My bearded dragon’s eye is slightly cloudy

[emobeardie]

Hello,
This morning I noticed my bearded dragons left eye looks cloudy. I attached a photo of its current state. I feel like it may be an injury as if you look closely there’s a shape to the cloudiness.

He’s almost 5 now, his tank is 40 gallons, UVB is Repti-Sun 10.0, 100w UVA, and his appetite still seems normal. He also just pooped today and his stool looks normal. Saw other discussions about applying sterile saline without preservatives on the eye, or is this is cause to take him to the vets? I would appreciate any suggestions

 

[KarrieRee]

Please tell me if this a coil or a tube ? Where in the tank is the UVB?

 

[emobeardie]

Please tell me if this a coil or a tube ? Where in the tank is the UVB?

Its tube, and sitting right on top of the screen of his tank

 

[emobeardie]

Here’s a better look at it

 

[KarrieRee]

Its tube, and sitting right on top of the screen of his tank

Is it a Reptisun 10.0 T 5 or a T 8 --- these UVB's have certain distances and placement depending on the screen --- we have had cloudy eyes on here before most caused by improper UVB and basking bulbs and substrate - thats why all the questions --

 

[emobeardie]

Is it a Reptisun 10.0 T 5 or a T 8 --- these UVB's have certain distances and placement depending on the screen --- we have had cloudy eyes on here before most caused by improper UVB and basking bulbs and substrate - thats why all the questions --

I believe it’s T8

 

[KarrieRee]

I believe it’s T8

Ok so please check --- how old is the T 8? If its a T 8 please move the T 8 so its NO cover on the fixture it self NO screen between the bulb and the basking decor -- it needs to be either in the tank or take your screen off distance directly over the basking decor 6-8 inches --- the screen is blocking 30% of the rays --- also it needs to be not more than 6 months old or older - I recommend changing them out at 5 months -- watch and see if the eye starts to clear up --- basking bulb needs to be a solid clear bright white bulb example a Exo Terra Intense or a Zoo Med Repti basking - any solid bright white bulb that keeps your temps -- NO daytime bulbs they have a neodymium coating which is a rare earth mineral, decreases the CRI or Color Rendering Index which affects the overall brightness. It does this by
cutting the yellow color range out to make it appear brighter but since reptiles are very sensitive to light & can see more of the spectrum than we can it is best to use a bright white light for basking
instead.
Substrate your using is ??? NO loose substrate please
If any of these need changing please so then watch what his eye does

 

[emobeardie]

Ok so please check --- how old is the T 8? If its a T 8 please move the T 8 so its NO cover on the fixture it self NO screen between the bulb and the basking decor -- it needs to be either in the tank or take your screen off distance directly over the basking decor 6-8 inches --- the screen is blocking 30% of the rays --- also it needs to be not more than 6 months old or older - I recommend changing them out at 5 months -- watch and see if the eye starts to clear up --- basking bulb needs to be a solid clear bright white bulb example a Exo Terra Intense or a Zoo Med Repti basking - any solid bright white bulb that keeps your temps -- NO daytime bulbs they have a neodymium coating which is a rare earth mineral, decreases the CRI or Color Rendering Index which affects the overall brightness. It does this by
cutting the yellow color range out to make it appear brighter but since reptiles are very sensitive to light & can see more of the spectrum than we can it is best to use a bright white light for basking
instead.
Substrate your using is ??? NO loose substrate please
If any of these need changing please so then watch what his eye does

Got it, I believe the UVB may need to be changed, i’ll go ahead and change it. Should i still go ahead and put saline on his eye just in case ? He’s closing his eye like hes showing discomfort.
His substrate isn’t loose, he has tile flooring

 

[KarrieRee]

Got it, I believe the UVB may need to be changed, i’ll go ahead and change it. Should i still go ahead and put saline on his eye just in case ? He’s closing his eye like hes showing discomfort.
His substrate isn’t loose, he has tile flooring

Ok so you can use the saline for him and we have now ruled out the substrate -- what about the basking bulb? what are you using ?

 

[emobeardie]

Ok so you can use the saline for him and we have now ruled out the substrate -- what about the basking bulb? what are you using ?

Basking bulb is zoo med 100w

 

[KarrieRee]

Basking bulb is zoo med 100w

thats good too as long as its not a daytime bulb -- get your UVB straightened out and then let us know I may need to enlist some more help here if it doesnt fix it

 

[emobeardie]

thats good too as long as its not a daytime bulb -- get your UVB straightened out and then let us know I may need to enlist some more help here if it doesnt fix it

For sure, thanks for the advice! Ill keep you updated

 

[emobeardie]

It’s been a few weeks since I noticed my beardie’s eye is cloudy and it’s only gotten worse ): i changed his uvb but there was no improvement. I took him to the vets and they say it looks like some kind of cataract, but they would send some antibiotics in case its an infection. Looked at his eye today and it’s definitely clouded a lot more. I keep trying to research any other dragons that have had the same issue, but i can’t find anything. It noticed the pupil is a little disfigured too. It makes me sad knowing he probably can’t see from that eye, and im feeling a lot of guilt

 

[KarrieRee]

It’s been a few weeks since I noticed my beardie’s eye is cloudy and it’s only gotten worse ): i changed his uvb but there was no improvement. I took him to the vets and they say it looks like some kind of cataract, but they would send some antibiotics in case its an infection. Looked at his eye today and it’s definitely clouded a lot more. I keep trying to research any other dragons that have had the same issue, but i can’t find anything. It noticed the pupil is a little disfigured too. It makes me sad knowing he probably can’t see from that eye, and im feeling a lot of guilt
View attachment 69909

@Drache613
What bulb did you get for the uvb? Where did you place it? Top of screen or inside the tank?

 

[emobeardie]

@Drache613
What bulb did you get for the uvb? Where did you place it? Top of screen or inside the tank?

The usual reptisun T8 10.0, and i put it inside the tank