White and red substances in my tortoise's eye?

[hannamin]

Hannamin:

In your post you did not mention not eating, nor diet. In trying to help you we need more info. With eye problems, many immediately ask about UVB bulbs, but often don't look further into a more common vitamin A deficiency as a cause. You need to slowly get you tortoise to start eating a more varied diet including the deep green vegetables and maybe even a little carrot to get it some vitamin A and more blanced diet. What has your tortoise been eating, and will eat now?

Oh, sorry I forgot to mention it because she does not eat at all, I Googled and it says because she's hibernating. I've only had it for a month, it was a birthday gift. Tortoise sellers here don't care about the animals and I'm sure she was tortured, the friend who got me the tortoise kept telling me that he didn't know anything about tortoises and kept telling her 'Feed her anything green.' and wouldn't reply to any of her other questions, so excuse my ignorance about this topic. She drinks water but refuses to eat anything. I've read that lettuce is good for her so I chopped some to little pieces and put it in front of her. She didn't eat, I tried putting big chunks or even feeding her myself but nothing has worked. I want to make her a happy tortoise but I do not know what to do.

 

[Pearly]

Ok, take a deep breath and let's start from the beginning. First of all we need to know what tortoise species yours is, then you'll need to read the care sheets for your species on this forum. I hope that some members here who keep your species chime in and give you some advise. It's good that your tortoise is drinking. Thank you for taking time to find answers and be a good tortoise mom

 

[hannamin]

Ok, take a deep breath and let's start from the beginning. First of all we need to know what tortoise species yours is, then you'll need to read the care sheets for your species on this forum. I hope that some members here who keep your species chime in and give you some advise. It's good that your tortoise is drinking. Thank you for taking time to find answers and be a good tortoise mom

She's Greek, specifically Libyan Greek. I've read care sheets on many websites (I don't understand much about this website yet) but I do not understand, am I supposed to keep her in a box? She hates boxes with a burning passion. And what's with the bulb thing? I cannot get her to a reptile vet because I cannot even find reptile vets here, and vets generally are not reliable in Egypt. And for someone who's hibernating, she sure walks a lot. She likes white (the colour) and she recently does not love the sun very much. I observe her a lot but she always seems sad (aside from when she takes showers) she started peeing recently. I want to know what to do exactly to make her a happy kid, she gives me too much happiness and I feel like a crappy mom is it really good to put your tortoise in a box? I don't have gardens around me.

Thank you guys a lot and sorry if I have a lot of questions, it's just nice to get some help!

 

[Pearly]

No, what are those?

It's same thing as those warm water baths only you put your tort in carrot baby food, and let some nutrients absorb from the end of digestive track. Go to BROWSE in the menu page here, you can find all kinds of very informative threads in health section. I too was very new to reptile keeping few months ago, have always had cats and dogs, never reptiles. This forum is so full of great reliable information, if you are willing to spend time reading and trying different things for your pet, in few weeks you'll gain more confidence and turn things around for your new pet. Again, take a deep breath, and go back to the basics. What kind of tortoise is yours? Have you read the care sheets on this forum for your species? And take it from there, one problem at the time. Once we know what species you keep we can refer you to proper care sheet with diet specific to your tort requirements. Then go the enclosure, lights, heat, etc.

 

[Markw84]

Here's a link to the Greek Tortoises. Start there.

Greek Tortoise (Testudo graeca) Care Sheet/Overview

 

[hannamin]

Here's a link to the Greek Tortoises. Start there.

Greek Tortoise (Testudo graeca) Care Sheet/Overview

Okay, wish me luck into finding these things here, I think the box thing will be a problem because she likes walking a lot and I don't know where to get it from, but if the care sheet says so I will. Thanks a lot!

 

[Pearly]

If you have lots of room in your house you can just give her her own space, where you keep only tort friendly stuff. Mine are still babies and live in 40 gal tank, but we take them out for exercise and bath daily. The only thing is that once out of the safety of their tank they have to be watched ALL THE TIME! They will try to eat stuff, or get into stuff or disappear on you in split second (had that one happen!!!!) just keep yours safe till you come up with proper enclosure and get her diet right immediately with those daily soaks in warm water and carrot baby food. Stick around here, ask questions post pictures. You'll get things right

 

[SarahChelonoidis]

She isn't hibernating if she is up walking around and drinking. Don't box her up for hibernation. She does need a large, safe enclosure (inside or outside - outside is better if temperatures allow) where she can bask, eat, and drink.

She needs to eat. To eat, she needs to be be able to get warm enough during the day to digest.

 

[Pearly]

She's Greek, specifically Libyan Greek. I've read care sheets on many websites (I don't understand much about this website yet) but I do not understand, am I supposed to keep her in a box? She hates boxes with a burning passion. And what's with the bulb thing? I cannot get her to a reptile vet because I cannot even find reptile vets here, and vets generally are not reliable in Egypt. And for someone who's hibernating, she sure walks a lot. She likes white (the colour) and she recently does not love the sun very much. I observe her a lot but she always seems sad (aside from when she takes showers) she started peeing recently. I want to know what to do exactly to make her a happy kid, she gives me too much happiness and I feel like a crappy mom is it really good to put your tortoise in a box? I don't have gardens around me.

Thank you guys a lot and sorry if I have a lot of questions, it's just nice to get some help!

Sorry, I had missed that part of your initial post about the species. The "bulb" refers to light/heat element. Torts are cold blooded and need the heat source from the outside (i.e. from light/heat bulbs or sun) to get their body temp up to at least 85F (29.5C) in order to digest their food. That is why they need those basking lights. Again I keep RF (tropical forest torts) and don't really know about Greeks, but the body temps for food digestion I think are about this same. If I'm wrong, I'm sure some one will correct me. I just wanted to give you at least something that I know is safe thing to do and may help until you get more answers

 

[hannamin]

Update: This is how it looks like, now. I've used the eyedrops and made her as hydrated as possible. She still refuses to eat but she walks and drinks water. The colour has changed as you can see in the photo and it's like a layer of its own. It's really, really, terribly bothering her and she keeps moving trying to get rid of it. I tried to get rid of it myself but I sensed that I might be doing something wrong. What do now? And how to get her to eat?

 

[Yvonne G]

You can't "get rid of it." It is her third eyelid that is swollen. In order to "get rid of it" you would have to do surgery on the eye.

The tortoise needs its own habitat. It needs a space that you set up for it that looks like where it comes from in nature. A nice big space with dirt on the floor to dig in, hiding places, water and food. Once she has her own space, it will take a couple weeks for her to get used to living in there and to realize she's now safe from predators. After that initial period of adjustment, she'll start eating and acting like a tortoise

 

[hannamin]

You can't "get rid of it." It is her third eyelid that is swollen. In order to "get rid of it" you would have to do surgery on the eye.

The tortoise needs its own habitat. It needs a space that you set up for it that looks like where it comes from in nature. A nice big space with dirt on the floor to dig in, hiding places, water and food. Once she has her own space, it will take a couple weeks for her to get used to living in there and to realize she's now safe from predators. After that initial period of adjustment, she'll start eating and acting like a tortoise

What do you mean? It will look like this forever? It's not even on her whole eye, it's like someone has stuck a little piece of...some substance, and a part of it is a bit out, I'm starting to doubt it's even a third eyelid, it doesn’t look like the photos I find in websites. And it's really bothering her, she won't stop trying to get rid of it.

 

[hannamin]

She isn't hibernating if she is up walking around and drinking. Don't box her up for hibernation. She does need a large, safe enclosure (inside or outside - outside is better if temperatures allow) where she can bask, eat, and drink.

She needs to eat. To eat, she needs to be be able to get warm enough during the day to digest.

It's already so warm in here, and I put many and different kinds of food with no use. I'll try to get her a box and the bulb as soon as possible.

 

[hannamin]

Sorry, I had missed that part of your initial post about the species. The "bulb" refers to light/heat element. Torts are cold blooded and need the heat source from the outside (i.e. from light/heat bulbs or sun) to get their body temp up to at least 85F (29.5C) in order to digest their food. That is why they need those basking lights. Again I keep RF (tropical forest torts) and don't really know about Greeks, but the body temps for food digestion I think are about this same. If I'm wrong, I'm sure some one will correct me. I just wanted to give you at least something that I know is safe thing to do and may help until you get more answers

Thank you, Pearly. Really, I appreciate how you explain everything to me.

 

[Yvonne G]

What do you mean? It will look like this forever? It's not even on her whole eye, it's like someone has stuck a little piece of...some substance, and a part of it is a bit out, I'm starting to doubt it's even a third eyelid, it doesn’t look like the photos I find in websites. And it's really bothering her, she won't stop trying to get rid of it.

No, when you said you tried to "get rid of it" I pictured you were rubbing or picking at her eye. You can't make it go away by physically touching it. It is swollen tissue. What makes it go away is the swelling subsides after she's set up in her safe and secure habitat where she can get used to living stress-free.