General Care Discussion :: White Eye?

[SINI5T3R]

Okay I just recently got myself a Yellow Belly Slider and a large Red Ear Slider. I went to bed tonight and woke up about 2:40 AM and went to check to see how they were doing in the tank with my little ones. The Yellow Belly was STILL basking from when i went to bed ( don't know if it went in water or not) but it had been basking for at least a good 3 hours or longer. Well, I picked her (yeah i think its a her now) up and I noticed her left eye had like white dry stuff all around it and stuff. When I put her in the water it seemed to disapear but still had a little trace of it around the eye. What could this be? her shell was sort of white too but that was just because she had been basking for so long that she was completely dry.

The people i got her from had her in a 10 gallon with the other large RES i have now, and they did not have a basking light, or even something for them to get out of the water on. maybe that is why? there not used to basking? anyway here is a picture. its from my cell so its not very good quality but you can clearly see the white stuff around the eye. it was not on the RES btw and was only on her left eye, nothing at all on the right eye. could it be Ick? and if so, is this very harmful to turtles? i know its VERY harmful to fish...





NOTE: okay its not as clear as I thought it was but you can still see the white stuff on the eye. its not like a foamy white stuff or wet what so ever and when i touched it it felt like i could scratch it off if i wanted but i did not want to hurt my lil girl


If she basks for a long time again and i can get another picture of it, I will try to get a better quality pic unless you guys can tell me what it is from that one.

[SINI5T3R]

Also I just read on one site that someone else had a yellow belly slider and it had a white layer of stuff "over" its eye I think. I am not sure if its the same thing but someone replayed that it is a fungus that grows on turtles that are kept in water too cold and dont have a basking area. and since the people who had the turtle before me did not have a basking area or even a heater in the water, maybe its the same thing?

[worldpeace]

There's a high chance that it's from the poor conditions she was kept in. Make sure you fix that, give her the proper environment. If she started basking now, it might start peeling off by itself or the turtle might even rub it to take it off.

Just keep an eye on her and see if the situation improves in the next few days, or week.

[coreyvht]

ive heard when turtle are put in a healthier inviorment they tend to shed rapidly and the basking thing was (well probably)because theyve never really had it and it feels so good

a couple years ago i rescued adult male res that where in a 10 gal tank with no water for years and i guess they put them in a littl bowl 1 time a freakin month but anyway all i had was a 10 gal for them with no filter and the next day omg i thought my dog tru up every where but when i took them outa the water they had scutes comeing of and skin flakeing


it sounds like shedding

[Kacee]

petco has the eye drop that may help...when I first got mine, one of them had the white puffy "membrane" like around the eye...I used the eye drop, after researching on the forum and found that someone had similar problem and suggested that, actually, the problem went away... try it and see...Good luck!

[coreyvht]

o and sinister its not good to leave your lights on 24 hours a day they need night and day time
lol

thats unless you already do then this is kinda of ackward...........XD

[Kacee]

Coreyvht - on your last comment, you said something about not leaving the light on 24 hours... maybe I missed something here (a joke?) but it got me wondering maybe I shouldn't leave the UV light on all the time??

If I am confused about what was said, please let me know... I thought I understood it that the basking light (UV) should be on all the time and wanted to double check... thank you.

[coreyvht]

ya its not good to leave any of the lights on all the time 24 hours because they need night and day they sleep in the dark and are active in the light and in the wild they get night and day

[gwennie]

Turtles need a night & day cycle just like we do - most people keep their lights on for 12 hours a day, say from 8am to 8pm or something that suits them. It's handy to have your lights on a timer so you don't have to worry about turning them on and off or if you're going to be home late, etc.

So you should be turning your turtle's lights off at night so they can catch up on sleep.

Also, ich is a parasite that likes fish, not turtles, so don't worry about your turtle getting ich.

Is the eye you're concerned about swollen or puffy? It's possible that because your turtle was basking for so long, it just got really dry. That can happen when they bask for a very long time, or if you ever have to dry-dock your turtles for any reason, this can happen.

Do you have the larger RES in the same tank as your smaller turtle? How many turtles are in the tank the one with the crusty eye is in?

[Sini_ster]

Turtles need a night & day cycle just like we do - most people keep their lights on for 12 hours a day, say from 8am to 8pm or something that suits them. It's handy to have your lights on a timer so you don't have to worry about turning them on and off or if you're going to be home late, etc.

So you should be turning your turtle's lights off at night so they can catch up on sleep.

Also, ich is a parasite that likes fish, not turtles, so don't worry about your turtle getting ich.

Is the eye you're concerned about swollen or puffy? It's possible that because your turtle was basking for so long, it just got really dry. That can happen when they bask for a very long time, or if you ever have to dry-dock your turtles for any reason, this can happen.

Do you have the larger RES in the same tank as your smaller turtle? How many turtles are in the tank the one with the crusty eye is in?

Its actually my Yellow Belly that has the eye problem. It may just be because she was basking for so long because i see no signs of it today but then again i have not seen her bask much today.

Also there are 5 Turtles in the tank as of right now untill i get something a little bigger for the 2 larger turtles. so 1 YBS and 4 RES are in my tank right now.

[Kacee]

Wow, thanks for the information about the UV Light! I've been leaving it on 24 hours...I'll turn it off tonight and will start the "day and light" cycle, starting tomorrow! Once again, I am thankful for this forum and owners like you guys posting info and guidance!

[steve]

If your turtle was out of the tank for awhile, it would be mineral/salt deposits. Nothing to worry about.