What do you guys think it might be?

[DaveW]

I just noticed this morning that Leonidas has been keeping his left eye closed and has what appears to be a black eye. I was wondering if you guys might be able to confirm what the issue is and if I will need to take him to a vet.

Currently he has be exhibiting normal behavior eating properly and does not appear to be lethargic at all. I have seen him open his eye from time to time and it looks fine. I have researched around and a lot of people seem to think it has something to do with the lighting. I however disagree. I have a reptisun 10.0 bulb (which from my understanding is one of the best ones to get) with a basking light for a setup. The temperature stays around 105F in his tank. I am wondering if he just maybe hit the side of the tank by accident or something as I have seen him frequently jumping towards the sides of the tank. I recently put up a desert background for him so I think he might be trying to jump into the background or something. Any response would be greatly appreciated.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Eye bulgeing,
Just getting ready to shed his head.
Perfectly normal

 

[kariann]

I just noticed this morning that Leonidas has been keeping his left eye closed

If your beardie is keeping his eye closed, I'd be more concerned about an injury/foreign body irritant rather than eye buldging. I would recommend a trip to the vet ASAP to fiqure it out. Eye problems can progress rapidily and vision is a very important sense to dragons. If you absolutely can't get to the vet right away, you may try flushing Leonidas' eye with saline eye flush solution purchased at a pharmacy/retail center.

Hope this helps!

 

[DaveW]

Kariann

I don't think its an eye problem though because 1) He will open his left eye from time to time 2) When his left eye is open it looks normal just like his other one. You are right however about taking a trip to the vet. The nearest one is about an hour away from me so I am going to give it a little bit more time and see if it gets progressively worse (i.e more swelling etc..). While I am very concerned I don't want to overreact. As far as administering the saline solution I am not quite sure how you would go about doing that or even if its necessary since it does not seem to be an eye infection. Then again I am not a vet so I can't really say if it is or not.

 

[DaveW]

Just wondering if anyone else had any thoughts? If not i might just play it safe and take him to a vet.