Urgent Care :: Memphis' Red-eye

[MrCHUPON]

EDIT: Got a pic after the eye drops.

Hey folks,

Not sure how urgent of a situation this is but we want to play it safe.

We just discovered that Memphis had a swollen red eyelid recently. After a brief Google, we gave him two drops of plain-Jane eye drops from Duane Reade. The swelling seems to have cut back dramatically, but the eyelid is still red/pinkish when he blinks, and when he blinks that eye, sometimes it's a rapid few blinks in succession.

Otherwise, he has not changed his behavior:

- eats as voraciously as he always did
- does not rub or scratch at it or keep the eye closed for prolonged periods of time
- still somewhat social. He is a bit more scared than normal but he's been that way ever since he escaped and found his way under a pile of luggage a few weeks ago

He and Nash have been doing the "territorial" dance so we suspect that as they were fluttering their front claws, Nash may have scraped Memphis. Memphis has also been trying to shove his head between the edge of the basking platform and the tank edge from time to time and maybe he scratched his eye on the basking platform. We're honestly not sure. We've read elsewhere to provide him a source of Vitamin A, and on this very forum Steve mentioned to apply cod liver oil directly into his eye, which we will do as soon as we can.

In the meantime, we are trying to see about making a herp vet appointment before we leave for a trip on Thursday (so, very little time to go). Until then, any insight would be much appreciated.

This is what it looked like before the eyedrops:


This is what it looked like after the eyedrops:


Other vitals - Memphis and Nash's history here: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=32414

How big is your turtle? 4"
How long have you had it? 3 years

What is the water temperature? Unknown - warm
Did you use a thermometer? No. We have one on order for their new habitat.
Are you using a water heater? No. We have one on order for their new habitat.
How much water is in there? 3.5 gallons. Not ideal but we just got them a large new habitat so this will be rectified.
Are you using a water conditioner? API Tap Water Conditioner for chlorine and heavy metals.
Are you using any filtration? No. We change their water 4 times a week on average. We have one on order for their new habitat.

What is the basking temperature? Unknown - warm
Is there a basking light? Yes; incandescent reptile basking bulb, 75w
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? Yes
What kind is it or what is it made out of? Whatever the Zoo Med turtle docks are made of. Feels like solid floating foam.
Is there a UVB light? Yes--ReptiSun 5.0. We've had it for at least a month now.

What have you been trying to feed it? Pellets, red leaf lettuce, dried shrimp treats for turtles once a week (servings are very small) as a treat.
When was the last time your turtle ate? About an hour ago.

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 5.5g for now. We just paid for a new habitat so that will also be rectified (multiple times over).
Is the tank near a window? No, though a window is in their line of sight and they can see the sun rise.
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? They're in the living room. 95% of the time it's just the two boys, and then me and my girlfriend watching TV. They're more active than we are.

Have you read the Basic Care section? Yes.
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? Yep. Took some of those measures, will take some others; wondering if there are any different ideas since Memphis doesn't seem quite as bothered by this as other turtles in similar conditions.

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms? None that we can tell.

[steve]

Cod liver oil can help with a Vitamin A deficiency, however it usually applies to hatchlings and smaller turtles. It won't hurt to try if you have it on hand. I'd also turn off the UVB just to reduce any chance of irritation.

Memphis appears to be a female, so she would be targeted aggressively. Separation seems like the only solution right now.

[MrCHUPON]

Thanks for the confirmation, Steve. At least we're now prepared to fashion some sort of nesting area for when Memphis gets older and bigger!

So we've applied eyedrops every night since we first saw the issue. On Tuesday, we applied some cod liver oil.

As of when I left the bo- er, sorry, girls--with my friend who's turtle-sitting during our vacation, Memphis' eye looked a bit better. It's been slightly improving every night so we're hoping that it was a physical irritation as opposed to an infection. We contacted a herp vet and, though we couldn't book an appointment since we're leaving, they confirmed the advice we found here--use eyedrops and try cod liver oil, and if Memphis' behavior hasn't changed at all and she's still eating etc., then theoretically there shouldn't be too much cause for alarm; just keep monitoring and administering eyedrops.

[steve]

Thanks for the update. Please keep us up to date!

[MrCHUPON]

The bad news is, the Hawaii trip has ended. The good news is that Memphis' eye is completely healed. Our friend applied the eyedrops once per day for a few days, then noticed that it no longer looked red and puffy, and stopped. Ever since then, Memphis has looked fine and so far, no re-occurrence. We've also upgraded them to a 40 gallon tank (right now that's all that fits in my girlfriend's apartment but at least, for the time being, it's much, much better than the tiny one). So hopefully there will be less accidental scraping of eyelids by rogue turtle claws. They seem to be hanging around each other more, following each others' swimming patterns, now that they have more space.

[steve]

Glad to hear it, thanks for the update.