Reptile & Amphibian Forums

All f of my hatchlings had swollen shut eyes. The were greyish blue. I put eye drops in for a few days and now 4 are fine. What caused it? What is it called?

Swollen eyes are most often caused by Vitamin A deficiency. This can be corrected with a proper diet in older turtles. Hatchlings tend to be picky eaters, prefering mostly live food. Using eye drops with Vitamin A once a week can be used as a preventative until they begin eating fruits and veggies. Carrots are high in Vitamin A and my older turtles love them. My hatchlings are not interested yet. I dust the worms they eat with vitamin powder but still occasionally have to use the drops.

>>Swollen eyes are most often caused by Vitamin A deficiency. This can be corrected with a proper diet in older turtles. Hatchlings tend to be picky eaters, prefering mostly live food. Using eye drops with Vitamin A once a week can be used as a preventative until they begin eating fruits and veggies. Carrots are high in Vitamin A and my older turtles love them. My hatchlings are not interested yet. I dust the worms they eat with vitamin powder but still occasionally have to use the drops.

That is true. Swollen closed eyes can also be caused by a lack of humidity. Check to make sure they have enough humidity. If that isn't the problem & if you can't get the eyes open by using foods high in vitamin A, then a vet visit is in order.
When this is caused by a lack of vitamin A then the problem can eventually lead to pneumonia.
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PHRatz

Swollen eyes can simply be the result of insufficient humidity. Vitamin A deficiency is not always the culprit, or even the sole cause, even though it is a popular diagnosis.
I've also found that if the substrate is allowed to dry, fine particles can get in the turtles' eyes and irritate them. This can be avoided by making sure the substrate is kept moist.

Always keep in mind that Eastern Box turtles are creatures of a VERY humid environment, which is very difiicult to replicate indoors during heating season. Even my eyes and throat get scratchy during heating season...

Phishnuts you live in south jersey? Why not consider giving some of you turts to a zoo, or like you said a rehabber. Box turtles are already in rough shape in south jersey with the constant building of new homes and developments. If you look at from a risk reward perspective it isn't worth releasing a few. For instance releasing say 5 boxies into the wild probably won't affect the future of a local boxie population all that much, for the GOOD. Of the five you release there is no guarentee they will survive long enough to reproduce. Especially since they haven't been in the wild all that long. On the other hand just one boxie could spread disease throughout a population, wiping it out completely. You see it simply isn't worth the reward. I respect your thoughts of trying to help a declining species out. And if your the person I'm thinking of your trying to get your life back together and trying to do as much good as possible, that is admirable. Try calling a state organization of some sort to see how you can help. I wish i had a number to give but unfortunately i don't, hopefully someone does on this site. Good luck