General Care Discussion :: Rubbing eyes after basking.

[Sniffa]

Two of my turtles were basking. Bob and Motzarella. Motzarella was stacked on top of Bob.

Bob decided to take a dive so Motzarella went with him.
Once motzrella was in the water she started rubbing her eyes.

Is this a sign of something bad? Should i get a new heat bulb?

[BullDog]

If it was once she was in the water, it could be the water. Have you checked the chems recently? Or did a large water change?

[Sniffa]

Yeah i did a full water change about 3 days ago.

Should i try changing again?

[BullDog]

If you did a full water change, ammonia could be high. Do a partial water change, maybe around 20%

[mikee]

Sniff - You may want to take a look at the uvb lighting. If it is too strong, that may be the problem. m.

[worldpeace]

I agree with BullDog. If she started rubbing them in the water, it probably has nothing to do with UVB.

[papoopeepoo]

UVB overages show as constant swollen eyes and even shut eyes. Irritation within the water itself is probably caused by chemicals such as ammonia and chlorine. BullDog hit the nail on the head.

[turtlechillzz87]

i have a quick question, how does the water get chemicals as ammonia and chlorine like if you put reg tap water how does it develop all of these problems??

[BullDog]

Chlorine is in most tap water. Letting the water sit overnight, or adding a dechlorinator gets rid of chlorine.
Ammonia comes from the turtle (or fish) waste. As the tank "cycles", good bacteria begins to form that transforms the ammonia into nitrite. At about the same time, a different bacteria is developing which transforms nitrite into nitrate. Nitrate is what stays, since nothing consumes it (unless you have plants). Nitrate is much less harmful than ammonia or nitrite, although it can become harmful if it gets too high for too long.

[tanasha93]

If you don't live in the city you probably have well water So most likely you shouldntt have any chemicals.

[mikee]

Turt-87 & Tan-93 - Ammonia (NH3) comes from a bacteria called heterotropic bacteria that is in your tank and in the turtles gut. There is a second bacterium that is called Nitrosomonas which produces nitrites (NO2). The above bacteria are harmful to fish and turtles. But, there is a third bacterium called Nitrobacter which produces Nitrate that is the least harmful to turtles. The next item is chlorine in the water. If you are on a private well you may not have chlorine in your water. Private water systems that supply subdivisions are required to have chlorine. m.

[Sniffa]

Ive been watching my turtles alittle bit more now and i havent seen them rub their eyes again. I changed half the water and we are on well water but i think we are about to switch to city water

[queenjane]

This used to happen to Tank all the time when he was younger, as the result of the stupid basking lamp. I used the "Turtle Eye Drops" sold at both PetCo and PetSmart with great success. For most of this past year, he would get 2 drops in each eye once a week. I'm now using an ExoTerra ReptiGlo 5.0 lamp with great success and no photokeratokonjuntivitis (I butchered the spelling, sorry.)

I also quit using chemicals almost entirely in his water. No more of that stuff that breaks the leftover food down and no random water-balancers, algae solution, et cetera. Very occasionally I add some ReptiSafe, but this is usually after a 50-70% water change. Tap water is totally fine for RES, so long as there isn't anything terribly funky in the water in your location.

However, I really feel like 80% of the time it's the basking lamps that mess their eyes up, and not so much the water quality because RES can get along fine in all kinds of water as long as there isn't a proliferation of random chemicals.

I don't think it's anything serious to worry about at all, not unless they start exhibiting serious signs of RI. But swollen eyes is a really common problem, and it happened to my turtle ALL THE TIME when he was young, so don't worry yourself by assuming they have pneumonia. Get the Turtle Eye Drops, do those once a week, and move the lamp 12 inches away from the basking area. Also, go ahead and do a water change and see if their eyes don't improve.