Big eye issue.Pls help..

[Spikey92]

Actually I wanted to avoid to open a new thread ,because there are already some discussing this issue. But unfortunately I didnt get any answers yet and I´m getting really concerned.
My baby bearded Dragon has been keeping his right eye shot since Saturday evening. He can open it (i put my finger over his head to test if he responds), but shots it immediately.Maybe 1 second later. He´s been very sleepy and not as active as normal. But at least he eats normally. Crickets and Veggis.
I do not use sand and I changed the repti Glo to a Repti Sun a few weeks ago.
I don´t know what happened.
The only things I changed:
1.I had the UVB light more on the cold site,then I put it next to his basket light, so that he gets the UVB while basking. Were both light maybe too bright for him? I turned of the UVB light yesterday evening, but his eye is still closed and he didnt leave his cave today.
2. I gave him a couple waxworms Saturday and one Sunday. Even though I dont think that this is related to his eye problem.

He´s not shedding either.So this cant be the problem. I gently put some waterdrops on his head yesterday.

So please can anybody tell me whats going on ?

That was before I put his salad dish in there And please dont mind the calcium powder. I took the picture before the every morning clean up

 

[Onlymediocre]

Are you using a coil uvb? They are known to hurt beardies eyes...The reptisun 10.0 tube and arcadia 12% are the only acceptable uvbs not known to cause problems. And are u only using those dial thermometers to check the temps? They can be WAY off, so theres a chance you might have it too hot in there. U can pick up a probe thermometer at walmart in the hardware section, that does both inside and outside (so your cold and hot sides) and the humidity for $12.

 

[Spikey92]

Yes I´m using the UVB coil. Couldnt find the tube and I figured that a Repti Sun is Repti Sun , and it doesnt matter if coil or tube. But I´m gonna look for the tube and leave the UVB turned of for today.(How long can they be without UVB?Unfortunately its way too cold to put him outside).
If it was the UVB light, what now? Do I need to go to the vet, or will it "heal" just from avoiding the UVB?
When he opens his eye, it doesnt seem swollen(but I´m not a vet..) and its clean and clear.

 

[Spikey92]

And I´m gonna get some other thermometer as well

 

[vampy]

If it was the UV causing the issue he'll heal fine without vet intervention. From reading experiences on here, recovery seems to take about 2-14 days. He can be without the UV for a few days, so don't panic, just get the new one as soon as you can.

Personally I'd also give his eye a rinse out with sterile saline solution, just in case it was a foreign body causing the problem.

His new light should help get rid of those stress marks and brighten up his colours too.

If he's otherwise eating and pooping fine, I'm sure he'll recover just fine in a very short time period, but if anything else changes with him, do let us know.

 

[Spikey92]

Thank you.
So it can´t be the basking light? Cause if so I can turn that of too, cause we do got an infrared one(cause those smart petsmart people told us we need one to keep it warm overnight). I still got it somewheres...Shell I turn that on instead of the "normal" one?
Do you think I can use contact lense solution to rinse his eye? It´s "Bio true" and for cleaning and storing contact lenses.
And yea I noticed the stress marks :? normally you cant see them that much but I figured its because he spent so much time in his cave today so that he was still a little cool or something..
I really hope that it was just the UVB and that he will recover from it soon.. I already had nightmare last night about him dying..

 

[vampy]

It's very unlikely to be the basking light, they do fine in sunlight after all, and that's way brighter than any light bulb. The UV coil lamps give off UV in certain frequencies that are different to natural sunlight, and way way stronger, that is what normally leads to eye damage. I'd leave the basking light as it is so he can regulate his temperature as normal.

Personally I wouldn't use the contact lens solution as I have no idea what it contains and what it would do, the cleaners normally have something in to break up the proteins deposited on the lens...in the past you were meant to wash off the cleaner with saline before use, but maybe these days they've made one that you don't need to, I don't wear contacts so I'm not sure, but I wouldn't risk it. To make up your own saline (not sterile, but I use it on open wounds on myself and on my cats if they get something in their eyes), get a mug, put in 1/4 teaspoon (no more) of salt, preferably sea salt or another sort of non-iodised salt, and fill to the top with boiling water. Allow to cool to body temperature. If you taste it, it should be as salty as your tears. You can store it for a couple of days in the fridge, but I'd rather just make it up every time I need it.

 

[Spikey92]

Thank you so much. My boyfriend just came home and were gonna leave to buy a new UVB now
This time the correct one Repti Sun 10.0 Tube or 12 %Arcadia.Understood! :wink:

 

[Spikey92]

Unfortunately neither petsmart nor another petstore have the repti sun tube. They just sell the Repti Glo.
So were gonna drive to a new petstore tomorrow...quite far away but Id do anything for my baby

His eye is still closed (most of the time) but I´ve seen it open for a little while today and yesterday when he was on his cricket hunt. He also started to shed this morning (under his chin).

The UVB light has been turned of for around 2 days now..Cant wait to get the new light tomorrow so he can finally get his UVB

We´ve spent idk how many hundreds of dollars for his lights now, and it could have been avoided if they just withdrawed all those harmful UVB lights from sale and sell the Repti Sun tube or arcadia instead.And ONLY those. :?

 

[munchkins9802]

hi there. Petsmart should be able to special order it for you (they recently started selling that at my store). if not order online at petmountain.com/

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Great I am glad to hear you are switching to the tube bulb. He will do much better!
Those coil bulbs emit low wavelength frequency is close to UVC emissions. They do cause eye injury as well as poor health.
The basking bulb is a bright white light, correct & not a colored light?

Tracie

 

[Spikey92]

Hey guys,

I was going to order on the internet but this woukd take 5 days to get here and I wanna give him his uvb back as soon as possible.

The Repti GLO i had first was a very bright white light.I then switched to the repti SUN coil and the light was more blueish (picture above), so I figured that I bought the right one cause he did get more active and had a better appetite.But then the thing with his eye started...

 

[vampy]

If he has to go 5 days without UV it's not the end of the world, much better than giving him bad UV. I dunno what the weather is like there, but you might be able to get some natural sunlight in. I managed about 10 minutes outside with the babies this morning before the sun went behind a cloud.

 

[Spikey92]

We spent a few minutes outside in the garden yesterday and I hope we can do the same tomorrow.unfortunately i ended up ordering on the internet so i hope it wont take too too long.

But now I'm concerned again :
His right eye actually got better.its open almost all the time.now he started closing his left eye on the occasion and is rubbing his eyes on his wooden log. So they have been itchy. I also noticed like grit in or actually under his right eye today.but his eye lookes perfectly fine and clear and it was more like normal sleep /grit like we got in our eyes in the morning.
Hes still very active ,didnt eat much today though...

I just dont know anymore...whats the problem now?it cant be the uvb light..
Do you think the bask light might be too close to him?he hasnt had problems with that before,but idk..

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

The coil lights from any brand are hazardous & not safe. Did you turn it off & purchase the Reptisun 10 tube bulb? It is a long, linear fluorescent tube bulb. It is much safer & you can just use that with your basking light.
As soon as you get the coil out of the tank, his eyes will begin to improve. Be sure that you give him a week or two for his eyes to heal up before placing the new tube UVB over him.
Is he eating anything at all right now? You can try getting some sterile saline solution for his eyes & putting it in them once to twice daily.
Also, if you can find some bee pollen at the grocery store or health food store, give him just a small pinch daily to help boost his immune system.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie