General Care Discussion :: Odd eye probelm

[Allusion5275]

So Carlos is still sick. I took the 75 gallon tank down tonight, took everything out and took it outside and cleaned it thoroughly and then disinfected with a light bleach solution. Washed it off thoroughly with tap water and then finally rinsed it with bottled water before drying it. Moved it back in to the house and got it set back up on its stand.

After doing that I moved both turtles to their death bowl for a bit. Cleaned out the quarantine tank (20 gallon) completely and the filter, replaced all the media in it.

I bought some of the sulfa dip and some of the little sulfa "turtle doctor" things. Any thoughts on using them?

Water temp is at about 83-84 and basking temp is at 96-97. Unfortunately with the location of the tank and the lights I have, this is about the lowest I can get the basking temp. I don't think I should go any higher (this is with the UVA/UVB/Heat lamp combo).

Both Houdini and Carlos are basking and staying in the heat so I don't think it is too hot for them. Carlos is still scratching at his eyes some, but one is open now most of the time when he is awake. I am medicating his eyes twice a day with steroid/antibiotic drops and drydocking him for 30 minutes to let them work on the vet's instructions.

Luke

[sonyj]

The water temp is way too high. It shouldn't be above 78F for hatchlings and 72-75F for older turtles. You can raise it to 81-82 when he is ill for a few days but don't leave it up that high for too long. High water temps will cause over-shedding and contribute to fast growth. I would try to get the basking area down by another couple degrees at least. I wouldn't want to take a chance with this being too high.

I've heard that the sulfa dip things are just a waste of money. I wouldn't use it.

[Allusion5275]

Actually raising the temp was on the advice of the vet, he specifically said to raise it to about 85...so not sure but he does do a lot of turtle work. With that having been said, both turtles are doing much better, not sure if it is the raised temp or not. In the large tank the temp was 74-76 (room temp) and the basking area was around 10 degrees up from that.


Now I have it about 83 in the tank and the basking area is 93 and both of them are much more active. Houdini and Carlos both ate tonight and Carlos has 1 eye constantly open (when he is awake) and his other eye is open about half the time.

Once they both are back to normal I will set the large tank up again for them to have plenty of room.

Luke