Weird Eye Problem

Hey all haven't had my beardie to long around 3 months. Well he has been fine up until the last few days. His eye started to look a little weird. Ill post the pics below of the good eye/ bad eye and the nice template you all like. Also in the first "bad eye" pic does his leg look a little weird? It does to me. Looks a little discolored like he has missing scales.

http://imageshack.us/a/img29/8792/img20121205195151.jpg - Good eye
http://imageshack.us/a/img707/4831/img20121205195209.jpg - Bad eye
http://imageshack.us/a/img577/1684/img20121205195848.jpg - Bad eye
http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/5788/47816052437344424145212.jpg - His cage - his climbing log I took out for cleaning


How old is your dragon? I have had him about 3 months still a baby.
How long have you had your dragon? I have had him about 3 months still a baby.
How long is your dragon? Close to 10 inches
What is the sex of your dragon? Male
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 10 gallon currently.
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? Paper towls
Do you use UVB lights? Yes
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? fluorescent tube
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? reptisun 10.0 and yes reptisun not the cheaper brands
How old is your UVB bulb? About 3 months
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? around 8 inches from ground and 6 or so from the top of his hide
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb? 60W white bulb
What are the basking temps? Around 100-110
What is the cool side temp? Around 80 maybe a bit lower at night
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? Temp gun
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? The highest spot on his hide
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? No
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. Crickets at night and turnup/collard/mustard greens in the morning
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? morning and night
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? Feed my cricks turnup/collard/mustard greens
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? No
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? Yes
Do you bath your dragon? How often? Once a week
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? Yes he has a water bowl
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? No
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? No

Anyone got any advice? I looked through all the eye problems and most of it seems related to the UVB. By UVB bulb spans the entire cage and is always 6-8 inches away.

I don't have any idea about the eye. However, I noticed a couple things in your husbandry. You need to get him supplements! He really needs calcium one feeding 5 times a day and multivitamin at one feeding the other 2 days. Otherwise he could develop some serious issues with MBD. Also, at his age you should be feeding him crickets at least 2 times a day as well as the salad. Also, that ten gallon and is getting a bit small for him. He really needs more space! You said his cool side gets a bit cooler at night. Are you heating or otherwise lighting the tank at night? it really needs to be dark for him to sleep properly. I'm sure someone will have an idea about the eye, but it may be related to the lack of calcium (just a guess). Did you try to help him with a shed? I can't tell about his leg given the picture quality, but if he appears to have missing scales and you tried to help him shed, you may have inadvertently prevented them from growing all the way. It may also be related to the calcium issue.

I'm lost about the feeding. Crickets 2x a day + the salad but you said calcium one feeding 5 times a day? Was this supposed to be calcium 5 times a week and a multivitamin the other 2? Sure it was just wanting to double check. How do you feed the multivitamin? Crush it up and feed it with the crickets?

The 10 gallon will soon be upgraded in the progress of that now actually.

His UVB and basking lamp turn off and on at the same time everyday (love timers). Temp is around 75-80 tho I read they can drop as low as 65.

And no i helped him with no shed on his leg. Just noticed it looked a little bigger than the other and a bit darker and looked like dead skin except where the missing scales were. (I own snakes so I never go tear happy on scales)

Yes I meant 5 times a week. My mistake! :lol:. Reptile calcium and multivitamins are powders. You should put the crix in a bag or container, add some powder/calcium and shake it up to "dust" them. Just wanted to check on the shed. It could just be some retained shed. Otherwise not sure. Maybe try to get a clearer picture up? I'm sure someone more knowledgable than me can help. You can try pming Tracie (Drache613). She is our beardie health expert around here! Best of luck.

Ill post one tomorrow the little guy is asleep so...

I see the repcal is the preferred choice! Ill try and pick some up tomorrow. Where do you guys buy yours? Typical petstore?

Also do you dust the salad or crickets? I can see all the powder coming off if you dust a cricket?

Any ideas?

Anyone? Would be nice to get some advice on this?

Also I bought some calcium powder and multi vitamins.

Hello,

Do you have any pictures of your tank set up?
A 10 gallon is pretty small & the UVB glare may be too much for him in that sized enclosure.
Is it mounted horizontally on top of the screen top alongside of the basking light?

The white basking light is not a "daytime" bulb that is coated with neodymium, correct?
Is the eye that is bothering him closest to the UVB tube?


Tracie

Yes the last pic in the first post has it

http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/5788/47816052437344424145212.jpg

The white light is just a normal household white bulb. 60W hooked up to a dimmer and dimmed down a bit because if not it will be too hot on the basking spot.

And as far as eye closest to the uvb it switches depending on the way hes standing.

Also I noticed something in another thread about dimming it down.

viewtopic.php?f=45&t=166815

Is having it on a dimmer bad? I have mines dimmed because if not it gets to hot inside the cage

Hello,

I just saw your tank setup, sorry about that.
I think the light may be too glaring for him. It is mounted directly overhead, it looks like it is at an angle?
The small tank refracts the light constantly so it may be irritated. Maybe for now, place the light on top of the screen directly beside the basking light until you get him in a larger tank.
Do you have any sterile saline solution to use for his eye?

Tracie

The uvb bulb? Its not mounted directly over head its mouthed to the side. Everywhere I looked said to use the walmart fixture and mount it to the side of the cage.

Should I just set the entire fixture on the screen? Not really sure of that will even work because the space of the screen is no where near big enough for the uvb fixture and the basking lamp.

Any ideas?

I have a 22 gallon tank I think. Was going to move him into that. But my question is how should the uvb fixture be mounted. Because again the screen size is not big enough for basking lamp and uvb next to each other unless uvb is mounted in tank. But wouldn't this cause the same glare?

Hello Mike,

Yes, try if you can, to mount it directly overhead. These lights place a tremendous strain & glare if mounted to the side where it can glare straight at their eyes. Overhead is the absolute safest way to mount them.
Can you get some 3M Command hooks to mount the light fixture directly overhead but, underneath of the screen top? That way you can still keep the basking light on top of the screen top?

Tracie