Crusty Eyes on Baby!!!

Status
Not open for further replies.
So I have a new bearded dragon (I have two now) (the one we are talking about is named Hampton) and he is having some serious health concerns. I adopted him out of a pet store that shall remain unnamed because he was really not doing well at all. We thought he was blind but there was a huge crusty thing in his eye we pulled out and were scared it WAS his eye (we were wrong). He was opening both eyes and running around all happy. Every single day he just keeps getting more crust and stops moving and eating until I remove it. I have tried the saline solution, warm cuetip, to just letting him splash around in a bath for a bit. The crust ALWAYS comes back. We dont have a vet that will look at him where I live and I don't know what yo do at this point please help!!!
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Can you review your lighting and general setup? Do you have any loose substrate or anything that could get in his eye and cause irritation? Sometimes face sheds can cause eye irritation too. Do keep up with the saline wash and try to keep his eyes clear. It's possibly infected but that would require a test and prescription in most cases. You could try putting some raw/unpasteurized honey on his eye. That has been known to aid in healing and help fight infections.
If he is running around and active (and eating well?) I would just keep it as clean as possible for now and hope that either any irritant is eventually dislodged or he is able to fight off an infection with a strengthened immune system.
 

hailey36320

Member
Original Poster
CooperDragon":25k95f0p said:
Can you review your lighting and general setup? Do you have any loose substrate or anything that could get in his eye and cause irritation? Sometimes face sheds can cause eye irritation too. Do keep up with the saline wash and try to keep his eyes clear. It's possibly infected but that would require a test and prescription in most cases. You could try putting some raw/unpasteurized honey on his eye. That has been known to aid in healing and help fight infections.
If he is running around and active (and eating well?) I would just keep it as clean as possible for now and hope that either any irritant is eventually dislodged or he is able to fight off an infection with a strengthened immune system.

All his lights and set up is totally normal I've had beardies before. I have repticarpet. He's not really running around too much. I just ordered mini butterworms and pinhead crickets. I was wondering if terramycin would work?
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Poor thing. I would definitely suggest using a sterile saline solution to wash his eyes out
as well as the raw, unpasteurized honey, for help with clearing up the eyes, too. The
terramycin is a good eye antibiotic ointment, yes.
So the combination should help out. You mentioned your lights are good?
He probably just has some residual health issues from the previous bad care he had before
you adopted him.

Is he still running around & active also? I hope his appetite stays good too. Keep us posted
on how he is doing.

Tracie
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Drache613":3eagz39t said:
Hello,

Poor thing. I would definitely suggest using a sterile saline solution to wash his eyes out
as well as the raw, unpasteurized honey, for help with clearing up the eyes, too. The
terramycin is a good eye antibiotic ointment, yes.
So the combination should help out. You mentioned your lights are good?
He probably just has some residual health issues from the previous bad care he had before
you adopted him.

Is he still running around & active also? I hope his appetite stays good too. Keep us posted
on how he is doing.

Tracie
assuming the eye issue here is a due to a bacteria or a virus , rather than dust irritation (like hay feather itchy eyes in humans) or due to a bad UV source.
 

hailey36320

Member
Original Poster
He is not too active. I just bought flukers reptiboost so maybe it will help I've heard nothing but great reviews for a beardie in my condition. I'm going to order the terramycin and try the honey to see if it will help. He's not eating at all so I ordered pin head crickets because the smalls im getting might be too big and im worried about them picking on him. Traveled like 50 miles to see a vet and they told me there's nothing that they can do and he is BARELY past a hatching so I have a lot to do. Sooooo worth it though love him to death. I will attach pics in next response. He is the sweetest thing ever and knows who is mama is, knows my voice already. It's sad he has trouble sleeping because he doesn't know the difference in night and day because his eyes are always closed. The place I got him from didn't have him under a UV bulb at all so it is seeming to make him better.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

I am glad that he is bonding with you already. How is he doing today?
Which UVB lighting are you using?
He might have also been kept on loose substrate which irritates eyes, also. There are several
factors that could be causing his eyes to be irritated. Is he acting ill, like to where you feel it
could be a respiratory infection?
Be sure not to leave any crickets in the tank with him, because they are terrible about causing
awful bites that will get infected.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
hailey36320":1dityqj5 said:
He is not too active. I just bought flukers reptiboost so maybe it will help I've heard nothing but great reviews for a beardie in my condition. I'm going to order the terramycin and try the honey to see if it will help. He's not eating at all so I ordered pin head crickets because the smalls im getting might be too big and im worried about them picking on him. Traveled like 50 miles to see a vet and they told me there's nothing that they can do and he is BARELY past a hatching so I have a lot to do. Sooooo worth it though love him to death. I will attach pics in next response. He is the sweetest thing ever and knows who is mama is, knows my voice already. It's sad he has trouble sleeping because he doesn't know the difference in night and day because his eyes are always closed. The place I got him from didn't have him under a UV bulb at all so it is seeming to make him better.
Local chemist/drug store will have Activon in a tube in stock …. this is the best grade Manuka honey you can get.

I suggest getting a 14G blunt drawing up needle from a vaping shop , and a 1ml syringe , then boil some water and cool it (keep in a sterile bottle).
Draw up 0.3ml of activon honey , then 0.3ml boiled water into the syringe. Shake shake to mix after pulling the plunger all the way back to make a big void inside the syringe.
Then apply one drop of 1:1 honey/water mix to each eye , do this 2 or 3 times per day.
Kit you will need is show here viewtopic.php?f=45&t=232687
The diluted manuka honey in the syringe can be capped and kept in the fridge between treatments making it all very economical.

I'd try turning off the UV globe for a few days and see if he starts opening his eyes …. that will be proof the UV source is hurting his eyes and needs replacement.
 

hailey36320

Member
Original Poster
Hey guys sorry for the long time no reply. He is doing ok and running around the cage a bit more after that reptiboost. I've only given it to him 3 times and he is more active and opening his eyes more. He ate 15 pin head crickets today! So far, so good. I will update you guys tomorrow!
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
hailey36320":36uyh1cw said:
Hey guys sorry for the long time no reply. He is doing ok and running around the cage a bit more after that reptiboost. I've only given it to him 3 times and he is more active and opening his eyes more. He ate 15 pin head crickets today! So far, so good. I will update you guys tomorrow!
i'd upsize his feeders from pinheads to maybe 20 day old crickets , see this for sizes :
smaller_crickets_sizes.png


you and he'll find them easier to keep track of and he'll get more nutrition from each cricket he eats.

Also consider introducing small silkworms (to 1" long) to him as well as BSFL and blowfly lavae, these are all much slower moving , soft bodied, higher Ca/P , higher protein feeders than crickets.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Members online

No members online now.

Latest resources

Latest posts

Latest profile posts

Getting ready for another day. Feeling sleepy. 😴
I just walked into my room and instead of looking at me, Swordtail's eyes darted directly to the ice cream drumstick I'm holding
Finally replaced Swordtail's substrate
I miss you so much, Amaris 💔
What is a quick way to warm up a cold beardie? His heating element went out overnight and now he's very cold.

Forum statistics

Threads
156,074
Messages
1,257,441
Members
76,059
Latest member
whokiry weth
Top Bottom