Help! Eye infection? *PIC HEAVY & LONG*

[Luv4animalz]

Hey guys,

I'm super worried about my little guy, Pepper is about 3-4 months old I'm guessing? I got him on Jan 6th (10 days ago) and have been trying to get him eating regularly and treating this eye problem he's having. I live on Vancouver Island in BC Canada and there isn't much here for reptile experts, or even reptile stores!

Little background:

I bought him from a smaller pet store here where he was housed with 2 other babies. I remember coming into the store and seeing them about a week or 2 before I bought him. I held them all, and this one fell asleep in my hand. He was so tiny and so sweet (One of the bigger of the 3 though). I put him back in the enclosure and he ran around all cute. I came back a week later and one had sold. There was this little guy, and the other one that looked almost just like him but was a little smaller than him. I couldn't quite get him yet as I was still preparing his enclosure, lights, etc. I came back another week later and he was still there, the smaller one was moved to another enclosure to put on some weight because this one was picking on him and eating all the food. This lil guy also had a nipped tail but otherwise healthy.

We took him home that night. When we got him all set up in his lil enclosure, we noticed his eye looked a little bummed out. Here are a series of pictures from the night we got him, to day 3 or 4 when it looked absolutely terrible, and then a full 24 hours after I started sterile saline drops, to today. The first 2 are his right eye, his good eye. After I did the saline drops for a few days it started looking really good, almost better. So I eased up on them a bit. Today I noticed it looking a bit swollen again so I put some saline drops in it and he closed it for about 30 seconds and then opened it. He rolled it up/back a few times and it freaked me out so I snapped a pic and got it! I'm not sure if he was just blinking and rolling his eye around because of the saline or not - it's been a few hours and I haven't seen him do it again. He's eating really well. 20-30 small crix/day (Dusted with 'Rep-Cal Calcium with Vitamin D3 Phosphorous - Free calcium powder') as well as greens/salad (No access to collard greens, mixing Chinese Cabbage (Not the best, but not terrible) and Kale) with Butternut Squash, Green Bell Peppers, and cucumber diced nice and small - eats this a few times a day.. He eats really well, he's going to the bathroom really well (2-3 in 24/hrs), seems to be getting heavier and bigger. Super active. Anyone know what this could be or have any suggestions?

(Enclosure/Heating/Lighting) 50 Gal Nat Geo enclosure with screen top and screen strip down back right corner for air ventilation, 100W Power Sun basking/ubv bulb and a red/night 75 watt bulb to boost the heat until I can afford to get new lighting:
-Planning on getting a strip under cabinet light fixture from Lowe's and a 10.0 reptisun tube bulb, and a 100W Reg Basking bulb (And perhaps a heat emitter - no light just incase I can't keep the temps above 65-70 at night, i live in canada

The 100W powersun barely gets his basking spot to 104ish in this enclosure, the warm side sits at about 90ish and the cool side 75-80. Lighting will be adjusted in about a week but I don't think his lighting is an issue. He loves his "gnarled wood" on the warm side, he's there ALL day unless he's out with me eating his crix, or getting a bath.

Anyway, I think I covered everything, let me know if you have any questions, suggestions or ideas as to what this is?



Good eye:

Day we got him

Morning of day 3 He was rubbing it on his log and trying to scratch it with his hind foot. He also lost his appetite at this point.

The next day it was looking 100X better, but there was dry skin hanging from it, he rubbed himself on his log and it fell off, i gave him a nice bath, saline drops, did a full tank clean and put him on his basking spot to dry, he seemed content and happy.

He was super happy and started eating really good, 28 crix one day and 20+ the next, dusted of course and was eating his veggies and looking hydrated.

Being Adorable, snuggling

NEW HOME!!

And this is him tonight! Was really active, ate really well again, but his eye just still doesn't look right I'm worried!

And then he rolled his eye up and back 3 or 4 times and it freaked me right out, I actually managed to get a picture of him while he was doing it! It's so scary!

But then it looked like this afterward, and he hasn't done it since.

Sorry it's so long

 

[AHBD]

Hi there.....it sounds like you've done a good job with him and he has already improved noticeably. I think his eye is going to be fine. There may have been a slight nip from a tankmate on the eyelid, I've seen that happen in hatchlings before. If you ever suspect an infection coming back, get yourself some raw honey [ from health food store or beekeeper ] and use that, but it must be unpasteurized and raw. I've used it on my own dragon's infected eye and it works in just 2-3 days. The honey is thick so you can add a bit of warm water to the honey [ about 1 part honey, 3 parts water ] and apply it with a Q-tip 2X a day. Honey can be used on any wound and is a natural antimicrobial, works better than man made creams because it makes the wound sterile and bacteria can't grow in it.

Your lighting and temps. are fine, but if you can get a ceramic heat emitter for night that's all you need to add, and get rid of the red light. But it sounds like he's doing quite well with your set up + care and his appetite is a good sign. He's a pretty leatherback

 

[Luv4animalz]

Hi there.....it sounds like you've done a good job with him and he has already improved noticeably. I think his eye is going to be fine. There may have been a slight nip from a tankmate on the eyelid, I've seen that happen in hatchlings before. If you ever suspect an infection coming back, get yourself some raw honey [ from health food store or beekeeper ] and use that, but it must be unpasteurized and raw. I've used it on my own dragon's infected eye and it works in just 2-3 days. The honey is thick so you can add a bit of warm water to the honey [ about 1 part honey, 3 parts water ] and apply it with a Q-tip 2X a day. Honey can be used on any wound and is a natural antimicrobial, works better than man made creams because it makes the wound sterile and bacteria can't grow in it.

Your lighting and temps. are fine, but if you can get a ceramic heat emitter for night that's all you need to add, and get rid of the red light. But it sounds like he's doing quite well with your set up + care and his appetite is a good sign. He's a pretty leatherback

Thank you!!! I had no idea about the Honey trick! I have this homeopathic eye drop for eye infections but I'm too scared that the ingredients bight be harmful to him so I'm not going to use it. I'll call the vet on Monday too just to follow up. The red light is going, it's only used at the moment to boost the heat a bit as the powersun doesn't quite bring the temps up to where we want them. Thank you so much!!!

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

Actually, that looks pretty good! Certainly get the vet to check him over and sign him off - but don't worry too much about the eye rolling - that's pretty normal. You just wait until he starts eye-bulging - that's REALLY grotesque!



You did a good job by the looks of him. Keep up the good work!