Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My turtle is having some type of eye problem. For the past couple of days she had seemed to be keeping it closed quite a bit, and now it's starting to look red and a bit puffy.

Any thoughts or advice?

Most eye troubles are caused by dry habitat. In other words, no humidity is provided. Often eye troubles resolve once mositure at the level of the turtle is corrected: I.e., substrate/bedding is moist and warm. This can be accomplished by providing a substrate that holds moisture and ensuring the habitat has at least one are of warmth. My thought would be to look at the substrate the turtle is being kept on, humidity levels within the enclosure, heat elements (too much heat universally is a problem as well) and ascertain if that resolves the problem.

Dusty condition can also result in eye troubles, however this will also go back to dry conditions. No meantion is made of the ssp. of box turtle in question, therefore I will mention, thats humidity is just as important to the ornate box turtle as it is for any other North American Box turtle.

Infection of the eye can occur, but it is far less predominate than dry conditions as the causal factor.