Please help! My beardie's eyelid has been swollen 5 weeks!

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BeardieBurrito

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Sorry for the delay, it took me awhile to find where to upload images again. Here's his eye now:

97743-6682735830.jpg

I forgot to mention earlier that he really doesn't like me doing anything to get him to open his eye. If I use my thumb or a paper towel or anything to open his eye, he gets really uncomfortable and shakes his head and squirms. Tilting him to one side used to work well, but he still squirms, and just holding him tighter makes him squirm more.

As for the vet, I haven't taken him back since the beginning and I don't plan to.
 

Drache613

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Hello,

Ok, not too bad. I think if you can find a way to get the eye itself, not just the outer lid,
treated with saline solution & honey then it will start to heal up. Maybe try wrapping him
up burrito style, so that he can't squirm too much. I know it sounds rough on him, but it is
quick & will help you be able to get his eye treated better.
How is his appetite doing, is he eating very much?

Tracie
 

BeardieBurrito

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Still eating normal; picky with veggies, but still eats some, and loves his roaches. I'll keep trying to get the solution in his eye.
 

Drache613

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Hello,

Great, I do think that it will improve if you are able to get the solution directly into the eye
area instead of the eyelid. I'm glad to hear that he is still eating, that is a good sign. Please
keep us posted on him & how his eye is doing.

Tracie
 

BeardieBurrito

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Original Poster
I think I'm just gonna have to take my time with it. The more I try getting him to open his eye, the less he does it, it seems. He won't even do it when tilting him. I'm sure it'll heal eventually, just not as soon as I'd like.
 

Drache613

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Hello,

I hope his eye starts getting better soon! Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie
 

BeardieBurrito

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Original Poster
He still doesn't seem to be getting any better. The swelling doesn't seem to have gone down at all, at least not for awhile. He still scratches at it, and occasionally opens it. I've been getting at least one drop in his eye per day that I've tried; I leave him alone when he's sleeping, which he sometimes does all day.

I can't imagine that I'm just not getting enough honey in his eye and frequently enough, just because of the way honey functions. It doesn't just evaporate away, and I don't think bearded dragon eyes produce enough water to flush it out. So I imagine each drop of honey-water remains helpful for days or weeks, meaning each drop adds to the last several.

So I don't know if maybe the honey-water solution is too watery (should be around 1:4 honey:water) or if he just keeps irritating it and not letting it go down. I don't know what else to do besides keep applying the solution and hope for the best.

Would making him drink more honey-water help, maybe? Could it help by entering his system and being absorbed into his bloodstream to fight the inflammation? Or would his liver just break it down too far?
 

Taterbug

BD.org Addict
Honey works topically, getting him to drink it won’t help. What sort of honey are you using? The source and other factors influence the antibacterial properties of honey a lot so they aren’t all as useful medically and diluting it may be weakening it.

I’m not certain but I’d also think that you might want to flush the eye with sterile saline periodically so that when you add the dose of honey you are getting the fresh and active enzymes in, not just what is left from previous treatments. It’s unlikely that it’s just as effective if it’s been on day/weeks just because it’s still wet or sticky.

It’s been around three months now and it sounds like only a small improvement. I again encourage you to find a vet you are comfortable working with to get him evaluated. It’s difficult to really know how much discomfort and stress all this is causing him.
 

BeardieBurrito

Member
Original Poster
Yeah, I wasn't certain about the lasting effects, just speculating. The honey is made locally, raw and unpasteurized. Only thing I'm curious about is the orange on the label, which suggests to me they added something to give citrusy taste or something, but that's just a guess. It's the best honey I could find. I'll try rinsing his eye out occasionally and increase the potency of the solution.

As for the vet, I'm still considering taking him to an out-of-town vet, but before I could do that, I'd have to find a reputable one first. I'm moving this year, so if not by then, there's a vet where we're likely moving that work on beardies regularly.

Despite the discomfort it seems to give him, he still gets really excited over roaches and seems really happy when I pull him out to hold him.
 

Taterbug

BD.org Addict
I saw a post on vet blog that made me think of this post. It said that honey isn’t effective when it’s diluted with water. Might be worth looking into but more.

If you are from an area with orange groves, orange is a pretty popular varietal of honey. The nectar naturally has a bit of a citrusy note to it. As for medical potency, aside from specifically graded honey like Manuka, which gets some of its properties from the specific flowers, it’s hard to know how effective it will be. Its a natural product with a lot of variation in composition.
 

BeardieBurrito

Member
Original Poster
So what you're saying is the honey may not be as effective due to the source of its nectar? Makes sense. Hopefully the honey I have (it is how you described, I didn't describe it very well) will work ok at a higher potency. It should be 2 or 3 parts water per honey now, so I'll try that. If it's not effective, there's not much I can do as my town is small and secluded. Also using a saline solution to rinse his eye out.

He seems like he's pretty happy still overall. He looks super comfy sprawled out on his tile.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

How are thing going, has his eye improved any?
Are you using raw, unpasteurized honey or manuka honey? The saline should help in combination
with the honey also. I hope it's getting better for him. I'm glad to hear he seems to be happy!

Keep us posted on how he is doing.
Tracie
 

BeardieBurrito

Member
Original Poster
Drache613":3hij3ie0 said:
Hello,

How are thing going, has his eye improved any?
Are you using raw, unpasteurized honey or manuka honey? The saline should help in combination
with the honey also. I hope it's getting better for him. I'm glad to hear he seems to be happy!

Keep us posted on how he is doing.
Tracie

Considering how beardies are with their eyes, and the regular bulging or sinking they do with them, it's rather hard to tell. Numerous times I've looked at his eye and it looked like the swelling had gone down, but I guess he was just "sucking it in", and hiding the swelling, to which I would later notice there's no actual change. It seems that way now, where his eye looks less swollen than usual, but I can't help but think it's not any better. Hopefully that's not the case and it is in fact going down, albeit very, very slowly.

I am using raw, local unpasteurized honey. I just appears to be made with orange blossoms, which I do not know if that affects the medicinal qualities of the honey.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

That type of honey sounds perfectly fine to me, no problem. I don't think the orange blossoms
affect the medicinal strength of it.
I hope his eye is healing up. It can take months sometimes for things like that to improve. How
long estimated has it been thus far since you first noticed it?
Is he still eating well also?

Tracie
 
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