swelling of the eye

[pitosdad]

Hello all, this is my first post and unfortunately it's not under good terms. My dragon Mr. Pito, has something wrong with his left eye. About 2 weeks ago I noticed he wasn't opening his eye and there was a little swelling around the top and bottom of his eye, and when he did open it, it looked like he was looking down and had to kind of force it to focus. I took him to his vet and the Doc. couldn't tell what was wrong except maybe a cataract and to just keep an eye on it. Well now it looks as if the skin around his eye is a slight "red-ish" color....sorta, it's off colored lets say. I tried to open his eye and get a look at what's going on but we all know how that goes with dragons!!! So I guess my question is, has anyone here had this sort of thing happen before? And, can someone recommend a good dragon doctor in southern Orange County CA.? Thank you for any advice or input!!!

 

[miggie778899]

Swelling of the eye with red around it sounds unique to me. I have seen pictures on google images of swelling on the eyes and or eye. Your Bearded Dragon may be allergic to something your feeding him. Other then that it could be an infection.

I hope your beardie is ok.

 

[pitosdad]

Thank you for the reply. I have not been able to find any info of this nature online at all. He is almost 4 years old and has had the same tank set up for about 3 years now. Can dragons become allergic to something they've been around for years?

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, sorry to hear about Pito's eye ! Is he kept on loose substrate by chance, like sand or crushed walnut ? If so, that would be the culprit + would need to be removed. Also, have you changed his lighting recently ? Any sharp edges he could have hurt himself on ?

 

[pitosdad]

His sub is alfalfa pellets and there are some rough edges he could of possible scratched his eye on and I haven't changed his lighting, but I do need to change his uvb in a couple months. I'm going to try and get a good pic of his eye and post it after work tonight.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

A picture would be helpful.
Normally they shouldn't become allergic to their surroundings like that.
He likely has some type of infection in his eye from dirt/debris, or from scratching it possibly.
I would change the alfalfa substrate out & use paper towels or non adhesive shelf liner instead. It is cleaner & doesn't harbor bacteria & dust.
You can get some sterile saline solution to use in his eye daily to see if that helps out for him.
Which UVB are you using right now?

Tracie

 

[pitosdad]

I took a pic last night, it's not the greatest but you can see the discoloring above his eye. I have an appointment with a Dr. Greek in Yorba Linda tomorrow morning to see if he can figure it out.

 

[pitosdad]

Well I took him to the vet and it turns out the discoloration and swelling seemed to come from a slight burn, so Dr. Greek gave me some ointment to apply. I'm not sure how he would of burned himself, but as a safety precaution I checked his heat sources and lifted his lights a couple of inches. The swelling and pinkness has started to go down so I'm sure that will heal, but he does have a cataract