Baby beardie wont open his eye

My beardie has been having eye trouble today. He keeps his left eye closed most of the time. He opens it occasionally but only for a few seconds then it’s closed again. The eyelid looks dented unlike the other one that looks normal and flat. Im hoping it’s because he’s going to shed. He’s been scratching at it and rubbing his face against things. He doesnt seem too bothered by it when it’s closed but every once in a while it twitches. When he opens it the mucous membrane goes over his eye a couple times and he shuts it again. It looks droopy and abnormally moist in comparison to the other. What could be the issue if any and what should i do?

Hello,

Can you review your tank setup with us, such as the type/brand of UVB light you are using,
the substrate used & the temperatures? We can try to pinpoint any issues before they cause
more problems, if needed.
Shedding will definitely irritate their eyes sometimes though. They can sometimes scratch
their eye by trying to get shed off of it. If you have any pictures, you can post it so we can
see what it's looking like.
Is he eating & basking normally?

Tracie

Drache613":vr0objd2 said:

Hello,

Can you review your tank setup with us, such as the type/brand of UVB light you are using,
the substrate used & the temperatures? We can try to pinpoint any issues before they cause
more problems, if needed.
Shedding will definitely irritate their eyes sometimes though. They can sometimes scratch
their eye by trying to get shed off of it. If you have any pictures, you can post it so we can
see what it's looking like.
Is he eating & basking normally?

Tracie

Click to expand...

It’s an exoterra UVB 150 reptile lamp, im not sure of the temperature i havent gotten a thermometer for the tank yet, and i have a terrarium liner for him. This is my first time owning a bearded dragon so im still learning and improving every chance i get. He only eats a little at a time and has since i got him. Maybe 2-3 crickets once a day. I try to keep him supplied in case he does get hungry enough to eat more. Unfortunately i cant attach a picture from my phone but i just checked on him since last night and his eye is starting to crust over

Some photos of him and his setup would be helpful. On your phone you can click on the green menu button at the top and go to user image upload manager and upload photos from there. Then you can attach them to your thread using the XIMG button.

The UVB150 is ok if it's a 26w version. They are fairly short range and best for small tanks though. It should sit 6-8'' above the main basking area.

It's important to get an accurate reading of surface temperatures so using an IR temp gun or a digital thermometer with a probe to sit on the basking area is important to get so you can adjust the lighting as needed.

It does sound like his eye is irritated by something. It could be lighting or it could be a shed or possibly an eye infection. It will be easier to tell if we can see some photos of what he looks like to help determine what's going on.

Hello,

How is your baby's eye today? Is the shed coming off successfully?
Definitely try to post some pictures of him & the setup just so we can see how everything
looks right now.
If it's still irritating him, you can get some sterile saline solution to wash his eye out with
daily for a few days to see if that helps out. Hopefully there is no infection starting.
Is he eating very much right now?

Tracie

CooperDragon":1cbl8030 said:

Some photos of him and his setup would be helpful. On your phone you can click on the green menu button at the top and go to user image upload manager and upload photos from there. Then you can attach them to your thread using the XIMG button.

The UVB150 is ok if it's a 26w version. They are fairly short range and best for small tanks though. It should sit 6-8'' above the main basking area.

It's important to get an accurate reading of surface temperatures so using an IR temp gun or a digital thermometer with a probe to sit on the basking area is important to get so you can adjust the lighting as needed.

It does sound like his eye is irritated by something. It could be lighting or it could be a shed or possibly an eye infection. It will be easier to tell if we can see some photos of what he looks like to help determine what's going on.

Click to expand...

I attached some pictures. I’ve been using saline solution on him but it doesn’t seem to be helping much. His uvb light has been off for a couple days because i thought that may be the problem but i haven’t noticed any improvement with his eye. Im not sure how i should have my lights set up. I have 2 lights that sit on top of the screen on the tank, heat and uvb. On the right side are food and water bowls and the left is his basking area. Ahould i have both lights on one side?

Drache613":snww67ig said:

Hello,

How is your baby's eye today? Is the shed coming off successfully?
Definitely try to post some pictures of him & the setup just so we can see how everything
looks right now.
If it's still irritating him, you can get some sterile saline solution to wash his eye out with
daily for a few days to see if that helps out. Hopefully there is no infection starting.
Is he eating very much right now?

Tracie

Click to expand...

I attached some pictures to the thread. I’ve been using saline solution but his eye still seems the same. He ate 2 crickets this morning. He doesnt seem to like eating very much. I’ve had him about two weeks and he’s never eaten more than 2-3 in a day if he ate at all

Hello,

If his eye isn't doing any better, I recommend turning off the compact/coil 150UVB light.
What type of basking light do you have & what is the wattage?
I would instead, get a tube UVB, it is safer & provides higher quality of UVB. Try either
the Reptisun 10 tube or the Arcadia D3 12% or 14% tube, for a better UVB light.
Do you have a picture of your tank setup for us also?
I think you will start to see some improvement once you turn the compact/coil light off.
It is most likely emitting hazardous wavelengths.
Continue to use the saline solution right now, to help. If his eye looks infected, you could
get some antibiotic eye ointment too for him. There is an ointment called Terramycin for
eyes. You can find it online or at Tractor supply sometimes, or possibly Pet Agmart.

Tracie

That eye doesn't look so good. If flushing it with saline isn't doing the trick I agree with turning the UVB light off for a little while and see if that helps (while continuing with the saline flushes). If you have a curved plastic syringe that can sometimes help with flushing - just be careful not to use too much pressure. If the eye doesn't improve I would have a vet check it for infection and prescribe appropriate antibiotics to try and get it healed up. Sometimes people have good luck healing eye wounds using raw/unpasteurized honey so that might be worth a try too.

With the eye issue combined with the fact that he's not eating, I'm guessing that the main issue is that coil UVB bulb. They often cause eye issues, and as Cooper said, even though it's a 26 watt UVB bulb, the UVB light emitted is actually quite low, and only focused on one particular spot. Dragons need strong UVB light for at least 13 hours every day, along with a bright-white colored basking bulb. And using a long, strong UVB tube that is at least a 10% UVB tube (10.0 or higher) that is inside a long tube fixture with a metal reflector behind the tube so that the UVB light is reflected all throughout the tank is what they need. Without adequate UVB light he will have no appetite, become lethargic, and eventually develop a severe calcium deficiency and MBD. Then the coil bulb itself is what often causes eye and neurological damage, that's pretty common.

As Tracie already recommended, you need to get him a long UVB tube and fixture with a reflector, preferably a stronger T5 strength UVB tube, I'd just skip over the much weaker T8 UVB tubes, as you must have them strapped to the underside of the mesh lid, have them within at least 6" of his basking spot/platform, and the T8 tubes have to be replaced once every 6 months as they stop emitting any UVB light at 6 months old. The much stronger T5 UVB tubes only need replaced once a year, and they can sit on top of the mesh lid just as long as they are within at least 10-11" of his basking spot/platform. I think if you get him a T5 UVB tube and fixture with a reflector ASAP both the eye issue and the appetite issue will resolve themselves.

The Reptisun 10.0 T5HO UVB tube and the Arcadia 12% T5 UVB tube are the 2 UVB tubes most often used by experienced breeders and owners. You can order a 22" Reptisun 10.0 T5HO UVB tube on Amazon.com for about $28 shipped, about half of the cost if you can find a 10.0 T5HO tube in a pet shop (usually you only see the weaker T8 tubes, or only 5.0 T5HO tubes in a Reptisun package deal, and a 5.0 tube is not adequate for a Desert Reptile). They also sell a 24" T5-rated tube fixture with a reflector for about the same price, so for about $60 shipped on Amazon.com you can get both the 10.0 T5HO UVB tube and a fixture for it.