Urgent Care :: BABY RES EYE INJURY? ITS DISGUSTING

[Euph]

Okay so i came home... I checked up on my baby red and its eye was bleeding? I dont even know if he stay has an eye but it looked disgusting i was going to just vomit there. It's a serious injury and he's probably in a lot of pain... Theres blood around the basking dock and i dont know what to do! There are no vets for reptilians near me at all. What do i do?!?!

[adbritta]

Get him out of the water and very, very gently, rinse him off. You need to see the extent of the injury. Once you do that, you need to put him in a box with a towel. If it's just the area that's around his eye, put some antibacterial cream on it, like neosporin. If the eye itself is damaged, I'm not sure what you can really do other than to keep it clean. Make sure you keep the skin around it clean and treated with cream, so that the risk of infection is lower. He needs to be out of the water for awhile, so make sure the box is warm (you can use water bottles that have been heated up), but try to keep one end of the box cooler, so that he can get away from the heat if he wants to. Make sure he can't climb out of the box, but remember to poke air holes for him. Put the box somewhere quiet, because he doesn't need any more stress than he's already experiencing. Then, you need to take everything out of his tank and clean it well before re-filling it with water. You're going to want to turn the water heater up to around 80 or 82 degrees Fahrenheit, and make sure the basking area is around 90, because staying warmer will help him heal faster. What is he basking on? What else is in his tank? It sounds like he ran into a sharp edge and damaged his eye. Do not put anything in the tank that is jagged, like rocks or pieces of wood. If your basking area is sharp, you'll need to replace it. You can buy one from the pet store, or use household materials to make one. There are suggestions for making them in the indoor habitat forum.

He's going to have to go back into the water to eat and bask, but just keep him in the box for at least the next several hours. I worry about shock with the injury and then the quiet of the box but then being picked up and put into water. In the mean time, try to find a plastic container (or a paint pan can work) where you can put some water in one end of it. If you need to just use a bowl for him to get in the water to eat, that's okay, but make sure that in whatever container you use, the water isn't too deep for him to hold his head out of it.

Hopefully some more experienced people will see this soon and have some more suggestions. For now, the priority is to get him rinsed off, get some antibacterial cream around his eye (but not IN his eye), get him into a comfortable box, and then get his tank clean and remove anything he can get hurt on so that when he returns to his tank, he doesn't get injured again.

[steve]

I would follow adbritta's directions. Check local zoos, universities, enthusiast groups for any one who might be able to help.

[Euph]

Get him out of the water and very, very gently, rinse him off. You need to see the extent of the injury. Once you do that, you need to put him in a box with a towel. If it's just the area that's around his eye, put some antibacterial cream on it, like neosporin. If the eye itself is damaged, I'm not sure what you can really do other than to keep it clean. Make sure you keep the skin around it clean and treated with cream, so that the risk of infection is lower. He needs to be out of the water for awhile, so make sure the box is warm (you can use water bottles that have been heated up), but try to keep one end of the box cooler, so that he can get away from the heat if he wants to. Make sure he can't climb out of the box, but remember to poke air holes for him. Put the box somewhere quiet, because he doesn't need any more stress than he's already experiencing. Then, you need to take everything out of his tank and clean it well before re-filling it with water. You're going to want to turn the water heater up to around 80 or 82 degrees Fahrenheit, and make sure the basking area is around 90, because staying warmer will help him heal faster. What is he basking on? What else is in his tank? It sounds like he ran into a sharp edge and damaged his eye. Do not put anything in the tank that is jagged, like rocks or pieces of wood. If your basking area is sharp, you'll need to replace it. You can buy one from the pet store, or use household materials to make one. There are suggestions for making them in the indoor habitat forum.

He's going to have to go back into the water to eat and bask, but just keep him in the box for at least the next several hours. I worry about shock with the injury and then the quiet of the box but then being picked up and put into water. In the mean time, try to find a plastic container (or a paint pan can work) where you can put some water in one end of it. If you need to just use a bowl for him to get in the water to eat, that's okay, but make sure that in whatever container you use, the water isn't too deep for him to hold his head out of it.

Hopefully some more experienced people will see this soon and have some more suggestions. For now, the priority is to get him rinsed off, get some antibacterial cream around his eye (but not IN his eye), get him into a comfortable box, and then get his tank clean and remove anything he can get hurt on so that when he returns to his tank, he doesn't get injured again.

Alright so I rinsed him off and put him in this plastic container with no water and i placed him under a lamp in the hottest room we have and going to let him dry off completely. I don't have that antibacterial cream and its a baby, i don't think applying it would be uhh do-able.

In a few hours ill elevate the container so he can have a place to go into some water if he wants and i pointed the lamp to one corner of the container. I'll make sure he can't get out.

I hope he doesn't flip over but i think babies can easily flip themselves back up even in a dry environment?

Thank you both for replying.

[steve]

They can still flip over, but there's less danger in it. You obviously don't want it to happen for an extended period of time.

[devilduck]

Make sure they can get away from the heat lamp if they need to cool off. Hopefully it will dry off and scab over in the next few days.