Inflammation nictitating membrane?

[oetroc]

Hello,

I picked up a very active bearded dragon from a highly rated pet store here in Florida yesterday evening. The guys at the shop said he is ~3-4 months old. He has been eating from his veggie dish every once and a while and I fed him about 14 calcium dusted crickets, all of which he ate quite quickly. Let him roost on his basking rock for about 3 hours (temps 100-107) and then gave him a bath in some warm water. He proceeded to defecate so all is well.

Couldn't be happier with the little guy, however I've noticed that he has some odd (but infrequent) behavior: he/she, every once in a while, closes his/her eye and then proceed to close (with dificulty it seems) his/her nictitating, which appears red and inflamed. At least I'm assuming this is what is happening according to this article.

The pet store had newspaper for substrate so I'm assuming the irritation is not from any loose substrate getting caught in his eye. Other than that, he is very curious and active, constantly exploring his enclosure when not on his log or basking spot.

My setup:
-DIY 4x2x2 melamine cross fire enclosure
-newspaper substrate
-75W Halogen flood bulb
-Reptisun 10.0 24"

Should I be concerned, and if so what should I do?

Here is the little guy/gal

 

[YavannaV]

If your little guy is 3-4 months old, then he'll be eating 80-120 crickets a day. He should be fed them two to three times a day in quantities of 40 to 45 at a time. Basically, it's everything he cares to eat within a ten to fifteen minute period. Juvenile beardies are insect eating machines, luckily they slow down drastically once they're fully grown. Congratulations on your new family member.

Could you post a picture of his eye's close up? You get a free photobucket account and upload the pic there. Then copy the IMG code from there and paste it into your message here. It would help to see his eyes.

 

[oetroc]

I will try to post a close up of his eye. Also, I'm about to feed him, hope he eats more than what he did earlier today. However, the guys at the pet store said that they will initially eat less than usual due to the relocation stress. Will post after.

 

[snazzyglasses]

Dragons definitely eat less when going through relocation stress (and babies are especially susceptible to relocation stress), so I wouldn't worry! As long as he's staying hydrated he'll be fine eating less than usual while adjusting to his new home

You can try rinsing out your little guy's eye with some sterile saline solution (not the kind with contact lens chemicals in it), in case he has a piece of something in there bothering him. Theoretically it could be anything, even if he isn't on sand- a tiny piece of dust or food, getting smacked in the eye by a cagemate at the pet store, etc. The saline will also help flush out any germs that might be trying to congregate in there as well.

Is there any discharge from his eye? Excess watering is pretty normal from what I understand/have experienced, but if things start getting gooey or pus-looking it could mean an infection.

But as long as you keep his eye clean then the scratch or irritation (whatever it turns out to be) shouldn't get infected! It also might be a good idea to wash your hands before handling him (if you don't already), in case there are any germs on your hands/arms that might try to take advantage of an irritated beardie eye.
Good luck with your little guy, and congratulations!! He's super adorable by the way Hopefully that cute little eye heals up quickly and doesn't give either of you too much trouble. <3

P.S. I'd recommend putting down a towel before flushing out your dragon's eye, or doing it at the end of bathtime. Even if the dragon doesn't squirm or make a fuss, the saline gets everywhere! (Or maybe I'm just messy. That's also a possibility lol.)