Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Dakota is 7, my husbandry is very good, soaks, supplementation etc.

was fine until 3 days ago, got home from work he was shedding on his head....his one eye is VERY swollen....

i did the usual gentle removal of shed with a moist clean q tip, and normal saline drops.....increased his heat...

appetite is not good.....at all......to top it off its cooling outside so the inside temps a lower and he is slowing down.

any ideas?

thanks;

Sue mom to 7 reptiles....
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Life is what happens when you are making other plans.......

Best advice, get him to a vet. The swollen eye can be caused by too many factors to leave to guesswork. It can be anything from something irritating the eye like a grain of sand, piece of shed skin, to infection, damage to the eye, eyelid or blocked tear ducts. Abcesses in the sinus caveties or anywhere around the eye can can cause swelling. Something behind the eye can also be causing it.

Thus you see best thing to do is take it to a qualified herp vet for an examination, bloodwork and possibly x-rays, as he or she feels is necessary to determine what is wrong with your bearded dragon.
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PHLdyPayne

At very least post a picture.

Dakota lives as a single dragon.....there is NO substrate in his home......his flooring is a laminate, a smooth surface...i beleive that the irritant was shed....his nose vents were also blocked with shed...i gently worked that off with the moist q tip.

the orbit around his eye is swollen...the eye itself appears sunken in due to the swelling. before this situation the only changes were that the temps here in upstate NY have dropped dramatically at night......this is also the beginning of brumation for my guys they typically start to really slow down around now...

I soaked him yesterday and that produced a nice poop, i was hoping that might help dislodge any additional anything in his eye in addition have been using a normal saline eye drop to keep the eye moist and also in hopes of gently rinsing out any residue.

Vets are a big problem in my area , and NO ONE really specializes or has much experience in this area, my last experience with one was very unpleasant and the result was a faster death to my beloved dragon Delilah from the trauma...as well as nearly a divorce because of the cost and she died 2 days later.....

i have also put a higher wattage bulb to raise the temp a bit.

im a nurse and worked today and will be working again tommorow...so monday i can take a photo for the person that requested it.

i was able to get him to drink alittle bit of water after work today....but still no appetite.....

i realize there could be several causes....was just trying to see if anyone had any practical suggestions or has experienced a similar thing with their own dragons.

Thank You!

attached is a photo of dakota a few years ago...

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Life is what happens when you are making other plans.......

Well,you seem to be doing all that you can...I understand 100% about reluctance to take him to a vet that may cost tons of money and perhaps make things worse.What you are doing is what can reasonably be expected.Hope it is just an irritant..I think there are websites for "ask the vet" concerning reptiles...maybe someone who reads this knows the particular site.It may be associated with Reptiles magazine but I'm not sure.Hope your boy pulls through...beardies are very tough...let us know how he does.

Dr. Mader would be the first one to recommend taking your dragon to a vet. None of us are vets and even if we had swollen eyes in our dragons, there is no way to know if its the exact same thing. One could have an infection, another trauma, somebody else a tumor, the possibilities are endless.

You can just continue what you are doing now and hope it helps, there isn't any miracle home cure any of us can give you as none of us have decrees in animal medicine. Even if we did, the symptoms are still very vague and there is no way to do any tests. It is rather like trying to figure out why a person has sudden headaches....Many things can cause a headache from constipation to brain tumors.
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PHLdyPayne

Is he housed with another[that may have scratched him]Since he was shedding he may have rubbed his head against something sharp...is there sand in his cage? All possibilities...as was mentioned already,attention from a vet.It could be simple,could be difficult.Hope all goes well.

Hello,

Flukers makes a reptile-specific eye rinse;works well. Or use some clean water(distilled or pure) NO CHLORINE with eye droppers and rinse the affected area. Use pressure on the dropper to get it to shoot with a little force and do this 2x a day until it clears up. Keep up with the soaks you mentioned.

Also, you don't need to add higher wattage bulbs to increase heat. Use smaller wattage bulbs(PAR-38 45-50W Halogen Flood) and raise your basking site to the bulb.

Sounds like your using a dry set-up with no real, containable amount of moisture. With dry set-ups, I recommend 110-115 degree basking hotspots and soaks 2x week. Soil set-ups(the best for your beardie) are excellent with 120-130 basking hotspots.

Good luck

Kevin

Kevin;
THANK YOU for the HELFPUL advice..

appreciate it...

i am noticing some clear drainage from his mouth occasionally on the affected side.....the eye is looking a bit less swollen so im hoping some of the edema is draining.

my greatest concern at the moment is nutrition since he is not eating....
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Life is what happens when you are making other plans.......

Dragons have options in the wild to seek moisture when they need. To facilitate sheds, cool down, keep organs fluid. When using a dry set-up in captivity(tiles, laminates, sand, millet, etc.) you are removing their options. It is critical to make sure they are receiving good soaks 2x week, and find someway to keep some moisture in their enclosure. Sand can be kept moist every day to 2nd day, tile and other dry set-ups use large water bowls. Problem is when large water bowls are the source of cage humidity they will take up much of the useable space, and they cannot get the the cage just right. 25-50 % relative humidity is a good gradient contained in the tank. Soil set-ups can maintain this humidity with susbtrate alone. That along with many other visually positive benefits put them in a class all their own...

Kevin