Photo-kerato-conjunctivitis?

[Chelsea]

My new baby dragon I got yesterday seems to close one eye all the time, sometimes both, sometimes the opposite one. She isn't very active, either. Especially when you hold her. She is eating and she is sometimes active in her cage. My boyfriend said she was active today when I was at work. Her eyes are worrying me. She has a 10.0 Reptisun tube. I'm wondering if the breeder who sold her to me used coil lights. I don't know, I need a second opinion and how to treat it if it is. I really can't stand knowing there is something bothering her eyes without me knowing how to help.

 

[BeardedBrian]

I was worried about the same exact thing. My baby scarlet always had the same eye shut. She had just finished a shed, and I thought maybe she had a little skin or substrate in her eye (no longer using sand substrate, thank goodness). The problem corrected itself within about a day. Scarlet also had no UVB at the time when this happened, so I didn't think that was the issue. When did it start? How long before/after you got your reptisun? Has she shed? What kind of substrate? How high above the tank lid is you reptisun?

 

[Chelsea]

Well I got her two days ago so I'm not sure when it started. Her substrate is paper towel, her tank is a 20 long. I have her UVB off for now to see if her eyes fix, but so far she still keeps closing them. Her UVB is just under the tank lid inside her enclosure on an under cabinet light fixture. Yes, she shed yesterday, and I made sure to help her get the excess off from her eyes.

 

[BeardedBrian]

What type of UVB bulb are you using? Normally, when I would take scarlet out of her vivarium, her eye would open right up. Being that youve had her for 2 days, maybe its just a little relocation stress. Is she dark under her belly? Next time you feed her with feeder bugs (not sure what youre feeding), try placing one of them in front of her, on the side with the closed eye, see if maybe your beardie opens her eye, or turns her head to use her other eye. I know that because bearded dragons have eyes on the side of their head, sometimes they will close one eye so that they can focus better with the other one. Play it by ear for a few days and see how she does, and if worst comes to worst, take her to an exotics vet to get her eye maybe flushed out. Keep me informed, and hope your beardie gets better!!!

 

[TheWerewolf]

Did you peel the shed from her eye? They don't shed on their eyes, only eyelids. And if you pull the shed of it can cause damage to the scales. Maybe she is in a little pain. I think it would be best to take her to an exotics vet, so they can give eye drops or whatever may be needed. Hope this helps!

 

[Chelsea]

Lol no it was not on her actual eyeball, it was on her lids, and so I put warm water on it and used a q-tip and it slid right off. I will take her to a vet, but I also would like to know of ways to try and treat it at home first. Are there anyways I could?

 

[Chelsea]

What type of UVB bulb are you using? Normally, when I would take scarlet out of her vivarium, her eye would open right up. Being that youve had her for 2 days, maybe its just a little relocation stress. Is she dark under her belly? Next time you feed her with feeder bugs (not sure what youre feeding), try placing one of them in front of her, on the side with the closed eye, see if maybe your beardie opens her eye, or turns her head to use her other eye. I know that because bearded dragons have eyes on the side of their head, sometimes they will close one eye so that they can focus better with the other one. Play it by ear for a few days and see how she does, and if worst comes to worst, take her to an exotics vet to get her eye maybe flushed out. Keep me informed, and hope your beardie gets better!!!

I will try that feeding thing when I get home from work. She is fed roaches and crickets and she is pretty fast at chasing them. She closes her eyes more when you hold her. Sometimes just one eye. She has stress marks until you hold her, then they fade some. Her UVB is a 10.0 Reptisun tube. I have it off right now to see if that makes her eyes feel better. She is really mellow and doesn't run from me or anything and she seems to love attention which kind of worries me. She's not hyper at all so I'm scared she's sick.

 

[BeardedBrian]

Our beardies love interacting with us, so don't worry that her stress marks fade when you hang out with her, mine does the same thing. They make reptile eye drops, but I would use extreme caution. Maybe give her a nice warm bath and see of that helps. It could be your light, let's see if her eye gets better when it's off. Does her eye look swollen or irritated? When you get home, look and see if she has any discharge from here eye, like goopy eye boogers or mucous looking stuff. Check that her nostrils are clear too
It could possibly just be some sort of debris is in her eye, or maybe was in her eye and it scratched her cornea
Keep an eye on her (no pun intended haha) and fill us in!
Hope she gets better, and I hope you get some relief!y beardie finally pooped after 3 days of no poops. A nice warm bath and a belly run did the trick for her haha