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I purchased my 2 RES about 6 weeks ago from another owner, and was told that they had had no health problems. They now appear to have gray, swollen eyelids. I've been using the "Turtle Eye Drops" from Petco daily with little improvement. I'm not sure if it's the water pH (around 7.2), chlorine in the water (I use a neutralizer) or if some "Wipe Out" cleaner wasn't rinsed out well and irritated their eyes. I took them to a vet who appeared to know very little about turtles; she did give them antibiotic ointment, but I"ve seen little improvement. Any ideas?

Thanks!

Continue to use the eye drops. They DO cure the problem, but it takes awhile. When my hatchling had swollen eyes, I hand fed him, soaked him in a warm bath of ZooMed Sulfate, and used the eye drops daily. The treatment was successful. Maybe it will work for you, too.

What kind of basking lights do you have and how far away are they from the basking area? If they are too close or too powerful, they can irritate your turtle's eyes.

Sulfa-dip is supposed to be for shell problems, not eye problems, so don't waste your money on it. Plus, if you use it too often, it won't work when you need it to.

The lights are about 7 1/2 inches above the basking rock- same setup they had before, but maybe I have the water level higher, bringing them closer to the light. For lights. I'm using 100 watt Repti Halogen and a 20 watt coiled UVB bulb. I did change both recently- could this be the problem? I was told to buy the 100 watt bulb, but just noticed that the old one was actually 75 watts. Thanks for any and all help- I just want them to get better!

I would move the lights until they are about 12'' from the basking area. New bulbs usually need to be farther away until they settle in. As for the halogen, it really just depends on the temperature. If your basking temps are right, then the wattage is fine. If it's too warm, you can just get a regular 75 watt house bulb.

The eye drops will only help if it is a vit deficiency. Sounds like it could be the UVB. Leave it off, but keep the halogen going. See what happens in a 2 - 3 days.

I'm using plain cod liver oil to cure my baby eyes swollen.. it takes about 2 - 3 days to heal.. now she is 3 months and doing fine.