Urgent Care :: Eye problems & lighting???

[imderanged]

How far from the basking surface should the lighting be anyway????
I was given my little turtle "Sylar" for christmas. Since then I have been scrambling to find all the right things to take care of him...when I got him he was in a tupperware! At first he seemed like he might an RI (someone I know who knows about turtles said he looked good, but was concerned that he was floating ontop of the water more then diving underneath) but I kept him warm and fed him pellets with antibiotics in them and put "electrodize" drops in his water...and he got much better. He was swimming all the way at the bottom of the tank yesterday. He active and he eats well every time I feed him.

The one problem is his eyes are shut alot and he has trouble opening them. I bought Zoomed Repti Turtule Eye Drops and put them in once a day and it was getting much better. Yesterday I finally picked up a UVB light for him and set it up. Now his eyes look worse again. He still seems fine otherwise. I dunno if its just a coincidence or if its a problem with the light like I've read can happen. Right now I only have the basking light on to see if his eyes are any better. I have a Repti Sun 5.0 UVB tropical compact florecent and Zoomed basking spot lamp 100w and a zoomed nocternal infrared heat lamp 75w for use at night. I have a 20 long tank. How far should these bulbs be kept from the basking surface???
And if anyone has sugessions for how to set up the lamps I'm open to suggestions. I have two fixures, a regular one and a deep one for the UVB. Only one came with a clamp, so I bought the stand ZooMed sells to use with the lamp, but it doesn't raise up very high!

Oh! and one more thing, can I use the Repti Turtle Eye drops more than once a day? It's mostly vit A &B12.

[erinemcgreevy]

I believe that most people recommend that the the lights should be at least 12" away. I have also heard of people having eye issues with the zoomed 10.0 bulb but I'm unsure about the 5.0. Have you checked the temp of the basking area? The basking temp should be about 90 so adjust the heat lamp distance to satisfy that requirement.

Hope this helped a bit. I'm sure others will respond and be even more helpful.

[SpotsMama]

There have been some eye problems with the Reptisun 5.0, they're just not very common.

Were there instructions on distance between the bulb and the turtle in the Reptisun box? If not, here's a set of instructions that were provided to us by Zoo Med a number of months ago:

Reptisun 5.0
www.redearslider.com/downloads/reptisun ... ctions.pdf

If the bulb is too close, even a reptisun 5.0 can cause eye problems. Eye probems are tricky because they can be caused by so many things - injury, UVB too strong, dirty water, too much conditioner in the water, infection, vitamin A deficiency, and respiratory infection. However, if your turtle's eye problem coincided with the change to the reptisun 5.0 then it's the likely cause.

On the eye drops, just follow the instructions on the package. The drops are good - the sooth minor irritation and provide vitamin A if it's lacking in the diet. It won't hurt to put them in more than once a day from time to time but in general you should do as it says on the package.

[steve]

Can you answer some of these questions?

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2142

[imderanged]

How big is your turtle? about 1 1/2 inches

How long have you had it? christmas

What is the water temperature? 74? probably higher....

Did you use a thermometer? I have one of those outside of the tank stick on themometers. I accually think my water temp is probably higher, the heater is preset at 78. I haven't had a chance to buy another kind of themometer to double check, and I was afraid he might break the glass fish themometer...

Are you using a water heater? yes- I can't find the box now, but its a special submersible turtle heater with a plastic cage around it so he can't sit on the heating element, which is good, because he likes to sit on it.

How much water is in there? 4 inches

Are you using a water conditioner? ZooMed Reptisafe and I droped in one of those Tetrafauna ReptoGuard Turtle health conditioner Tabs.
I had the water in my tank tested at the pet store a few days ago, they said my levels were good, and the tank was beging to cycle.

Are you using any filtration? ZooMed 501

What is the basking temperature? 90

Is there a basking light? Repti Sun 5.0 UVB tropical compact florecent and Zoomed basking spot lamp 100w and a zoomed nocternal infrared heat lamp 75w for use at night.

Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? yes, but its kind of low, (I was given it at christmas with little Sylar) thats why I have the water level low, I was thinking of getting a dock and raisning the water level.

What kind is it or what is it made out of? plastic, it sits on the bottom and has steps he can climb up to get to a flat surface to lie on

Is there a UVB light? Repti Sun 5.0 compact florecent

What have you been trying to feed it? ReptileXtra Anti-Bacteria Pellets...I also tried meal worms, he bites them but cant seem to swallow them. He got one all the way in him mouth, but then it pop back out. he just plays with it, once they drown he loses interest. I tried to get him to eat shredded carrot, but he wants no part of that.

When was the last time your turtle ate? He just ate. He eats the pellets every time.

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 20 gallons (long)

Is the tank near a window? No

Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? not really, unless you count my sun conures screaming.

Have you read the Basic Care section? yes

Have you searched the forums for similar situations?yes, thats where I got the idea that it could be his light. I also started putting drops (zoo med repti turtle eye drops) in his eyes.

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms?When I first got him, he was not in a proper enclosure (it was a tupperware, no water heater, no filter, just the basking rock and a incandesant "daylight" bulb for basking, that threw some heat, but I was pretty sure wasn't enough (I didn't have a themometer) Obviously Sylar was a surprise christmas gift. I was given him the day before X-mas eve, but since it was the holiday, coudn't go shopping till the day after christmas. I put a heating pad under his tupperware to try and warm up his water, but his eyes were closed alot and he wouldn't eat. I was very worried he was getting sick. But when I bought his set up he started looking better. I let a girl that worked at the pet shop look at him and at first she said he looked healthy, beause he wasn't having trouble breathing or anything, but she put him in the water and he stayed at the top. She said that he was floating and that could mean he had a respitory illness. This was all the day after Christmas. since then I have kept him warm and fed him Anti-bacterial pelets, and put drops in his eyes and he eats and acts normal and even dives to the bottom of his tank. His eyes even looked better, but now he seems to be having problems with them again. Everything else is fine. I only got the UVB lamp Wensday. When he's been basking his eyes seem to get dried shut. When he gets in the water, he rubs them alittle and opens them up. The other day he couldn't get his one eye open even after getting wet, and it looked swollen to me. This morning he was on his rock when i took him out o feed him and his eyes were both shut and he couldn't open them until I put him in the water. he only had the red nightlight on. Right now I have been feeding him and both eyes look good.

[steve]

How close is the UVB light to his basking area?

Can you check to see how he does with the Reptisun off?

I'd also invest in a better brand of pellets, Reptomin Baby is widely available.

[imderanged]

This is what Sylar looks like first thing in the morning. He has just the infrared nightlight on all night. (top)


This is how he looks just a short time later after breakfast. he opens his eyes when after he gets wet. (top)


This is his tank set up. the UVB lamp is NOT on in this picture.(top)

[imderanged]

Oh, and I was only still feeding him the ReptileRxtra Anti-bacterial pellets to finish off the 2 week course the bottle directed. He only needs to have it for the next 3 or 4 days. Thank you for the suggestion on a regular food.

[steve]

Is he sleeping overnight under a basking lamp? He really doesn't need that and it might explain the dry eyes.

[imderanged]

Overnights I use the Zoomed nocternal infrared heat lamp 75w in the fixture I marked "heat lamp". Thats his only lamp at night. I live in New Jersey (don't tell the turtle police!) so its cold here now, plus, I live in a basement. I was afraid of him getting too cold overnight.

[mikee]

i-deranged -- Your turtle need to have the lights off at night to simulate the hours of the day. If you are concerned about the temp in the basement, get an aquarium heater. I use a timer and cut the lights out at 11:00 PM and on at 8:00 AM. If your basement is cold, I would set the temperature at about 78 or 79 degrees.

[mikee]

i-deranged -- I would put more water in your tank. With that little amount of water it is hard to keep clean.

[steve]

I'd pick up another thermometer, either digital or the glass kind that can go into the tank. Make sure the water is about 78 (+/- a couple of degrees is OK). You might have to adjust your heater... some of the cheap kinds can be wildly inaccurate. I'd recommend a Visitherm Stealth, which has an adjustable thermostat.

With your lamp... the heat entices the turtle to bask. He may feel more comfortable but it's too much to let him bask overnight. Ideally, basking temps should be about 10 degrees warmer than the water temp.

[marisa]

imderanged, exactly how cold does it get at night in the basement?

I've used the red heat (infrared) lights with hatchlings at night without a problem when it's been really cold. Yours sleeps on the basking area at night under the red heat light? If so, it looks like his eyelids are getting dried out from the lack of humidity, which is why he's having trouble opening them in the morning until they get wet.

Does your turtle just want to sleep on the basking area? I have two eastern painteds that sometimes insist on sleeping on the basking area overnight, even though it's quite cool where I am as well (and one is in a very cool basement) whether or not the basking area is being warmed. If your turtle is like this, it would be good to try to maintain some warmth in the tank to prevent him from getting chilled.

To help maintain warmth in the tank, it would be good to cover it (I use a plastic sheet like Lexan, but cardboard or even a cloth would work---if you're using a submersible water heater, covering most of the tank (leave a little space for air to get in) will trap the heat rising from the water and keep the ambient air in the tank warmer (it will also provide more humidity).

If it's really cold (I don't know how cold the basement gets, but if you're living there it can't be that cold), using a heat source like you have been doing might be good, but if it isn't, trapping the heat by covering the tank might be enough.

Just curious, but why where you feeding him those particular pellets?