My family just adopted our first bearded dragon yesterday. She is an adult rescue from a rescue group near me. When we went to pick her up, she seemed fine. She was basking and she was moving her head around to look at us and when we took her out to hold her she seemed totally fine. Once we got home, I noticed that one of her eyes is darker than the other and that she closes it sometimes. It also seems like she cannot see out of this eye, as she seems to turn her head to look at things with her "good" eye. I read online that it can be because of parasites or trauma. I emailed the rescue to ask if she had been to the vet and tested for parasites and it turns out that she has not. My vet cannot see her for almost 2 weeks, and I'm really worried about parasites because I have two children who already love her and want to hold her (they always wash their hands very well after). Does this sound like parasites or could it be something else? I'm just looking for peace of mind until I can get her to the vet. Is there anything I can do for this in the meantime? She is still basking and she ate her salad this morning. Thanks in advance!
Ita good to wait a month or so anyways to get a fecal test after getting a new dragon. The stress of a new environment often elevates normal parasite counts into higher ranges that would need to be treated. Almost like a false positive of sorts. A healthy immune system will keep parasite counts low enough to not be a real issue, but stress causes these numbers to rise. Most dragons will have some type of parasite in them but it's usually not symptomatic.
Can you maybe post a picture of her and her eye for us to see? Could it be cataracts?
If it looks irritated you can use a saline solution on it to help flush it a few times a day.
Ita good to wait a month or so anyways to get a fecal test after getting a new dragon. The stress of a new environment often elevates normal parasite counts into higher ranges that would need to be treated. Almost like a false positive of sorts. A healthy immune system will keep parasite counts low enough to not be a real issue, but stress causes these numbers to rise. Most dragons will have some type of parasite in them but it's usually not symptomatic.
Can you maybe post a picture of her and her eye for us to see? Could it be cataracts?
If it looks irritated you can use a saline solution on it to help flush it a few times a day.
Her eye definitely seems to be bothering her then if shes bulging out on it. Do you know any of her history, such as how she was cared for at the shelter and before?
I'm not as familiar with cataracts in beardies as some others might be. Tracie would be able to give you a better idea on what exactly might be the issue. She should be on later tonight.
But in the mean time, you can try the sterile saline solution I mentioned. It might help flush anything out that could be in there. Or at the least hopefully provide her some temporary relief.
I would call the rescue and see if they are willing to pay for her eye to get checked.