Urgent Care :: turtle swollen eyes

[Chibi_Sephiroth]

i had it like 5inches or so cuz i filled the water up higher i just move it away but temperately its like 3ft away cuz i dont have a lamp stand thingy its a clamp lamp thingy im gonna get a new lamp with like a stand or a thingy that raises it away from the tank or somethin.

[xsavingsaturdayx]

3 feet is kind of far away, are you sure there is no way that you can position it around 12 inches away from the basking area?

And 5 inches is realy close for that bulb..might explain why your turtles eyes are buggin out.

[Chibi_Sephiroth]

well ill see if i can get it closer ill try to figure out a way

[xsavingsaturdayx]

I'm sure there is a way, i dont see why there wouldnt.

[Chibi_Sephiroth]

well let me show you a pic brb

[octpusgirl8]

I use a hook screwed into the ceiling and a chain to hang my basking light so that i can get the right temp on the basking spot. You might want to try this for your UVB lamp so you can have it close enough to be effective but far enough not to hurt them.

[Chibi_Sephiroth]

[xsavingsaturdayx]

You can try positioning the UVB lamp on the opposite side of the tank (the side without the dock) and aim at the dock. Did that make sense? lol

[Chibi_Sephiroth]

ok ill try that

[SpotsMama]

The lights - both the UVB light and the heat light - should shine straight down on the basking platform - instead of at an angle - as much as possible. If the lights are at an angle, they are more likely to shine into the turtle's eyes and cause irritation.

From your picture, it looks like you could get your 12 inch distance between the bulb and the basking turtle with a standard clamp light fixture that overhangs the basking platform. You'll get some hight from the fixture - 4 inches anyway - and it looks like you've got 8 inches of tank wall above the basking platform.

What kind of fixture do you use? Does it have a shiny interior? A shiny interior inside the fixture could intensify the UVB rays and result in irritated turtle eyes. A non-shiny interior would be gentler to the turtle's eyes.

I've seen where some people have mounted their light fixtures to the wall beside the tank to get the best angle and height. This seems to work real well. Here's an example:

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6372

It's too bad there aren't more light fixture options out there. We have to get creative to find ways to provide the optomim lighting without blinding our turtles!

[DavidY]

You could try using a wooden board that is a little taller than the tank and set it up behind your tank, then clamp the lamp to that so it can shine down on the basking platform. If you need to adjust the height, you can either cut the board to size or place something under it to raise it up. You could use this as a temporary solution until you can come up with something more permanent (and nicer looking).

[adam85491]

This sounds dumb, but why don't you just use to clamp lamps and position them in the middle of the tank pointing at the basking area? If you move the ramp the closest part to the ramp I would imagine that your turtle would be less likely to look into the light.

[SpotsMama]

Not dumb at all. The reason for not just moving the clamp fixture further away and tilting it towards the basking area is that the fixture really should be pointing straight down at the basking area instead of at an angle. If it's at an angle it's more likely to shine into the turtle's eyes, causing irritation.

[adam85491]

I didn't know they were supposed to be straight down, but I think that maybe, if you are using the zoomed floating dock, that if you angle the lamp towards the ramp, it would be more likely to shine on their backs and legs instead of their eyes since they would probably walk right up instead of turning around and all.

[Vivi]

omg i just started to use that uvb blub and then all of a sudden my lil guys eyes were swollen. i didnt know what happen but after reading this post i guess that the blub caused the problem. But since his eyes got swollen he really isnt active. he doesnt swim anymore and just lays there with his eyes shut. his appetite has really decreased. When i came from school yesterday he was just laying there and i thought the worst. but then he stated moving and i was relieved. when i saw his eyes i already knew what he had. But i wanted to know what made this happen. and after reading this post, now i know the cause of it. I've been forceing him to eat carrots along with other veggies and forceing him to eat cuttlebone. Any other suggestions???