo Med 5.0 flourescent.
I think it must have ended up too low when I set them up at the new place. I have recently moved them out to my heated sun room and set them up a little bit differently. I think that they will be happy for the Winter. I will continue to soak and monitor the little fella. After a good soak his eyes appear a little better. Before the soak it doesn't look like he can open them at all. I am not sure what else to do, other than wait. He still manages to easily find his food and ramble about his home.

How is that Hermy of yours doing? Must be getting to be a big girl

 

[Isa]

I am glad Turbo's little eyes are doing better
Hermy is doing very good, he is super active and he is a very smart little tortoise. Thanks for asking
How is Zippy doing? I am sure he is still a real cutie

 

[Crazy1]

Hi Granolagal, nice to hear from you again wish it was under better circumstances. I would not mist Aspen. It gets moldy when damp. Mold may be a culprit here. Or not enough humidity. You may want to change out the substrate. If you are using Aspen do not get it wet. If you want more humidity set up a different substrate like cypress, or orchid bark, or Coco coir and sand, or you could use a humidifier to raise the ambient humidity.

 

[Granolagal]

Hi Robyn! Nice to hear from you! Thank you for enlightening me about the Aspen I had no idea that it could get moldy. I do not believe that was the cause however as I didn't begin to mist it until his eyes looked sad. I have changed Turbo's substrate and used a mixture of coco coir and organic soil made from decomposed black humus. He has a humid hide made from a self watering pot with sponges inside a ceramic heater over it and sphagnum moss as the substrate within it. His UV light is the proper distance. His eyes appear to be improving slightly but they are definitely not the way that they should be. I will wait one more week to see if there is more improvement and then purchase a humidifier to put in their room if there is not. His eyes have been this way for a spell now and I am wondering if there will permanent damage? Is it possible that this is a genetic defect? Zippy appears to be fine and I have continued to use the Aspen with him- I just tweaked his humid hide a bit. Any other suggestions or insights would be great.

Thank you,
Carley