Need a second opinion regarding potential eye issues

[BadCon]

Why oh why did the board delete my post....ahh

Here we go again...this time a touch shorter.

I recently received two replacement Mega Rays for ones that were flaking. I am fairly confident my male is experiencing some eye trouble as a result, but need some second oppinions. Bulbs is 14" from the top of him, with a 5500k flourescent and a 60w incandescent rounding out the lighting.
I thought maybe he was shedding, but I think his right eye is swollen...which I have never seen happen with shedding. Eyes are closed even though he is wide awake, and he has been pretty lazy the last few days which is what actually triggard this post. The bulb has been removed from the enclosure, we'll see if that helps things any. Whats interesting to note is that both of the replacments did not have any coating. They looked just like my old megarays from a year ago (100w SB). My female has two basking spots, and hence her exposure to the UV would be much less (second spot is a non-uv basking). No issues to report with her...though she is much hardier then he is. My male is a 2.5yrs old.

I will be contacting ReptileUV early tomorrow, assuming I am not just seeing things.

Link to complete album - http://s227.photobucket.com/albums/dd278/pzev/Eye%20trouble/

Note the white residue around both eyes. This is something new, only noticed it yesterday. Not sure if he is about to shed, or if something was building up around his eyes.












http://s227.photobucket.com/albums/dd278/pzev/Eye%20trouble/

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Hi badcon... I assume you already saw the megaray thread about removing your bulb and contacting John.
How are your beardies eyes doing since you removed the bulb? Do they seem to be getting better?
That's odd that your other beardie is not experiencing any problems with her replacement bulb. Have you emailed John?
Even though your female beardie is not having any issues, I would ask John if he think it is a good idea that you remove that one as well. It's definitely worth asking!
Let me know what you find out.

 

[BadCon]

My female beardie has two basking spots, and she spends much of her time under her other one (non-uv). Her exposure to the mega ray would be minimal because of this. I have already removed the bulb from my males enclosure, and we'll be waiting for any improvement on his part. If there is some, then I'll contact John about a refund, as these have already been replaced once.

I have an older mega ray from good stock, and its still viable with only 9mo use. I will be putting that one in my females enclosure in the mean time, and if my male improves I'll have to source another UV bulb...probobly a T-rex. If not, then I'll look for any potential causes other than the bulbs.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Unfortunately it does look like those lights are causing some issues. John is very good with getting back with everyone, so just shoot him an email & he will help you out immediately.
I for now, would not get a T-rex active UV heat either. There has recently been a person on here reporting he was having some trouble with his T-rex causing the same problems. Westron makes BOTH bulbs so, until this entire mess is fixed, I would not go with the T-rex, either.
The Solar Glo is a good choice at the moment, & the Zoomed Powersun would be ok, also.

So just for now, go ahead & turn off the Megarays, & give him a 5 day break from any UVB at all & just use a nice bright white basking light for him so his eyes can recover. Remember, his eyes are very sensitive right now so don't put in the old Megaray for that 5 day period, ok? It is for the best, it helps the eyes heal up so much faster than immediately putting in another UVB source.

How is his appetite doing?

Tracie

 

[BadCon]

Thank you for the reply tracie!

I was planning on reintroducing UV into the viv around Sunday, which would make about 5 days since turning off the bulb. I have the old Mega Ray, and a barely used 125w Solar Glo standing by. The solar glo was purchased about 1.5yrs ago, and I used it for about 2 weeks before replacing it with a Mega Ray (not the one I have on standby, that one is only 9mo old). I don't think their design has changed since then, so hopefully it's an ok bulb to use. If not, I can rush order something else.

As for Oscar, he has definately perked up since turning the bulb off. The last two days the bulb was on, he wouldn't bask and was sitting with closed eyes. He is now basking, and is starting to open his eyes some...so I am very relieved. His appetite is coming back too, and I made sure to give him plenty of water (laced with B vits) through a dropper. He ate about 5 supers (normal for a single sitting) and some greens, so he seems to be on the rebound. In his viv I am using a 100w halogen on a dimmer for his basking spot, and its about where it was before (105).
He'll be getting a nice warm bath tomorrow, and perhaps some waxworms as a treat. I have pretty much left him alone for the last few days as I could tell opening his eyes to watch me was stressfull, but its time to spoil him now.

I am contacting John right after this post. I am sure their excellent customer service will leave me satisfied.