General Care Discussion :: Swollen Eyes

[jasmiester]

My turtle stopped moving..shes tucked into her shell and her eyes are closed. She has one leg popping out. I took her out of her tank and put her into a smaller container with about 3 inches of water. She floats to the top...she opened her eyes at first but now she wont.. She doesn't really respond at all..but ive tried poking her foot and I can feel movement.. but its very slight movement.. is she gonna die? ............. :/ ........

[SpotsMama]

It doesn't sound good, I'm afraid. She's so weak she probably can't swim, so take her out of the water and put her someplace warm and dry. The temperature should be around 82 degrees where you put her. See how it goes over the next few hours, then check back here and let us know.

[jasmiester]

Shes back !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I noticed that she started to sink when i checked up on her again.. I thought of that as a good sign since you float with you die (for humans atleast) .. then i saw her eyes were slightly opened and now they're fully opened *phewww* ... she still seems to be kinda scared and stuff.. I put two shrimps inside for her and i'm going to check up on her again in a few minutes..

[SpotsMama]

What's her water temperature? Is she interested in the shrimp?

[jasmiester]

doesn't seem like shes interested.. i'm not sure about the water temperature cause we have no spare thermometers in the house and im using one of the LCD ones that are stuck to the main tank (i know, they're not that accurate :/) .. We currently have no heater in our tank because the dude at the pet store said our house would be warm enough to keep the water temp high enough, seems like he was right.. the water in the main tank is around 78 F and i think the one in the small tank is around the same .. They've been in 78F for almost all their life and seem to be quite happy with it .. She seems to be able to move again and I have realized that she has moved from her original spot..

[SpotsMama]

Well I'm awfully glad to hear she's moving some but something caused her unresponsiveness.

Is she showing any signs of illness - like swollen eyes, mucus around the nose or mouth, swimming lopsided or difficulty submerging, yawning a lot or breathing with her mouth open? How long has she been so inactive, and when was the last time she had a good appetite?

[RunninWideOpen]

It's very important to get the temperature right. I have one of those sticky thermometers on the tank too, but I also use a digital thermometer that's much more accurate. I've noticed that the sticky thermometer sometimes gets stuck at 76F for some reason, even if the temp goes significantly below that.

Your house would have to be in the low 80's to keep the water temperature around there.

Ditto to Spotsmama. Sounds like something is definitely wrong with her. A visit to a qualified herp vet is the only real chance turtles have when they get really sick. How old / big is your turtle? It sounds like you have other turtles too?

[jasmiester]

Yup, I do have other turtles, i've notice some bullying lately so i'm trying my best to split em up asap. I think she may have a bit of swollen eyes, what does that mean?

[SpotsMama]

Well, swollen eyes is another of the big red flags. Sometimes swollen eyes are caused by minor things like too much chlorine in the water but sometimes they're a symptom of serious illness.

For instance, the eyes are always swollen when a turtle has a respiratory illness (RI). The other things listed in my post above are also symptoms of RI along with lethargy and poor appetite. Early on in the disease they won't all be present but if your turtle has several of them it's time to get him to a vet.

Of course, RI isn't the only illness that turtles get but it is a common one. If not treated early on it's usually fatal. If caught early then antibiotics are an effective treatment.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Definitely get a water heater for the tank & a separate thermometer so you can check the temp. A submersible glass-tube water heater is around $15 & thermometer is around $5 (or less). Getting the water temp right is one of the most basic & easy ways to keep your turtle healthy. They need the heat of the water & basking dock in order to digest their food & prevent diseases (like RI). If it is too cold, they stop eating because they can't digest the food & their immune system literally shuts down.

A water heater is the cheapest form of health insurance you can buy for your turtle.

[jasmiester]

I'm not sure if its swollen eyes or not, but it could be because she rarely ever opens her eyes...

[SpotsMama]

Swollen eyes or closed eyes, either way it's a sign of illness. She sounds more and more like a sick little turtle that needs to see a vet (a good herp vet, one who knows about reptiles) right away.

Here's a caution: If the vet offers to give a vitamin A shot, first make sure the vet is positive your turtle really needs vitamin A and then discuss other alternatives to shots with the vet like eye drops with vitamin A, cod liver oil or food supplements. Several turtles have recently had very bad reactions to vitamin A shots and I think it's best that if vitamin A is needed (and often it's not) the safer methods be used instead.

[jasmiester]

Thanks for the tip, so i should point out that i've heard vitamin A shots can cause negative affects to the herp vet and ask if she/he is 100% it should be done?

[SpotsMama]

That's right. You don't need to bring it up unless the vet says he/she's going to give the shot. Some vets have given vitamin a shots to perfectly well turtles because....well I'm really not sure why, but the turtles died. If the vet does believe vitamin a shortage is the problem, see if he/she thinks it can be treated in a less concentrated way, for instance with cod liver oil or a vitamin supplement.

[jasmiester]

okay.. ive also realized that her eyes are always closed in the water. I took her out
and put her on the basking dock. Her eyes opened up after a minute or two, she got a little scared of me, seeing me there when she opened her eyes. After that she went back into the water ...