Possible Eye Infection

[ScottSB52]

Hi Everyone,

Recently, my 8-month-old bearded dragon, Tuco, seems to be developing an eye infection. His eyes have a cloudy white discharge forming at the bottom of the eyelid, and when I get home from work, one or both of the eyes are crusted shut. Tuco is also usually at the bottom of the cage and somewhat lethargic. His appetite has also been markedly decreased the past week. He is currently about 13-14 inches and 155 grams.

If I use some artificial tear eyedrops to wash the eyes, they typically open within 2-3 minutes, and he gradually gets back to his typical alert, energetic, and explorative self, but that only lasts for a few hours.

Husbandry Notes:

- He's got a T5 Reptisun 10.0 tube UV light mounted above the screen of his tank. He can lift himself about ~6-7 inches from the screen from his basking platform.

- He is on tile - no sand or other loose substrates

- Temps are 103 - 106 under his basking light, and ~80 on the cool side of the tank.

- He was just treated with a round of panacure for pinworms. His third and final treatment was this past Sunday.


I have put a call in to my vet, but I wanted to see if anyone here has any ideas of what this could be and what I could do to make him more comfortable. He is clearly not happy and his normal self, and I just want to make him more comfortable so he can continue to grow.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, not sure what might have caused it but prolonged use of anti parasitic meds. can weaken the immune system. Did he have a trip to the vet when it was cold pout by chance ? And then again we can all catch things in a Dr.'s office.

For my beardie's eye infection I used raw unpasteurized honey diluted about 1 part honey to 2-3 parts water [ warm the water VERY slightly ] and dabbed in the eye 2-3 X a day. Cleared up a swollen eye with a discharge in a few days.

 

[ScottSB52]

Thank you for your reply!

He went to the vet about a month ago in the cold, yes, but he had two handwarmers in his carrier so he should have been somewhat comfortable at least.

I will try the honey - is unpasteurized honey widely available?

 

[AHBD]

Yes, any health food store, many will even have local honey from beekeepers.

 

[CooperDragon]

I can even get jars of local raw honey at the regular grocery store here.