My bearded dragon's right eye is not opening

[MaxDpRead]

Beardie's about 9 months old, he has a large vivarium, about 100F on the basking spot and 80 in the cooler side. I have a Bar UV lamp and a 100 Watt basking bulb. He's not shown any other abnormal behavior apart from his preference to cooler side of the viv. I feed him about 7-8 medium sized crickets every day and fresh greens. I calcium dust the crickets and food. I don't provide him with vitamin D supplements, I just use the bulb.

He keeps closing his right eye and so I haven't been able to get a good look at it, any suggestions as to what the problem is and how it can be solved?

I'm sorry if this isn't urgent enough for the E.R topic but I have no idea whether this is a symptom of an illness that requires immediate intervention and so I thought I should

Thank you - Max

 

[VerriKerri]

Hello,
Sorry to hear your dragon isn't doing so well. What type of UVB bulb are you using? I see that you said it is a bar kind but do you know what brand it is? Also, what type of substrate do you have your beardie on? How long have you had your beardie for?

 

[Esther19]

Do you have any saline solution (not all-in-one contact lens solution) that you could wash his eye with? Any kind of loose substrate (sand, wood chips, etc.) can get in his eye. You can use paper towels if you have loose substrate until you can find something more permanent if you wish.

It would be good for us to know what brand of UVB you have.
Also, what type of thermometer are you using?

 

[MaxDpRead]

I've been using a Repti-glow/sun for about a month, before that I think I was using an arcadia. I've used sand since he was about 2 months old until now, 9 months. I'm using a Komodo thermostat hooked up to a ceramic bulb.

 

[MaxDpRead]

Okay so as far as I know he has been sleeping/ has had both of his eyes closed all day,he's extremely unresponsive to food or my hand. He hasn't excreted for at least 3 days even after I've given him to baths. I now believe this to be urgent a reply ASAP would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

 

[MaxDpRead]

He keeps slowly closing his eye lids until they're closed then opening, then closing until they're fully closed. When he does become energetic his eyes open wide and he becomes responsive. Is it possible this is the result of sleep deprivation? His sleeping schedule has been drastically changed recently and these seem like relevant symptoms ?

 

[VerriKerri]

Hello again,
I don't think this is due to sleep deprivation. It is important to know if you were/are using a ReptiGlo or a ReptiSun/Arcadia. Though the two sound the same the ReptiGlo has been known to cause eye problems and this could be the reason for him closing his eyes all the time. The Komodo thermostat seems to be just a way to change the temperature of the lights not actually to measure how hot is in at the basking spot or inside the enclose. Do you have a thermometer that either sticks to the side of the tank or a digital probe thermometer?

How does he do in the bath? Does he move around or open his eyes at all? Sometimes not pooping can be a result of improper temps or it could be that he is eating the sand. You should change to paper towels asap especially if he has been eating the crickets inside his tank, this can be an impaction problem which would result in him being lethargic.

Could you post a picture at all? This might help us to see if he has something in his eyes or if he is just closing them.

 

[MaxDpRead]

I'm pretty sure it's Repti-glow. Yes have two digital probe thermometers on the cool and hot side, the basking spot is about 100F though most of the time he doesn't choose to sit in the basking spot.

In the bath he goes through series of being alert, flailing around and jumping out but then returns to his unresponsive state. He opens both his eyes for a short time then closes one or both. I didn't think an impaction problem would happen at his age, I have temporarily put paper over the sand but will use paper towels as a permanent solution in the future.

I'm not sure how to upload photos on this site I'm afraid. Would you recommend turning the repti-glow off until I get a new UV, if I'm feeding him a supplement?

 

[MaxDpRead]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/97010055@N05/8961890425/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/97010055@N05/8961884099/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/97010055@N05/8961887299/

Just the links. I hope that's okay. Luckily I have a 7 month old Arcadia UV from before I put in the Repti-glow, so that might work for a small while before I exchange the Repti.

 

[daner923]

I would actually leave him with no UVB for a few days to a week so his eye can heal. After that you can put a ReptiSun 10.0 tube or Arcadia 12% tube in.

 

[MaxDpRead]

I would actually leave him with no UVB for a few days to a week so his eye can heal. After that you can put a ReptiSun 10.0 tube or Arcadia 12% tube in.

That sounds right to me,I'll buy some kind of Vitamin D supplement tomorrow, as well as speaking with the reptile guy at Viking Aquatics

Thanks for the input, advice from anyone is welcome

 

[VerriKerri]

The changes will be good for him even if they aren't exactly the problem. I would also try what Esther19 said about the saline solution. He might have something in his eye that you can't see if it's only just the right one. Hope he gets better soon. :]