Hello all,
My Beardie is having eye problems and I have a sneaky hunch its due to her Powersun UVB 100w bulb. Note that I bought the bulb when I bought her so I have not used any bulbs prior, although when I bought her, her eyes were bright, open and alert. I have been contacting Jeff, who I bought her from and he is sure she has never had eye problems (and he is very curious about this Powersun defunct).
Here is a complete (as I can make it) recollection of everything I have noticed:
I bought the bulb from lllreptile here is a link to the bulb on their site:
http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/reptile-supplies/uvb-fluorescent-lights-mercury-vapor-bulbs/-/zoo-med-100-watt-powersun-uvb-heat-bulbs/
I hooked it up, turned it on and everything went without a hitch (I tested all my stuff out the day before I went in to buy Scorch to make sure temps were correct).
In her initial setup, I had used a pine log propped against a rock as a basking spot. This allowed her to get within 6 inches of the bulb (my mistake, I know). Well since I found out pine (plus bark) is very bad for her health as well as the distance from the bulb, I have removed the log and now have a Habba hut under the light as her bask.
Well everything went honkey-dorey until Thursday (the 17th) when I noticed she would close her right eye sometimes, and just that eye. She would not close the left one even to wink. I didn't think too much of it, and was told simply to watch after it to see if it got worse.
Yesterday (Friday) she was at it again, closing her right eye except for longer. Like for maybe 10 seconds at a time then she would open it back up again and keep it open for a while.
Today (Saturday) she will practically not open her right eye at all. Only if I hold her up to my face with that eye facing toward me would she open it to peek at me. She will not keep it open for more than 5 seconds.
And even worse, her left eye is starting to do it too. She will now sit there with both eyes closed. Although the left she can keep open for more than 5 seconds.
I bought some saline solution eyedrops at walmart today and applied them to her right eye several times, they did not seem to help at all.
She is in shed right now, little bits and pieces have fallen off of her (right now her arm shed is starting to peel off and shes rubbing it everywhere.. poor baby). I heard that Beardies eyes will act differently due to shedding around the face, but I'm not sure I have heard of them not opening at all.
Also as a note, I do not use sand. I use newspaper substrate and I make sure her tank is clean everyday of debris (like from her habba hut... it seems to shed bark and stuff).
I have called a few people and every one has suggested there might be debris in her eye... the only possible debris she might have in there is from the Habba Hut but I'm pretty sure she isn't rolling around on or near it or anything of that sort. She may have tried rubbing her face on it, but again I have not seen her rubbing against anything except the towel in the bath this morning. And she just started her shed today.
I'm sure someone will ask if I have sent in a fecal (although maybe not... since I'm not sure how parasites could affect her eye health) and no I have not yet sent one in, although as soon as I get the funds (36 bucks) I'm doing it right away.
And one more thing, I have inspected both of her eyes (when she will open her right one) and they both look free of debris, although a little puffy and irritated (just her right eye, the left one looks normal as can be except shes closing it).
So I have no other hunch except that it is the Powersun causing it, since I have heard of the very recent problems people have had with it.
AH and one more note... the one thing that makes me almost POSITIVE it is the light... when I first had her using that pine log, the only position I saw her basking in was with her right eye toward the light (within 5-6 inches of it). And since it is her RIGHT eye which is bothering her the most... I am totally inclined to believe the light is the problem.
End of Recollection.
So I'm calling this an experiment because I have switched the Powersun out to a normal 100w/130v household light bulb which emits no UV rays. I am going to moniter her (hopefully) improvement... or (less hopefully) deterioration. I will be on the market for a new mercury vapor bulb this week. I'm thinking T-rex or Mega Ray although the latter is a little hard to get a hold of.
If anyone has a hunch that it is not the bulb causing her eye problems, please let me know. I would love to hear anyone's input.
As a note, I had a little trouble getting her to open her eye or blink when I dropped in the saline solution (she only opened it once to let the solution leak in). If any one has a method for me to try to get her eye open so the saline will be able to have greater effect, again please let me know.
Thanks everyone, whoever read this post. I'm quite upset that she is having eye problems. And even if the problem is not the bulb, I just want to see her getting better. But if it is, I hope I can help be a part of the solution to this Powersun problem so no Beardies will be harmed by it in the future.
If you would like to contact me, my email is [email protected]. Or a PM would be fine.
EDIT: as a very last note, I would like to add that her feeding has not slowed noticeably since the bulb issue. She has had relocation stress so was eating sparing anyway, although she ate 11 crickets this morning (as opposed to her usual 2-5). So the eating was not an issue at all. Hopefully the lack of painful UVB will help increase her appetite.
My Beardie is having eye problems and I have a sneaky hunch its due to her Powersun UVB 100w bulb. Note that I bought the bulb when I bought her so I have not used any bulbs prior, although when I bought her, her eyes were bright, open and alert. I have been contacting Jeff, who I bought her from and he is sure she has never had eye problems (and he is very curious about this Powersun defunct).
Here is a complete (as I can make it) recollection of everything I have noticed:
I bought the bulb from lllreptile here is a link to the bulb on their site:
http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/reptile-supplies/uvb-fluorescent-lights-mercury-vapor-bulbs/-/zoo-med-100-watt-powersun-uvb-heat-bulbs/
I hooked it up, turned it on and everything went without a hitch (I tested all my stuff out the day before I went in to buy Scorch to make sure temps were correct).
In her initial setup, I had used a pine log propped against a rock as a basking spot. This allowed her to get within 6 inches of the bulb (my mistake, I know). Well since I found out pine (plus bark) is very bad for her health as well as the distance from the bulb, I have removed the log and now have a Habba hut under the light as her bask.
Well everything went honkey-dorey until Thursday (the 17th) when I noticed she would close her right eye sometimes, and just that eye. She would not close the left one even to wink. I didn't think too much of it, and was told simply to watch after it to see if it got worse.
Yesterday (Friday) she was at it again, closing her right eye except for longer. Like for maybe 10 seconds at a time then she would open it back up again and keep it open for a while.
Today (Saturday) she will practically not open her right eye at all. Only if I hold her up to my face with that eye facing toward me would she open it to peek at me. She will not keep it open for more than 5 seconds.
And even worse, her left eye is starting to do it too. She will now sit there with both eyes closed. Although the left she can keep open for more than 5 seconds.
I bought some saline solution eyedrops at walmart today and applied them to her right eye several times, they did not seem to help at all.
She is in shed right now, little bits and pieces have fallen off of her (right now her arm shed is starting to peel off and shes rubbing it everywhere.. poor baby). I heard that Beardies eyes will act differently due to shedding around the face, but I'm not sure I have heard of them not opening at all.
Also as a note, I do not use sand. I use newspaper substrate and I make sure her tank is clean everyday of debris (like from her habba hut... it seems to shed bark and stuff).
I have called a few people and every one has suggested there might be debris in her eye... the only possible debris she might have in there is from the Habba Hut but I'm pretty sure she isn't rolling around on or near it or anything of that sort. She may have tried rubbing her face on it, but again I have not seen her rubbing against anything except the towel in the bath this morning. And she just started her shed today.
I'm sure someone will ask if I have sent in a fecal (although maybe not... since I'm not sure how parasites could affect her eye health) and no I have not yet sent one in, although as soon as I get the funds (36 bucks) I'm doing it right away.
And one more thing, I have inspected both of her eyes (when she will open her right one) and they both look free of debris, although a little puffy and irritated (just her right eye, the left one looks normal as can be except shes closing it).
So I have no other hunch except that it is the Powersun causing it, since I have heard of the very recent problems people have had with it.
AH and one more note... the one thing that makes me almost POSITIVE it is the light... when I first had her using that pine log, the only position I saw her basking in was with her right eye toward the light (within 5-6 inches of it). And since it is her RIGHT eye which is bothering her the most... I am totally inclined to believe the light is the problem.
End of Recollection.
So I'm calling this an experiment because I have switched the Powersun out to a normal 100w/130v household light bulb which emits no UV rays. I am going to moniter her (hopefully) improvement... or (less hopefully) deterioration. I will be on the market for a new mercury vapor bulb this week. I'm thinking T-rex or Mega Ray although the latter is a little hard to get a hold of.
If anyone has a hunch that it is not the bulb causing her eye problems, please let me know. I would love to hear anyone's input.
As a note, I had a little trouble getting her to open her eye or blink when I dropped in the saline solution (she only opened it once to let the solution leak in). If any one has a method for me to try to get her eye open so the saline will be able to have greater effect, again please let me know.
Thanks everyone, whoever read this post. I'm quite upset that she is having eye problems. And even if the problem is not the bulb, I just want to see her getting better. But if it is, I hope I can help be a part of the solution to this Powersun problem so no Beardies will be harmed by it in the future.
If you would like to contact me, my email is [email protected]. Or a PM would be fine.
EDIT: as a very last note, I would like to add that her feeding has not slowed noticeably since the bulb issue. She has had relocation stress so was eating sparing anyway, although she ate 11 crickets this morning (as opposed to her usual 2-5). So the eating was not an issue at all. Hopefully the lack of painful UVB will help increase her appetite.
