one of our dragons has been keeping one of his eyes shut. he does open it occassionally but seems he cant keep it open for that long like he has something in his eye. we have inspected the eye under magnifying glass but cant see anything unusual.we bathed the eye with warm salt water and a cotton bud, after which he did seem to open his eye for approx 20mins, this is the longest time in couple of days. any advice what it could be and what to do it would be greatly appreciated. thanks.
What type of substrate are you using for him, sand, tiles, carpet?
What type of UVB light are you using, a flourescent tube bulb or a compact or coil light?
You can also use just plain saline eye drops or turtle eye wash/drops to help the eye for around 7-10 days. Can you post a picture of the eye, is it swollen?
we are using bird calcium sand, we have got a flurestant light 10.0. His eye itself doesnt look swollen but his lower eye lid looks like it sticks out a bit more than normal.
Hi...Is his eye any better?
How old & how long is he?
You said he is on calcium sand...that needs to be removed. It is dangerous cause when they catch crickets or lick the calcium, they ingest sand and get impacted. For now, just use newspapers or paper towels. Many of us now use textured ceramic or slate tiles. I got mine from a discount flooring store. They look good and are easy to keep clean. Plus they don't harbor bacteria, coccidia, parasites, etc.
You said you are using a 10 UVB. We need to know if it is a ReptiSun or ReptiGlo
Also is it a coil or a tube? How old is it?
How close can he get to his UVB?
Good luck
Patsy
i had the same problem with my beardy a couple weeks ago! his eye was closed all the time and would barely open it, i would wipe it with a warm rag then he would open it for a little but then close it! I talked to a friend at the pet store and they told me about Terramyicin its an eye antibotic ointment you apply 4 times a day after wiping with a warm rag, and now his eyes is totally fine!
If you are using the Reptiglo 10 flourescent tube UVB & it is closer than 8 inches then it could be causing alot of trouble. Also, are you using a bright white basking light along with that UVB light?
You can get some saline solution eye wash or turtle eye wash/drops to help with the eyes. Do get him put on a solid substrate which will cut down on the dust in his tank.