White eyeball? 1 year old Horsfield

[ericalucy]

Hello,

I need help please diagnosing my tortoise, Bertie. About a month ago both of his eyes were red, puffy and completely swollen shut. He also stopped eating, possibly because he couldn’t see. After a few days of cleaning them with no improvement we took him to the vets where he was diagnosed with an eye infection and we were given some antibiotic eye cream that said cat/dog/rabbit drops on them and told to apply twice daily to reduce swelling. After a week of using these with absolutely zero improvement I purchased some repti turtle eye drops for Vitamin a deficiency and used these for another couple of weeks alongside the vet given drops and his eyes didn’t even slightly improve. For the past few days, I stopped using both of the aforementioned and started using only normal human eye drops, the sort I use for when my contact lenses get dry. Amazingly, both eyes have completely opened and his left eye is completely back to normal! The problem now is that his right eyeball is totally white! Can anybody help me figure out what the underlying problem here is?

Will be so grateful for any advice or help!
Thank you!

 

[Toddrickfl1]

Hello,

I need help please diagnosing my tortoise, Bertie. About a month ago both of his eyes were red, puffy and completely swollen shut. He also stopped eating, possibly because he couldn’t see. After a few days of cleaning them with no improvement we took him to the vets where he was diagnosed with an eye infection and we were given some antibiotic eye cream that said cat/dog/rabbit drops on them and told to apply twice daily to reduce swelling. After a week of using these with absolutely zero improvement I purchased some repti turtle eye drops for Vitamin a deficiency and used these for another couple of weeks alongside the vet given drops and his eyes didn’t even slightly improve. For the past few days, I stopped using both of the aforementioned and started using only normal human eye drops, the sort I use for when my contact lenses get dry. Amazingly, both eyes have completely opened and his left eye is completely back to normal! The problem now is that his right eyeball is totally white! Can anybody help me figure out what the underlying problem here is?

Will be so grateful for any advice or help!
Thank you!

What kind of UVB light are you using?

 

[Yvonne G]

The main reason a tortoise's eyes swell shut is because he's not warm enough and he's stopped eating. It's not an infection. You need to warm his tank up so he has a place where he can get his inner core temperature up to at least 85F degrees. They won't eat if they can't get their inner core warm because the food won't digest.

 

[ericalucy]

What kind of UVB light are you using?

We have a UVA/UVB and heat bulb all in one, his tank is the perfect temperature and he spends plenty of time in a day basking!

 

[ericalucy]

The main reason a tortoise's eyes swell shut is because he's not warm enough and he's stopped eating. It's not an infection. You need to warm his tank up so he has a place where he can get his inner core temperature up to at least 85F degrees. They won't eat if they can't get their inner core warm because the food won't digest.

His tank is the perfect temperature and he’s been eating absolutely fine for the past few weeks :/

 

[Blackdog1714]

We have a UVA/UVB and heat bulb all in one, his tank is the perfect temperature and he spends plenty of time in a day basking!

Can you post a picture of this bulb. This may be the main cause of the eye issue. We recommend heat and light sources be separate. I use an RHP and one CHE for heat with 2 regular light bulbs with a 48” T5 UVB bulb

 

[Toddrickfl1]

We have a UVA/UVB and heat bulb all in one, his tank is the perfect temperature and he spends plenty of time in a day basking!

Have you changed the bulb recently?

 

[KarenSoCal]

Could we have some pictures close up of the white eye? We need to figure out exactly what is white. If it's his 3rd eyelid, maybe it can be treated. If it's his cornea, it's very possible he is permanently blinded in that eye.

Keep treating it according to the advice given to you, but be prepared in case there is no improvement.

 

[ericalucy]

Have you changed the bulb recently?

Yes about two months ago

 

[ericalucy]

Could we have some pictures close up of the white eye? We need to figure out exactly what is white. If it's his 3rd eyelid, maybe it can be treated. If it's his cornea, it's very possible he is permanently blinded in that eye.

Keep treating it according to the advice given to you, but be prepared in case there is no improvement.

 

[ericalucy]

Can you post a picture of this bulb. This may be the main cause of the eye issue. We recommend heat and light sources be separate. I use an RHP and one CHE for heat with 2 regular light bulbs with a 48” T5 UVB bulb

He has had the same type of bulb for nearly 2 years and frequently replaced and the eye issue is very new so whilst I do appreciate the suggestion I’m not convinced it’s the bulbs doing

 

[KarenSoCal]

View attachment 311419

I'm not sure which it is, but the picture looks more brown than white. That makes me lean toward the 3rd eyelid.

Let's see what @Yvonne G thinks.

 

[Toddrickfl1]

Yes about two months ago

Those mercury vapor bulbs can vary greatly in UVB output even if they're the same company/brand. I would take that light out for about a week and see if there is any improvement. @ZEROPILOT has been doing some UVB tests and can give you some better info on this probably.

 

[ericalucy]

Those mercury vapor bulbs can vary greatly in UVB output even if they're the same company/brand. I would take that light out for about a week and see if there is any improvement. @ZEROPILOT has been doing some UVB tests and can give you some better info on this probably.

Thank you for the advice, what do you recommend I replace it with?

 

[Toddrickfl1]

Thank you for the advice, what do you recommend I replace it with?

Just a regular light bulb, however if your using that for heat too you may need to get to a ceramic heat emitter first. This would be the first thing id try if it was me, just my opinion. Good luck and let us know how it works out.

 

[GMDVM]

Can’t tell in the photo if the discoloration is the nictitans - third eyelid- remaining over the cornea or the cornea itself. There are a few reasons that the cornea could turn whitish.
was the swelling associated with any discharge?