Swollen EyeBALL

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Hello everyone. Regrettably, my first post here has to do with my dragons health. For a while now, one of my bearded dragons eyeballs has been swollen. Here is some info.
Age: 11 months
Food: 5-6 crickets or worms daily with a bowl of salad that consists of cilantro, carrots, squash and occasional berries. (I sprinkle his food with calcium dust 2-3X a week)
Lighting: His temp is 95-100F daily. He has a 10.0 UVB lamp from All Living Things. I plan on changing it soon
Pupils: Constrict/Dialate with light
Sight: I am sure that he can see because when I put my finger close to his eye (not touching) he closes it in response. He will also chase crickets that are on the side of his bad eye
Pain: He has never seemed to be in pain. He doesn't keep it closed
Infection: there is no sign of infection such as pus, mucus or anything else.

I am wondering if anyone has encountered a similar situation. If not, should I still take him to a vet? If he seemed ill or in pain, I would have a long time ago. However, it doesn't seem to bother him.
Also, if there seems to be any irregularities in my list, please feel free to correct them. The pet store was not reliable and I am still learning how to take care of them in the best way possible.
TIA.
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Need much more information and details on your beardie's setup and your husbandry otherwise we can't even hazard a guess ( other than issues with UV ? vitA toxicity ? abscess in the eyesock ? pressure/fluid buildup in that side of the head due to a serious health issue ? ).

Here's my Cheat Sheet :
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=234738&p=1806050#p1806050

If you work through it methodically , the chances are there are likely a lot of issues that need to be tweeked or changed and they will pop right out at you, if you can give very detailed answers we will then be in a position to offer help. Is impossible to help you if you don't provide thorough details .

It may prove necessary to involve a reptile vet if your bearded dragon has serious health issues.Are you in a position to afford to take him to a good reptile vet should this prove necessary ?
 

FaytheBeardieMama

Member
Original Poster
Thank you for replying.

I would of course find a vet if it was needed, but we're currently stuck with 2 house payments (as we just moved) and it may be difficult to pay.

To be more thorough, I've included more info and attached photos of my setup and his lights.

•He does not share his tank, my other BD is separate. I have a cat and 2 dogs that are not allowed in the BD room.
•His substrate and lighting are attached.
-
93776-3621251467.jpg
-
93776-6591570023.jpg
•He weighs 120g
•I turn on his heat lamp and UVB lamp at 7AM and shut them off at 7PM. If I can't, I always shut it off 12 hours after I turn it on.
•The basking light is not colored and it is 50W from ReptiSun. ( I should add that I haven't been able to buy him a bigger tank, he is currently at 20gal and 100W is too hot)
His basking spot is 6 inches from the light.
•I have no lights on at night
•Percentage is 10, and the shape can be seen in the photo. It is from AllLivingThings. UVB is 6 inches from basking spot.
•It is 95-100F in his basking spot. Unfortunately I haven't been able to get a tank big enough to have much of a cool spot but it is around 80F. The temperature at night is 70-75F
•His tank is 1'7" long, 9" wide and 10" tall..
•His substrate is carpet, not digestible and doesn't have loops.
• I offer live crickets or worms an hour after waking/an hour before. I put his salad bowl in after he finishes the bugs. They are as big as the space between his eyes

These are the photos of my beardie and the eye in question.
93776-6984858447.jpg
93776-7021818408.jpg
93776-8957420550.jpg
93776-983614345.jpg
 

nathb1

Hatchling Member
FaytheBeardieMama":l9d0f4er said:
Thank you for replying.

I would of course find a vet if it was needed, but we're currently stuck with 2 house payments (as we just moved) and it may be difficult to pay.

To be more thorough, I've included more info and attached photos of my setup and his lights.

•He does not share his tank, my other BD is separate. I have a cat and 2 dogs that are not allowed in the BD room.
•His substrate and lighting are attached.
-
93776-3621251467.jpg
-
93776-6591570023.jpg
•He weighs 120g
•I turn on his heat lamp and UVB lamp at 7AM and shut them off at 7PM. If I can't, I always shut it off 12 hours after I turn it on.
•The basking light is not colored and it is 50W from ReptiSun. ( I should add that I haven't been able to buy him a bigger tank, he is currently at 20gal and 100W is too hot)
His basking spot is 6 inches from the light.
•I have no lights on at night
•Percentage is 10, and the shape can be seen in the photo. It is from AllLivingThings. UVB is 6 inches from basking spot.
•It is 95-100F in his basking spot. Unfortunately I haven't been able to get a tank big enough to have much of a cool spot but it is around 80F. The temperature at night is 70-75F
•His tank is 1'7" long, 9" wide and 10" tall..
•His substrate is carpet, not digestible and doesn't have loops.
• I offer live crickets or worms an hour after waking/an hour before. I put his salad bowl in after he finishes the bugs. They are as big as the space between his eyes

These are the photos of my beardie and the eye in question.
93776-6984858447.jpg
93776-7021818408.jpg
93776-8957420550.jpg
93776-983614345.jpg

Hi .
Cute dragon
Can we have a closer look at his eye?Cant see it .
I can see the lighting being an issue UVB we recommend on this site is reptisun 10 T5 or Acadia tube, coil is not recommended and might be causing him eye problems.
The lack of UVB affects their eating habits as well.
he should be eating alot more at that age as well and does seem small but least not skinny where you see skeleton so think thats positive!
I think if you fix up the tank and the lightings things will be good unless his eye needs medical attention.
He definatly needs bigger tank small tank might hinder his growth, also need temperature gradient cool and hot side up to 105f basking spot. How you taking the temps with temp gun or probe? Those stick on temp thingy are not good.
Id give calcium 5 times a week and twice a week multivitamins as well..
 

FaytheBeardieMama

Member
Original Poster
Hello, and thank you:)

I have attached another photo with flash. I only took 2, as I didn't want to hurt his eye further.
93776-8339490299.jpg
93776-1176846940.jpg


I just made plans after seeing the other response to buy a larger tank and different UVB lighting. Hopefully that should help tremendously.

What should change about his diet? My aunt has a BD but he is so overweight that he has trouble getting around. I guess I was so afraid that I would make him obese that I wasn't feeding enough! Should I double the salad? I usually put in 2 tablespoons of cilantro, carrots, squash and berries.
 

nathb1

Hatchling Member
FaytheBeardieMama":23hj5umg said:
Hello, and thank you:)

I have attached another photo with flash. I only took 2, as I didn't want to hurt his eye further.
93776-8339490299.jpg
93776-1176846940.jpg


I just made plans after seeing the other response to buy a larger tank and different UVB lighting. Hopefully that should help tremendously.

What should change about his diet? My aunt has a BD but he is so overweight that he has trouble getting around. I guess I was so afraid that I would make him obese that I wasn't feeding enough! Should I double the salad? I usually put in 2 tablespoons of cilantro, carrots, squash and berries.

Can you take a side pic its hard to see in front?
If you feed a beardie good protein, dubias, crickets, silkworms , BSFL he wont get "fat".
Id give him bugs twice a day for now with calcium dusted once a day but need a good uvb to absord the calcium .
He will eat until full and stop. My dragon is now 14 month old and over 600 grams and barely eats nothing now compare to what he did.
I would get a good UVB light and bigger tank pronto , good husbandry is mostly more important , they do get sick even if they have good husbandry but least that wont be the cause of it.I would put the basking light infront and the UVB hood at the back so basking and UVB same time same spot..
Give salads like collard green, mustard green, turnip green etc.. beautiful dragon site dont have the addy sorry list all vegs that should be given daily. Salad wont make them fat either ;) good if u have a dragon that eats that!
 

FaytheBeardieMama

Member
Original Poster
There is nothing to see from the side. It looks normal until you look at him straight on. It just looks like the clear part of his eye is thicker.

I will, of course, heed your advice and get him plumped up. Thanks!
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
FaytheBeardieMama":kaz4rt8e said:
Thank you for replying.

I would of course find a vet if it was needed, but we're currently stuck with 2 house payments (as we just moved) and it may be difficult to pay.

To be more thorough, I've included more info and attached photos of my setup and his lights.

•He does not share his tank, my other BD is separate. I have a cat and 2 dogs that are not allowed in the BD room.
•His substrate and lighting are attached.
•He weighs 120g
•I turn on his heat lamp and UVB lamp at 7AM and shut them off at 7PM. If I can't, I always shut it off 12 hours after I turn it on.
•The basking light is not colored and it is 50W from ReptiSun. ( I should add that I haven't been able to buy him a bigger tank, he is currently at 20gal and 100W is too hot)
His basking spot is 6 inches from the light.
•I have no lights on at night
•Percentage is 10, and the shape can be seen in the photo. It is from AllLivingThings. UVB is 6 inches from basking spot.
•It is 95-100F in his basking spot. Unfortunately I haven't been able to get a tank big enough to have much of a cool spot but it is around 80F. The temperature at night is 70-75F
•His tank is 1'7" long, 9" wide and 10" tall..
•His substrate is carpet, not digestible and doesn't have loops.
• I offer live crickets or worms an hour after waking/an hour before. I put his salad bowl in after he finishes the bugs. They are as big as the space between his eyes


I can't see anything untoward with his eyes. They do the bulging eyeball thing when coming up to a shed , it's their way of stretching / loosening the skin on their eyelids.

I do note that you have a very suboptimal UVB setup.
AllLivingThings UV are bad , they are made in china and very poor quality quartz and phoshors are used in them, they are only good for one place , tossing in the garbage bin.

I recommend the following changes
>> move the UVB compact and hood UNDER THE MESH LID , the mesh is blocking about 30% of the UVA and UVB and it's too far away from the basking spot as is.
>> invest in a 26W UVB200 compact, and swap out the existing UVB compact.
>> make sure the basking spot is about 8 inches from the UVB compact.

Give consideration to upgrading to a T5HO 10-12%UVB tube (Arcadia or ExoTerra or Zoo Med brands) and a good T5HO reflector hood.

The basking spot can do with being a wee bit warmer , I aim for 40 - 43 degC in my beardies' basking spots.

12 hrs per day is too short , is very winter like daylight hours, I recommend bumping up to 15-16 hrs per day.

I see you have him in a tiny viv. It's far from adequate , you need a rearing tank with a volume about 100 - 150L , which will do him until he's about 18 months old , then he will need an upgrade to his big forever home in a 4ft L x 2ft W x 2ft H viv.
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
It could be eye irritation but I think it could also be genetic. I've seen posts about dragons with a bulging eye lens like that before. I can't recall the details at the moment but I think it was just a genetic issue and not a big deal if he can see clearly from that side and it doesn't get bigger.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
I agree that the slightly bulging lens may just be the way it is. If he is not closing it constantly then there's probably nothing wrong. If the eye would continue to bulge out more + more that could indicate problem with tear ducts, infection, growth behing it, etc.

And yes, he could use a bit more live food but don't go overboard. They definitely CAN overeat, that's why your aunt's beardie is overweight [ although the wrong food can play a part as well ] But an overweight dragon is an unhealthy dragon, a slim dragon is always healthier in every way. Too much weight will cause health problems down the road just like with people. Bad joints, organ damage in some cases [ liver, kidney, heart ] gout and just not being mobile as when they were younger.
 

EllenD

Gray-bearded Member
Well he's quite small and stunted for his age, and the UVB bulb you're using isn't helping his eyes or his growth, so either way you need to get him a long 10.0 T5 UVB tube rather than a compact or coil bulb, and be sure to replace it at least once a year even if it still lights up, because the T5 tubes no longer produce UVB light after a year.

He will continue to grow until he's around 2 years old, at which time he'll be a fully grown adult and whatever size he is at that point is the size he'll be. His growth is stunted due to having an inadequate UVB light and possibly improper temperatures in his enclosure (I didn't see you list his temperature gradient), but he definitely needs a proper UVB tube immediately to get his growth back on track, and to prevent or possibly stop the development of MBD, as I'm sure he's got the start of it as well. The compact UVB bulbs are typically not great for their eyes, the coil bulbs are typically really awful for their eyes, but neither are appropriate for their overall health. I too don't think there is anything really wrong with his eye, usually when someone says that their beardie has a "bulging eye" it's due to bad lights, particularly the UVB light, and their entire eye is massive and protruding from their skull. I think his lens just protrudes a bit more than the other, but the UVB light absolutely could be harming it, no doubt. Either way you need to get rid of it and buy a Reptisun 10.0 (never a 5.0) T5 High-Output UVB tube, either 18" or 24" long, along with a matching length flourescent tube fixture rated for a T5 tube of 25 watts. I don't suggest the cheaper T8 UVB tube, as his growth is stunted enough that he needs the High-Output UVB tube to help get him back on track, and to avoid anymore MBD development. He still has time to grow quite a bit if you get him in the proper environment.
 

Betty53218

Hatchling Member
Hi There,
I know this thread is a couple of months old, but it caught my eye as I was scanning through the posts. My dragon has this same issue with one eye popping out just a little more than the other one. He is going on 3 yrs old and has never had any problems with it. I guess it’s just a normal thing with some dragons as stated in the previous posts! It kind of caused alarm with me when I first noticed it also.
 

FaytheBeardieMama

Member
Original Poster
Betty53218":1ghn4ecc said:
Hi There,
I know this thread is a couple of months old, but it caught my eye as I was scanning through the posts. My dragon has this same issue with one eye popping out just a little more than the other one. He is going on 3 yrs old and has never had any problems with it. I guess it’s just a normal thing with some dragons as stated in the previous posts! It kind of caused alarm with me when I first noticed it also.

Yes, it’s old, but that’s okay! I’m glad to hear that it is normal. He hasn’t had any problems either:)
 
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