white stuff in the eye

[Emerald01]

Hello,

I have this 2 year old Greek.

His eyes have some problem since he came. Obviously, his left eye has serious white stuff that blocks the entire eye most of time (the white sometimes can have a little opening). His right eye is much better, but also has this white stuff but not too bad. I am not sure if it has something to do with infection or some strange skin grown in or what else. I tried tortoise eye drops, vitamin A, vitamin D, but nothing works.

His problem does not get better nor get worse, it just stays like that. If I soak him with water, usually he can look a little bit better but back to worse when getting dry. The tortoise himself seems okay, not quite active though, not gain much weight after 1 year, but he eats well, he just could barely see his food on his left side for the obvious reason.

I attached a few photos here. If anyone knows what is the problem or solution, I really appreciate it your help!

Thank you so much.

His right eye is usually okay like this, you could see that some white stuff is in the front of the eye but not very bad


But sometimes this white stuff could slide backward and turns worse like this


His left eye is much worse than the right eye, almost all covered

 

[Lyn W]

Hi and welcome,
Can you post a picture of his enclosure so that we can see if there's anything in there that could be affecting him e.g. lamps, substrate etc.
I believe some members who have had eye troubles with torts use something like Viscotears gel but hopefully members from the US with more medical knowledge and experience of this will be along soon to help such as @Yvonne @zovick @Tom
I also use some sterile saline solution (sold for contact lens wearers) to gently drip over the eye to flush out anything that looks like it could cause problems, but this looks more serious than that so wait and see what the members I've tagged say.

 

[Lyn W]

You'll find this very useful for making sure your tort stays happy and healthy

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

There is a caresheet for Russians in Mediterranean/Temperate species section too

 

[Emerald01]

Hi and welcome,
Can you post a picture of his enclosure so that we can see if there's anything in there that could be affecting him e.g. lamps, substrate etc.
I believe some members who have had eye troubles with torts use something like Viscotears gel but hopefully members from the US with more medical knowledge and experience of this will be along soon to help such as @Yvonne @zovick @Tom
I also use some sterile saline solution (sold for contact lens wearers) to gently drip over the eye to flush out anything that looks like it could cause problems, but this looks more serious than that so wait and see what the members I've tagged say.

Thank you. I use this as the substrate

Zoo Med Eco Earth Expandable Reptile​

Personally I’m not quite worried about the enclosure because he is sharing his home with another one who is slightly older but very healthy. His eye problem seemed already there before coming to my place, I noticed his left eye was not as clear as right one when just arrived, but not as bad as now. Overall his problem is stable but slightly worse

 

[TammyJ]

The first thing you can do to really start helping him is to separate him from the other one, for many very good reasons.

 

[Tom]

Thank you. I use this as the substrate

Zoo Med Eco Earth Expandable Reptile​

Personally I’m not quite worried about the enclosure because he is sharing his home with another one who is slightly older but very healthy. His eye problem seemed already there before coming to my place, I noticed his left eye was not as clear as right one when just arrived, but not as bad as now. Overall his problem is stable but slightly worse

There are three common causes for eye issues:
1. Wrong substrate: Dry dusty substrates, soil, and sand mixes can all do it. Is your coir damp and hand packed firmly? Or is it loose, fluffy and dry?
2. Wrong lighting: CFL bulbs and some MVBs can cause this problem. What type of bulbs are you using? HO tubes can do it too if they are mounted too close.
3. Oncoming sickness due to low temps, or a hampered immune system. Keep tortoises in pairs could certainly do this. They should never be housed in pairs.

We can help you figure this out and solve the problem, but we need more info:
1. What size enclosure?
2. What substrate? Is it damp? Is it packed down?
3. What are your four temps? Basking area, cool side, warm side and over night low?
4. What are the sizes, in grams, of the two tortoises? Same species?
5. What bulbs are you using for heating and lighting? Not brands, but types of bulbs?

 

[Emerald01]

There are three common causes for eye issues:
1. Wrong substrate: Dry dusty substrates, soil, and sand mixes can all do it. Is your coir damp and hand packed firmly? Or is it loose, fluffy and dry?
2. Wrong lighting: CFL bulbs and some MVBs can cause this problem. What type of bulbs are you using? HO tubes can do it too if they are mounted too close.
3. Oncoming sickness due to low temps, or a hampered immune system. Keep tortoises in pairs could certainly do this. They should never be housed in pairs.

We can help you figure this out and solve the problem, but we need more info:
1. What size enclosure?
2. What substrate? Is it damp? Is it packed down?
3. What are your four temps? Basking area, cool side, warm side and over night low?
4. What are the sizes, in grams, of the two tortoises? Same species?
5. What bulbs are you using for heating and lighting? Not brands, but types of bulbs?

Hi Tom,
I use Zoo Med eco earth soil as substrate, it is hand packed but not firmly, not damp but I will usually soak them once a week, and if it is really dry I will spray some water in.

Both are Greek, the older one is about 2.5 years old and half the size of the human hand. He grows happily in this enclosure environment since we bought him 2+ years ago. He is now really active and eats a lot and grows a lot. Then the small one is about 1.5 years old and about half the size of the older one. We bought it 1 year ago, since he came, we notice his eye has some issue, and it slightly becomes worse until now. He seems eating well, not quite active, I guess due to his eyes, and he grows slow and much lighter than the older one. These two guys look like getting along well, they do not fight and sometimes even sleep close to each other LOL.

We have a heating 100 W and a UV light to keep the temperature around 80, overnight lights are off, I think the temp is around 68. If it is sunshine since we live in Cal, usually I will bring them outdoor to enjoy the natural sun light instead of bulbs.

I feel there is nothing really wrong because my first tortoise seems pretty happy, he gains a lot of weight and his eyes are as bright as diamond. This little one seems to have some problem before living in this place, my enclosure and some treatment just not makes it better.

 

[Tom]

Hi Tom,
I use Zoo Med eco earth soil as substrate, it is hand packed but not firmly, not damp but I will usually soak them once a week, and if it is really dry I will spray some water in.

Both are Greek, the older one is about 2.5 years old and half the size of the human hand. He grows happily in this enclosure environment since we bought him 2+ years ago. He is now really active and eats a lot and grows a lot. Then the small one is about 1.5 years old and about half the size of the older one. We bought it 1 year ago, since he came, we notice his eye has some issue, and it slightly becomes worse until now. He seems eating well, not quite active, I guess due to his eyes, and he grows slow and much lighter than the older one. These two guys look like getting along well, they do not fight and sometimes even sleep close to each other LOL.

We have a heating 100 W and a UV light to keep the temperature around 80, overnight lights are off, I think the temp is around 68. If it is sunshine since we live in Cal, usually I will bring them outdoor to enjoy the natural sun light instead of bulbs.

I feel there is nothing really wrong because my first tortoise seems pretty happy, he gains a lot of weight and his eyes are as bright as diamond. This little one seems to have some problem before living in this place, my enclosure and some treatment just not makes it better.

What size is the enclosure?

What type of bulb is the 100 watt heating bulb?

What type of UV light bulb? Is it a cfl? MVB? HO tube?

The substrate may be irritating his eyes during the times when it is dry. It should be damp all the time.

The little one is existing in a living hell. You need to separate them immediately. He's not active because the dominant one has him scared to move. Again, they should never be in pairs. It is not okay. They are not getting along. Click on the thread that Lyn linked for you and scroll down to number 9.

 

[TammyJ]

Emerald01, please, for your little one's sake and a chance to survive, do exactly what Tom has said! He absolutely knows what he is talking about . And after making the necessary changes, take the tortoise to a good reptile or tortoise specialist vet! You can't do better than that. Please.

 

[TammyJ]

He will die from stress alone, before anything else will kill him.

 

[zovick]

Hi Tom,
I use Zoo Med eco earth soil as substrate, it is hand packed but not firmly, not damp but I will usually soak them once a week, and if it is really dry I will spray some water in.

Both are Greek, the older one is about 2.5 years old and half the size of the human hand. He grows happily in this enclosure environment since we bought him 2+ years ago. He is now really active and eats a lot and grows a lot. Then the small one is about 1.5 years old and about half the size of the older one. We bought it 1 year ago, since he came, we notice his eye has some issue, and it slightly becomes worse until now. He seems eating well, not quite active, I guess due to his eyes, and he grows slow and much lighter than the older one. These two guys look like getting along well, they do not fight and sometimes even sleep close to each other LOL.

We have a heating 100 W and a UV light to keep the temperature around 80, overnight lights are off, I think the temp is around 68. If it is sunshine since we live in Cal, usually I will bring them outdoor to enjoy the natural sun light instead of bulbs.

I feel there is nothing really wrong because my first tortoise seems pretty happy, he gains a lot of weight and his eyes are as bright as diamond. This little one seems to have some problem before living in this place, my enclosure and some treatment just not makes it better.

The "white stuff" you are seeing in both eyes is actually the third eyelid or nictitating membrane of the eye. On the left side it is severely inflamed/irritated and that is why it is extended out over the eye most of the time.

The first thing I would recommend is getting some veterinary ophthalmic drops and putting a drop into each eye twice daily to reduce the irritation. Then you can worry about figuring out what is causing it and addressing the other problems which Tom and others may mention soon.

The drops I would use are called Neo-Poly-Dex Ophthalmic Solution. You need to buy them from a vet as you probably cannot get them over the counter. These drops contain Neomycin, Polymyxin B, and Dexamethasone.

Good luck.