Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So 2 nights ago I did a 50% water change, everything normal he's eating and basking great, very healthy, UVB lighting and all the neccessities. Water temp did not change much, around 75, basking temp 87.

The next morning I find him on top of his basking spot, the shell was dry so he's been there a while. That night I find him basking(head down, looks asleep) where he probably was all day. His eyes are closed, and when he noticed me one eye opened, one did not. The closed eye did not look too swollen, but he could not open it. He went into the water, it remained shut, and he started using his arms to try to open it. It finally opened, slightly, and the eye looked very watery, and the lowen eyelid looked swollen and stretched out.

The next moring, today, he is again on his basking spot(head up, not down) , he's been basking a lot the last 2 days, and both eye are open, but the swollen eye is still very watery and the lower eyelid remains puffy.
Anyone know what to do??? Is it because of the water change?? Please Help!

Not being able to open eyes is often a symptom of nutritional problems. What does your turtle eat?
When this problem is caused by a lack of certain vitamins in the diet, if the diet is not corrected then eventually it gets to a point where they wind up with pneumonia. Since the eyes are not closed completely yet, this may still be correctable through nutrition.. if it gets worse then the thing to do is see a vet.

Never hurts to see a vet anyway. I take mine in now & then for wellness check ups & parasite testing.
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PHRatz

O yea, I didn't add that it is a Northern DBT, 1 year old, 3 inches long.

It eats mainly Reptomin, every other day since it grew to 3 inches. Lettuce is always offered, though he has never eaten any. Also, about once a month at the most a guppy, cichlid, or earthworm is given to him. The UVB light was just set up a week ago, so maybe its the vitamin D3 that its lacking, but other than that I think the diet is fine?

Also, only one eye is puffy, the other one looks completely normal. I heard that when just one eye is swollen is could be due to injury? He is housed alone..

Could the water change be responsible, because the swelling occured right after the water change?
Thanks a lot for your reply!

The diet doesn't sound bad, you could try adding some other brands of food to the diet. I don't have a DBT but I do have aquatic turtles, I vary the diet as much as I can with fresh foods & commercial foods both because IMO variety is good for them.
Mazuri makes a good aquatic turtle pellet, I also use frozen fish foods for mine such as blood worms, brine shrimp, one called emerald delight (but I thaw them out first.) I use a variety of live fish & insects as well.
This new Ectotherm brand of Turtle Yummies seem to be a good treat. I found that the other day & tried it, they seem to like it.

It could be that the one eye is injured, is there a basking area he could've bumped into? Water changing shouldn't cause an eye problem but it is possible that he has some sort of eye infection.
You've heard of "pink eye" in humans & other mammals I'm sure, well that sort of thing can happen to reptiles too. Bacterial infections can just happen because bacteria is all around us.
If it's an injury that doesn't get infected it should clear up pretty quickly but if it doesn't clear up soon I'd still see that vet.
Good luck with this, let us know what happens!
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PHRatz

The water change would not be responsible for this. Sounds like he may have some sort of an eye irritation.

As far as the diet goes loose the lettuce. I would add freeze dried or frozen krill or gamarus shrimp to the diet, fish, scallops, cocktail shrimp, earthworms and crickets. Diamond backs should have more of variety than just pellets. Also they may take some greens but try better stuff for him like chicory, dandelion greens or escarole. He may just nibble at it but generally they go for the protein first (especially juveniles).

I have eight adult diamond backs. All of them bask and will sleep under the lights with their heads out and resting on the ground. Several of them will even sleep on land if I don't wake them up to back into the water when I turn off their basking lights. All of them are in great shape.

As far as the eye it is hard to say for sure but it does sound like a irritation of some sort. (sand or something in the eye or perhaps he scratched it somewhere.) If the condition does not improve or even worsens or he stops eating I would get him right to a vet for an evalution.

Steve

Thanks for all the help guys, he's doin a lot better.

The swelling is gone and the eye looks better, but he is shedding unusually a lot near that eye. He is shedding all his skin, but just the eye looks like its shedding, but it will probably all be fine.

He is shedding his scutes, especially the middle row of scutes, but they aren't falling off in the thin transparent sheets that I have seen pictures off. These are still the same color of his shell, but the are rising up and starting to fall off in the middle. These scutes definatly should be shed off, they are small and there are scutes growing underneath from what I can see of the uncovered parts, but they have been there for a few weeks and I fear he will not shed them. There is slight pyramiding going on, and if he sheds these couple of scutes it will look a lot better.
Is it OK if I gently peel them, what will come off easily, when he is dry? The rest of the scutes that will be shed have some algae on them, are much smaller than the scutes growing underneath, and will fall off soon as well. Can I peel some of them to help him?

Thanks a lot,
Tim

Be very careful about peeling the scutes. They don't always shed them the same way as many other turtles do. Females seem to shed them more normally than the males. The males just seem to shed off more like skin.

Aquatics frequently fail to shed scutes properly without full-sun basking and natural diets. Be VERY careful in peeling off the unshed scutes and stop if you meet any resistance as this can permanently damage the delicate growing scute underneath, but yes it is possible to peel it if it is REALLY loose.

Swelling of a SINGLE eye indicates a local infection (swelling of both eyes is usually related to other systemic conditions such as respiratory disease or vitamin A defficiency). Apply triple antibiotic ointment (generic of Neosporin - don't pay for the label) regularly. It stays on underwater. You might also try boric acid ointment but triple usually works.

Thanks for the help,
I can use human eye medicine? I have some "Tobramycin Ophthalmic Solution USP" from Falcon Pharmaceuticals, for humans. Boric acid is listed as an inactive ingredient, the only active ingredient being the Tobramycin. Will this work? Better than nothing, or harmful? They are liquid drops, not goo or any thick ointment. It's all that I have.

If I can use it, any tips on application/frequency or what to do after it is applied, or do I have do drydock him for a while after application?

Thanks a lot for all the help.

Tobramycin should be effective aginst the probable gram-negative organisms that cause most (but not all) reptilian diseases. It will wash out in the water, of course, and may be of short-term action unless the animal is kept dry for awhile. Boric acid will help some,also. Drugs like Tobramycin can cause kidney damage in high injectable doses, but in a topical preparation, this would be very highly unlikely to occur.