Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am sitting my friend's reptiles while he is away. I noticed a couple of days ago one of his adult female breeder bds was sick. She has a gooey discharge from her eyes. It dries up and seals her eyes shut. Her eyes are also swollen it seems. I started feeding her some carrot baby food mixed with calcium from a syringe. I have also been soaking her in warm baths to keep her hydrated. Anybody have any idea on what could be happening? Thanks.

It looks like an eye infection of some sort. You may want to contact your friend as this dragon needs to see a vet asap. As to what caused the problem in the first place, there are many possible causes, depending on exactly what is wrong with the eye.

Does your friend use a compact UVB bulb in the cage? this can cause some eye problems, but from what you describe I doubt this is the problem, whether she uses the compact UVB bulbs or not. Any eye discharging fluid/pus is a very good indication of infection, either of the eye, eye socket, tear duct or lids and this needs to be brought to a vet to diagnose and treat.

If your friend hasn't left instructions for you on what to do in an emergency, contact your friend, find out if he's willing to pay or reimburse you the vet costs if you take the dragon in asap. If not and its going to be some time before your friend returns, I would still suggest bringing the dragon in to see a vet anyway. Last thing you want is for the dragon to die and your friend claims you did something to their dragon to kill it.

If it was me personally, I would treat the dragon and if my friend came back and refused to reimburse me for the vet bills, I will just keep the dragon till they do. I will however, tell them this on the phone, so they know what to expect when they come home to find their dragon missing. Its the owner's responsibility to ensure the health of their pets, no matter what it is. If they are not willing to provide care...then I wouldn't let it suffer till they got back and continue to suffer afterwards.
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PHLdyPayne

She was being kept outdoors in full natural sun so I don't think it is a UV thing. No exposure to black lights or anything like that. I moved her to my house to better control her temps in a 30 gal aquarium. The area right under the heat lamp is getting around 110-120F. The discharge doesn't look like reptile pus but more like human snot (sorry, couldn't think of a better description) clear and very viscous.

I will recommend a trip to the vet and see what my friend says. Thanks for the advise.

You might use some artificial tears for now,it might help with discomfort. No doubt a vet will prescribe an anti-biotic ointment. Just wanted to mention that the basking temp. in your 30-gal. may be a bit high,that small size tank may not allow for enough of a temp. gradient....about 80 on the cool side. Tell your friend that it's imperative that she see a vet.It's good that you care enough to try to help her....let us know what happens.

Thanks for the post. She seemed to be doing better this am before I left for work. This afternoon I figured I would throw a superworm in for the heck of it. Surprisingly, she ate. On Fri when I started caring for her she was lethargic and wasn't eating at all so this is a drastic improvement. I gave her some more mealworms, a pinky mouse and some leafy greens. She ate all the live food but only nibbled on the greens. Hopefully tomorrow she will eat more veggies.

I don't think the temps are too high because she is always on the hot side of the cage. The 110-120F temps are directly under the hot spot on a flat stone. She can get under the stone or go to the cold side of the cage if she wants. She is not showing any signs of heat stress (mouth kept open to cool off).

Thanks again!

Is it currently limited to one eye or both?

Eye issues are the toughest things to diagnose in reptiles. Eye dischage may not be related to the eyes at all but is often a symptom of a systemic illness. Are there any other symptoms. Breathing noise, swelling?

I don't post much here, but this reminds me of a case I saw not too long ago. The BD I saw had gotten sand in his eye, and I was able to flush it out with saline. Here's a link to the article I wrote about it:
http://olatheanimalhospital.com/1150/bearded-dragon-eye-irritation-due-to-sand/

Definitely needs to see a vet.
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