1 Eye Closed

[littleassassin2]

Noticed yesterday since i was off for the entire that Leeroy seemed to be having some eye irritation in his left eye. He's never had this problem in the 2 months that i've had him now and it actually cought me by surprise because he's never showed eye irritation before other than sometimes when i hold him or walk near him he'd close w/e eye was facing me but i read this was normal (he mostly closed his right eye for this, not his left). 2 Days ago, he had essentially a full body shed except for his tail and then yesterday i noticed him rubbing his eye against the carpet i have for him as substrate. Before this though when i was right next to him playing a game, he had his eyes bulging out of his skull so i was assuming he was trying to get rid of some excess dead skin, but then the eye scratching started. He also at 1 point was scratching the left side of his face with his hind leg, and then i left the house for about 2 hours so i don't know if he did anything else. When i came back his left eye was closed and it's pretty much been closed except for when i feed him he'll open it.

Even like a half hour i turned his lights off he still had the 1 eye closed. Hoping it'd be improved in the morning, i was wrong, it wasn't any worse, maybe a little better. I turned his compact coil UVB light off for a bit and fed him, he opened his left eye longer when he was eating instead of quickly opening and closing it but right when he was done he just closed it again.

I don't know if it's the light, or maybe just excess skin from his last shed. He eats fine, isn't any less active, poops normal and doesn't smell awful, and his daily routine/attitude hasn't changed at all. He's the same ol' every day normal Leeroy except for his 1 eye being closed.

Don't know if i should just replace the bulb, wait until i come home from school later to see if he's improved, or take him to the vet. I know 99% of you are going to say replace the bulb, in which i probably will now, but i just want to know if it could possible be something else.

 

[littleassassin2]

Oh, and these reptisun 10.0's, do they HAVE to be place 20" away, or can they be closer? I think my tank is like a 1' 1/2" tall, maybe a little shorter.

 

[vampy]

the reptisun tubes shouldn't be placed 20 inches away...I think they shouldn't be placed much more than 12, with him able to get within 6-8 inches while basking.

And yup, you got it...chances are the coil light is the cause of his problem. It could be that he is trying to shed the area if he was eye bulging and rubbing it too, but you should be able to see any loose skin that was ready to come off. If you think it's shed related you could soak some cotton wool or something else lint free in warm saline and hold it over the area for a few minutes to help loosen the skin, and i'd probably try and irrigate the eye with saline just in case he has something in it.

 

[littleassassin2]

I couldn't see anything loose on his eye, and his eye also isn't swollen, leaking anything, red, etc. When he opens his eye it seems perfectly normal which is why i don't think it's the light, especially since it wasn't even gradual, it was one minute he's fine and litterally the next all hell broke loose and now he won't open his eye. I'll try soaking it with something tonight, unless of course he seems fine in which i'll just keep a close eye on him.

Reptisun will be inbound eventually, just have to figure out how i'm going to do it.

Also, persay i do get the new light and the old one is the problem, but it takes a week-2 to get here, if i turn his current uvb off, how long can he go without it on?

 

[littleassassin2]

Left his UVB light off all day and i just got home to find his eye was still closed. Turned it back on and he's had his eye open for a bit now so idk if maybe something is just in his eye bothering it, but when his eye opens its completely normal, nothing is out of the ordinary. Still eating fine, hasn't pooped yet but we'll see.

Any other suggestions?

 

[Bobbijo2u]

You could try bathing him and trying to get his eye flushed. However other than turning off the light and getting another and a vet visit I have no ideas

 

[snazzyglasses]

How long until the safe UVB arrives? If you want to order online but don't have access to a credit card, a lot of stores sell Visa or MasterCard gift cards and those can be used like a regular credit card to make online purchases. (I'm not sure if you can use them on all sites, but I do know it's possible because the company I work for accepts them for online payments).
Eye problems heal pretty slowly, especially if there isn't a good UVB source available to keep his body in top shape. And you won't notice a difference immediately after turning off the UVB coil; depending on the damage it might be a few days before his eye starts to seem better. But it's safer to leave it off until the new one arrives.
It's good that he's eating though! That's always a plus

 

[littleassassin2]

It's weird, he's really inconsistent with his eye being closed. Sometimes he'll just sit there with both eyes closed, most of the time he'll sit with just his right eye closed. Some times he has his 1 eye closed for a certain amount of time, then he'll open both and just look around and hang out. Then sometimes he just leaves both eyes open for a while and walks around and glass dances.

I also haven't ordered a Reptisun yet because i'm trying to figure out how i want to do it. If i get a fixture from walmart i need the extension cord and i need to start splicing wires and stuff and idk how my mom would feel about it plus i don't have the tools to do so unless my grandfather does. Then there's the hood idea but i'm not spending like $50 on a hood that i won't even use when i get a bigger tank.. I have to look into using just a regular tube light fixture/bracket w/e from walmart though as i've skimmed through the process but haven't really looked into it.

edit: i know just enough about what most of the process is for during a fixture/bracket but it's about getting the tools and finding the time to do it without anyone having a cow about me jerry-rigging electrical stuff. Also, i have the means of purchasing things online so that's not a problem.

 

[snazzyglasses]

Yikes. :shock: Jerry-rigging electrical stuff is a lot more than I know how to do! It's awesome that you know how though.
My UVB tube is just in some cheap "under cabinet" fixture, probably from WalMart. The cord isn't very long but it reaches down to the power strip so it works for me lol.

 

[littleassassin2]

Yikes. :shock: Jerry-rigging electrical stuff is a lot more than I know how to do! It's awesome that you know how though.
My UVB tube is just in some cheap "under cabinet" fixture, probably from WalMart. The cord isn't very long but it reaches down to the power strip so it works for me lol.

Everytime i come across the "oh well all you nee to do is go buy a light fixture from walmart" bs i end up coming to this: viewtopic.php?f=34&t=140791 . Now i'm not entirely sure if you HAVE to do something like this with the wire splicing and such, but it's the only thing i ever find.

 

[Bobbijo2u]

I bought mine at cash way with no wiring required. Our Walmart no longer carries the fixtures I need. I use a cheap under cabinet fixture that works just grand. It's mounted inside on 3 m command strips Home Depot carry them as well.

 

[littleassassin2]

It's mounted inside on 3 m command strips Home Depot carry them as well.

That's what i was going to do, or industrial velcro.

 

[vampy]

Yikes. :shock: Jerry-rigging electrical stuff is a lot more than I know how to do! It's awesome that you know how though.
My UVB tube is just in some cheap "under cabinet" fixture, probably from WalMart. The cord isn't very long but it reaches down to the power strip so it works for me lol.

Everytime i come across the "oh well all you nee to do is go buy a light fixture from walmart" bs i end up coming to this: viewtopic.php?f=34&t=140791 . Now i'm not entirely sure if you HAVE to do something like this with the wire splicing and such, but it's the only thing i ever find.

I think it depends on which fixture you get. If you get one that's meant to be mounted as part of a complicated kitchen light set up then it won't come wired because the builder is gonna want to wire it all onto one circuit, but if you get one that's more stand alone, then it comes already wired.

This one http://www.beardeddragon.co/index.php?route=product/product&path=63&product_id=76 comes with the cable, so no electrical messing around needed. They only have 18 and 24 inch ones on that site though, so if you were looking for something longer you'd probably have to brave walmart.

 

[littleassassin2]

No 24" is fine because it's a few inches smaller than my current tank and if i have to, ill go buy another when i build my new home for Leeroy. Thanks for the find, much appreciated.

 

[littleassassin2]

Alright so Leeroy's current UVB is off for good until the new one arrives. The new 24" 20watt Reptisun 10.0 will be here hopefully sometime next week (2-5days, but it probably won't even ship until tomorrow and they don't ship things on the weekend so).

The fixture that vampy introduced me to will probably be here within the same time frame so i'll let you know how everything goes and if nothing improves it's off to the vet.