Urgent Care :: trouble opening one eye

[erinemcgreevy]

Every once in a while my little turtle Monster has trouble opening his right eye. His left eye will open with no trouble but sometimes he has to brush his right eye with his hand to open it. Should I be using drops or cod liver oil or is this normal?

[mikee]

He apparently is trying to stave off an infection. With the little ones they are most susceptible to RI and that may be what he is trying to deal with. I would separate the two and do the eye drops and kick up the temperature to 80 to 81 degrees. He needs a very clean tank with proper lighting and good basking area. In my experience most small turtles succumb to RI. Another important thing: when the cute little hatchlings are picked up a lot they cool off and then put back in the tank to warm up. That happens a lot and the in, out, in out, in, out of the tank makes them sick. – Just a note from MIKEE

[erinemcgreevy]

Well the tank is super clean. Problem is what do I do with the other turtle? I don't have another suitable tank, just a plastic container. Should I put eye drops in the other turtles eyes just to make sure he's not sick too?

[SpotsMama]

Other things besides an RI can cause turtle eye irritation. For example injury, eye infection, too much chlorine in the water, too much conditioner in the water, exposure to UVB light bulbs that are too strong, a shortage of vitamin A. Of course, RI is the bad one. You don't want to take chances with that.

If your turtle isn't showing any other symptoms of illness, why don't you try the drops. I suppose you mean Turtle Eye Drops by Zoo Med. They are good, just follow directions. If there's no improvement or if it gets worse, then separate the turtles and take the one with the problem to see a vet. The drops won't do any good if the problem is an RI. They will help if the problem is minor irritation due to injury, infection, too much chlorine or conditioner, mild vitamin a shortage.

[marisa]

He's healthy otherwise? Does he do this when he's basking? If so, it sounds like the skin on the lid is getting dried out.

[erinemcgreevy]

I've only seen it happen twice and it was when he was basking.

[marisa]

My RES will swipe at his eye as well sometimes when he's been basking for a bit.

If your turtle is healthy, is getting a good diet, the water is being kept clean and you've only seen him do this twice when he's been basking, I wouldn't be worried. If his eye changed (became swollen or really puffy, for example) or it started staying shut, then I'd be concerned.

[erinemcgreevy]

His eye look good to me it is hard to tell because they are so small. I think that I'll get him drop they can't hurt, right?

[marisa]

No, the Zoo-Med drops wouldn't hurt if used as directed. I'd follow the directions for using them as a preventative measure, which is once a week, I believe.