Eye booger?

Hello, I was just hanging out with my bearded dragon today when I noticed something in her eye. It was a clear whitish with yellow dots inside of it jelly thing. It was very similar to human eye discharge but it was very gooey. I pulled it out with some tweezers while making sure she was very calm, any ideas what this is?

Yummy!!! LOL, just ate lunch...

Did you happen to take a photo of it? if not that's okay, but if you did you might as well post a photo of it...I would actually post a photo of her eye, just to make sure nothing is going on with it...does her eye look normal? Is she scratching at it, blinking a lot, keeping it closed, etc.?

They get eye "discharge" occasionally too, just like we do, and dogs and cats do, etc. Only when it happens continuously, day after day, or multiple times a day, or if it becomes constantly runny, etc. is it a problem. Or if her eye swells up, she starts scratching at it or favoring it, keeping it shut, etc. If that starts to happen, if it becomes a constant thing in that eye (or both eyes if it becomes a constant thing, as eye infections spread to both eyes very easily), then you'll need to take her to an experienced reptile vet for a culture to determine what is causing the infection. Usually they just call this type of bacterial infection "conjunctivitis", and they'll prescribe either an antibiotic eye drop or an antibiotic eye salve/ointment. So if it keeps happening for the next few days then you need to take her, because the only thing that will get rid of an infection is the correct antibiotic or antifungal medication...

It's probably nothing though...you don't have a loose substrate in the bottom of her tank do you, like any type of sand, crushed walnut shells, rodent bedding, bark, wood chips, etc.? If so then that's definitely the cause and you need to dump it out and disinfect the entire tank. But if not then as I said, it's probably nothing. You can actually go and buy a little bottle of plain saline eye drops (nothing added for redness or allergies or anything like that, just plain old normal saline eye drops, like plain Visine). They actually sell pretty large bottles of eye drops at any DollarTree store for $1. You can do these eye drops twice a day in the eye just to clean it out, do this for a few days, just to rid any type of irritant that may have gotten in it. You can also buy some Raw, Unfiltered or Unpasteurized Honey (not regular honey, that has no antimicrobial properties ), or Makuna Honey. It must say "Raw" and either "Unfiltered" or "Unpasteurized" on the honey bottle. This has natural antimicrobial properties. You can dilute a bit in with a drop or two of warm water, then put a few drops of the diluted raw, unpasteurized honey in her eye once a day.

This is the first time this has happened, her tank is clean although she does sleep a lot so maybe that has something to do with it

Colincoo6":eqcdo373 said:

This is the first time this has happened, her tank is clean although she does sleep a lot so maybe that has something to do with it

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It doesn't matter, just like us, they can get all kinds of infections, illnesses, parasites, etc. no matter how "clean" their tanks are or how well they are cared for. Just like we get strep throat, conjunctivitis (Pink Eye), viral stomach flu, skin infections, etc., animals get the same stuff. Microbes are very tiny, microscopic in most cases, their eggs are smaller in the case of parasites, and they are carried into our homes on our clothing, shoes, in the air, etc. And in the case of reptiles that are fed live insects, they are one of the main culprits. So it's nothing that you did wrong, it just happens. Yes, the tear ducts get "Gunk" in them when their eyes are closed just like we have when we wake up in the morning, that's normal and not a problem, it's a problem if it happens continuously or it continues to happen during the day, etc. Those are indications that there is a bacteria or a fungi causing an infection, and the "Gunk" is actually pus.

EllenD":3ldkfzt4 said:

Colincoo6":3ldkfzt4 said:

This is the first time this has happened, her tank is clean although she does sleep a lot so maybe that has something to do with it

Click to expand...

It doesn't matter, just like us, they can get all kinds of infections, illnesses, parasites, etc. no matter how "clean" their tanks are or how well they are cared for. Just like we get strep throat, conjunctivitis (Pink Eye), viral stomach flu, skin infections, etc., animals get the same stuff. Microbes are very tiny, microscopic in most cases, their eggs are smaller in the case of parasites, and they are carried into our homes on our clothing, shoes, in the air, etc. And in the case of reptiles that are fed live insects, they are one of the main culprits. So it's nothing that you did wrong, it just happens. Yes, the tear ducts get "Gunk" in them when their eyes are closed just like we have when we wake up in the morning, that's normal and not a problem, it's a problem if it happens continuously or it continues to happen during the day, etc. Those are indications that there is a bacteria or a fungi causing an infection, and the "Gunk" is actually pus.

Click to expand...

I have been checking her, she doesn’t have anything in there anymore. It was only the one time it just scared me at the time.