Eye darkness possible injury

[Bogathedragon]

My beardies left eye is way darker around his eyelids and it looks like there could be a little scratch or something but I wasn't sure so I wanted to make a post and see your opinions. I just want to make sure this isn't a health problem or something that could lead to one. Also I believe his head is about to shed or go into shed mode because he has been popping his eyes and scratchibg his head in Los so I've been giving him baths do I was wondering if that could be it. He also hasn't been eating and I think it's brumation but was wondering if this could be part of our because he isn't acting sleepy or lethargic

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, can you get a picture in better light ? My computer is older + seems to be a few shades darker than it should be so I can't see the eye very well. Someone else may be able to, but a pic in brighter light will help anyway.

If there is anything like a scratch or any trauma at all you can apply raw honey [ unpasteurized ] . It is about the best would dressing /ointment you can use. I myself used on 2 of my dragons through the years that had either eye infection [ a baby came out of the incubator + eye was scratched by another hatchibg baby ] and a sub adult that also had a cut on the eye. Both healed very well within days. Just mix about 1 part honey to 3 parts warm [ not hot ] after + apply it directly to the eye 2-3X a day with a Q-tip.

 

[EllenD]

It actually does look quite dark, darker than they usually are, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's abnormal for him...Can you post a photo of his other eye? Is the "bad" eye darker than the other eye? They all have that dark area under their eyes, that's normal, but his does look quite dark, and the fact that he's stopped eating and is lethargic is concerning, and should never just be written off as "brumation" automatically, as most often it's not brumation but rather inadequate UVB light or improper temperature zones, or both. And improper lighting can also cause eye problems, so that's why I'm asking...can you post a photo of his other eye, his whole body, and then of his enclosure and his lighting?

How old is he? And what UVB light do you use? How old is it? How far away from his basking spot is the UVb light? Is it obstructed by anything, such as a mesh lid? What basking light do you use, meaning what color is it, and is it just a regular lightbulb or indoor flood bulb, or is it coil/spiral in shape? What are the temperatures of his Basking Spot Surface, the Hot Side Ambient (air), and the Cool Side Ambient (air)? What type of thermometer do you use, a stick-on, a Digital Probe, or a Gun?

 

[Bogathedragon]

It actually does look quite dark, darker than they usually are, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's abnormal for him...Can you post a photo of his other eye? Is the "bad" eye darker than the other eye? They all have that dark area under their eyes, that's normal, but his does look quite dark, and the fact that he's stopped eating and is lethargic is concerning, and should never just be written off as "brumation" automatically, as most often it's not brumation but rather inadequate UVB light or improper temperature zones, or both. And improper lighting can also cause eye problems, so that's why I'm asking...can you post a photo of his other eye, his whole body, and then of his enclosure and his lighting?

How old is he? And what UVB light do you use? How old is it? How far away from his basking spot is the UVb light? Is it obstructed by anything, such as a mesh lid? What basking light do you use, meaning what color is it, and is it just a regular lightbulb or indoor flood bulb, or is it coil/spiral in shape? What are the temperatures of his Basking Spot Surface, the Hot Side Ambient (air), and the Cool Side Ambient (air)? What type of thermometer do you use, a stick-on, a Digital Probe, or a Gun?

This is his other eye. He is acting completely himself. Not lethargic, just not eating

 

[AHBD]

Post another pic of the dark eye in good lighting like that.

 

[EllenD]

He's not eating? That's not normal...

What UVB lighting do you have? Is it a tube, a compact, or a coil? How old is it? Is it obstructed by anything like a mesh lid? How far away is it from his basking area?

 

[Bogathedragon]

He's not eating? That's not normal...

What UVB lighting do you have? Is it a tube, a compact, or a coil? How old is it? Is it obstructed by anything like a mesh lid? How far away is it from his basking area?

Reptisuj 10.0 tube it is about 3 months lizard is 1 year. It is on top of mesh and we are about to build him a new tank so that his tube will be mounted in it and it is about four inches from his basking but he sits understand all the time

 

[Bogathedragon]

He's not eating? That's not normal...

What UVB lighting do you have? Is it a tube, a compact, or a coil? How old is it? Is it obstructed by anything like a mesh lid? How far away is it from his basking area?

Reptisuj 10.0 tube it is about 3 months lizard is 1 year. It is on top of mesh and we are about to build him a new tank so that his tube will be mounted in it and it is about four inches from his basking but he sits understand all the time

The bad eye also droops a little

 

[Bogathedragon]

He's not eating? That's not normal...

What UVB lighting do you have? Is it a tube, a compact, or a coil? How old is it? Is it obstructed by anything like a mesh lid? How far away is it from his basking area?

Reptisuj 10.0 tube it is about 3 months lizard is 1 year. It is on top of mesh and we are about to build him a new tank so that his tube will be mounted in it and it is about four inches from his basking but he sits understand all the time

I got him a vet appointment

 

[EllenD]

Well if your Reptisun 10.0 UVB tube is a T8-strength tube, and it's sitting on top of a mesh lid, this is why he is not eating, I guarantee it. The T8 tubes are pretty weak, only 15-17 watts, and even when unobstructed by anything they must be within at least 6" of the basking spot and replaced once every 6 months. It's been pretty well documented and tested by solarmeters that the Reptisun 10.0 T8 UVB tube, when it is sitting on top of a mesh lid, does not emit any adequate UVb light at all on the other side of the mesh to the dragon. The mesh is blocking at least 40% of the already weak UVB light. Only a T5-strength UVB tube is strong enough to sit on top of a mesh lid, and even that is iffy. I have been using Reptisun 10.0 T5HO UVB tubes for years, and I still attach them to the underside of the mesh lids and keep them within 10-11" of them. So I highly suggest that you immediately get your UVB tube/fixutre underneath the mesh lid, which is very easy to do by the way. It' will only take you 15 minutes at most to do, and I'm willing to bet that his appetite will pick up by tomorrow if you do it.

All you have to do is poke 4 holes in the mesh with either a Utility Knife or Metal Shears, and then use either long, plastic Zip Ties, Shoelaces, Twine, Metal Wire, etc. to strap the entire tube fixture to the underside of the mesh lid. It's great that you're building him a larger enclosure (please upgrade to a T5 strength UVB tube with a metal reflector inside the fixture at that point for that larger enclosure), but he's not getting any adequate UVb light right now, and that is absolutely why he's not eating. This is a very common issue, and is typically corrected within 24 hours once you get that UVb tube under the mesh.

Be sure to strap it to the mesh lid over the Hot Side of the tank, and leave room to place his Basking bulb right alongside the UVb tube, right next to each other. Then position whatever you use for his Basking Spot/Platform so that it is within the Hot Side of the tank and directly underneath both the UVb tube and the bright white basking bulb. This is replicating natural sunlight as closely as possible for him, so that he gets both lights at the same time while basking. Again, his appetite will pick right up by tomorrow, I'd bet on it as I've seen this over and over and over again with the weaker strength T8 UVb tubes, they just are not strong enough to penetrate that mesh enough for a Dragon.

Also, what type of basking bulb are you using? I don't mean the brand, that doesn't really matter at all, as most of us use Halogen Indoor Flood Bulbs that aren't even Reptile Specialty bulbs. What I mean is #1) Is you Basking Bulb bright-white in color, like natural sunlight, or is it a colored Basking or Day bulb, like red, blue, yellow, green purple, black, etc.? It should only ever be bright white with Bearded Dragons, as they see in full color, and any colored bulbs cause a host of multiple issues with their eyes and also cause many neurological issues...also, is it just a regular lightbulb or an indoor flood bulb, or is it any type of Coil/Spiral/Twisty bulb or an LED bulb? The Coil/spiral bulbs and LED bulbs cause a ton of severe eye and neurological issues, that's why I'm asking...

Other than the obstructed T8 UVB tube (which totally explains his lack of appetite completely) I think he's fine, as long as your Basking Bulb is a bright white, regular compact, halogen bulb or a halogen indoor flood bulb and not a colored bulb or a coil bulb, and as long as all 3 temperature zones are within the adequate ranges.

 

[AHBD]

I just realized this is the same dragon you say is going crazy in the tank in your newest post. Are you positive it's a male ? If it's a female it may be looking to lay eggs, so that's another possibility.

 

[EllenD]

I just realized this is the same dragon you say is going crazy in the tank in your newest post. Are you positive it's a male ? If it's a female it may be looking to lay eggs, so that's another possibility.

I hope it isn't a female with eggs, because it's not gotten any adequate UVB light at all (T8 on top of a mesh lid), and if this is the case you can bet there's a calcium deficiency already, or there was, before the poor thing had to make eggs...

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I agree, definitely try to mount your tube bulb underneath of the screen, or you can
cut a hole in the screen as suggested. It would really help out if he could have a stronger
UVB exposure.
When is your vet's appointment?
Let us know how that goes for you.

Tracie

 

[Bogathedragon]

Hello,

I agree, definitely try to mount your tube bulb underneath of the screen, or you can
cut a hole in the screen as suggested. It would really help out if he could have a stronger
UVB exposure.
When is your vet's appointment?
Let us know how that goes for you.

Tracie

sorry this is late, but he is getting a new cage soon and his bigger uvb will be mounted on top of it. he is definantly a boy, and the vet gave us an anti inflammatory because he didnt have parasites or anything obstructing his intestines. he has slowly started gaining interest in food!

 

[EllenD]

That's great, but honestly if you haven't gotten him into the larger enclosure with a stronger UVB tube (if it's going to be or already is a large, wooden enclosure, you must go to a much stronger T5 strength UVB tube mounted to the ceiling, that must also have a metal reflector inside the tube fixture and behind the UVB tube, so that the UVb light is reflected throughout the large enclosure, and he must have at least one Basking Spot/Platform that puts him within at least 11" of the T5 strength UVB tube; this is why you cannot use a T8 strength UVB tube inside a large, wooden enclosure, because the Basking Spot/Platform must be at least within 6" of a T8 strength UVb tube, and it's usually very difficult to accomplish this inside a very large enclosure), then I highly recommend taking 15 minutes to get the T8 UVb tube and fixture strapped to the underside of the mesh lid!!!

I understand that you're building him a larger enclosure with a T5 strength UVB tube, but the fact is that he has not had any adequate UVb light at all if he's been under a T8 strength UVb tube that is being blocked by a mesh lid. Seriously, desert reptiles depend upon at least 13-14 hours every single day of strong, adequate UVb light, and even though you stated that he can get within 4" the current T8 strength Reptisun 10.0 UVB tube, it doesn't matter how close he can get to it because it's not a strong enough UVB tube to emit ANY adequate UVb light on the other side of the mesh. So he's gotten pretty much no adequate UVB light at all for as long as he's been under that set up, and even when you get him into the larger enclosure with a T5 strength UVb tube that is within at least 11" of him with a metal reflector that is on for at least 13-14 hours a day, that is not helping him right now, nor will it completely reverse any damage already done by the total lack of UVB light.

I'm only telling you this because UVB light is so important to Bearded Dragons, their entire survival and all of their daily bodily functions, most importantly their digestion, absorption, and processing/use of any nutrition they eat, both from food and any calcium or multivitamin supplements you give him, are TOTALLY dependent on him getting 13-14 hours of adequate UVB light every single day, and your dragon has not gotten any as long as he's been under a T8 strength UVB tube that is blocked by a mesh lid. Even the time since you first wrote this post until today is far too long for a dragon to go without adequate UVB light, and is doing damage and weakening his bone density every day...so please, take 15 minutes and either gut the mesh out from underneath the length of the T8 UVB tube, or simply poke 4 tiny holes in the mesh lid (you can't even see them once you poke them in the mesh, it almost self-seals) and use twine, wire, string, large plastic zip ties, shoelaces, etc. to strap the entire tube fixture to the underside of the mesh. Please, it doesn't matter at this point whether you're moving him into his new enclosure next month, next week, or in a day or two, he's gotten no adequate UVB light at all up until this point and this can and does end very badly on a regular basis for dragon owners, even after they put them under a very strong T5 UVB tube immediately after finding out that the mesh has prevented any proper UVb light from getting to their dragon....