General Care Discussion :: swollen eyes....still

[blaydes]

my res he is about 1.5,2 inches, and a little over a year old, still has swollen eyes. they have been swollen for a little over a week. i realize that the most common thing that causes their eyes to be swollen, is a lack of vitamin c. for about 3 or 4 days ive been coating all of his pellets with rep cal. he gets about 3 or 4 a day.

is there possibly anything else causing his eyes to be swollen and irritated?

[steve]

Poor water quality and too much chlorine could be a cause. Are his eyes swollen shut? Cod liver oil was mentioned often when dealing with swollen eyes but I think you should also consider a vet visit at this point.

[blaydes]

omgosh, his eyes are white! i dont know what is wrong. i avtually dont live in louisville, i live in a really small town, and we dont have a herp vet, and im pretty sure that our vet ever works with reptiles. the turt ia acting fine, but one of his eyes is white! please help!!

[blaydes]

you know when a child has pink eye, and they get a lot of juicy little eye boogers? (i know its gross but o well) its like a juicy little eye booger covering his left eye. his right eye just has a tiny one in the corner of his eye . for the past week he hasnt opened them but today he did and just a few minutes ago i saw them.

[steve]

Do a search for cod liver oil. You do need to search for a vet, even if its an inconvenience. Many blind turtles will refuse to eat and some eventually starve to death.

[blaydes]

ok, so i just got some info on cod liver oil after searching for it, my dad is going to the store to get some when he comes home from work. ok, so both of his eyes were swollen shut and had this pinkish tint. now his right eye is completely better. its not swollen and its clear. the left eye is what we are having trouble with. obviousley he cant see out of his left eye if something is covering it up, so he uses his right to see. i just got done feeding him, he was very hungry, he ate 5 or 6 pellets coated in rep cal, which is what the pet store told me to give him when his eyes are swollen.

[cam722]

Do you have city water with cholorine in it?? If so, do you use a decholorinator?? If not, that could be causing the irriation to the eyes.

[blaydes]

yes i do use tap water, but i put a dechlorinator, called tetrafin(to make water safe for freshwater fish) is what the bottle says.

[blaydes]

ok, i now have cod liver oil, i saw that on one topic jessicaTS said to break the gel capsule, put it on a q-top and gently rub it on the turtles eye. do it once or twice a day for 3-5 days. just curious, do i put it on his eyes when they are closed or open?

[marisa]

You put some of the cod liver oil on the q-tip and rub it gently on the lid, not in the eye. Do this 1-2 times a day for several days. If the swollen eyes are from a Vitamin A deficiency (not Vitamin C as you suggested above), this should help.

If you don't see improvement, it's probably not a Vitamin A deficiency and something else--if you're noticing discharge (the eye boogers), and only one eye is affected, it could be an infection. Zoo-Med makes eye drops for turtles which you could try, or you could make a solution of 97% distilled water (no tap or other water) and 3% boric acid and clean the eye (not the lid) 2X a day to see if this helps. If not, take him to a herp vet to find out the cause and get treatment.

What are you feeding your turtle?

What size is the tank?
How much water do you have in it?
What kind of filter are you using?
How often do you clean the tank and change the water?

[blaydes]

ok, both of his eyes are finally completely cleared! i took him out this morning to put the cod liver oil on his eye lids, and set him back on his basking rock. im guessing that the oil dried. i came back about an hour and a half later, and both eyes are not swollen, and clear! i dont know what it was.

he eats regular aquatic turtle pellets, lately i have been coating them with rep cal.
his tank holds 20 gallons, and the filter is designed for a 20 gallon tank. i clean it every 1-2 weeks.