Ok, i've had Buddy for about 2 months now... he's still just a baby. I have him in a 29 gallon tank with a waterfall, and a very large water dish. I have a glass top on the tank to keep in the humidity. The humidity in the tank is on average 85%, and the temp is around 83. Over the past week, i've noticed that his eyes have some mucus in them, and sometimes when he sleeps, they crust shut. When i notice this happens, i take a warm damp cloth, and hold it over his eyes until he's able to open them. I'm sure it's some sort of infection, so i asked the reptile girl at my local petstore, and she told me to get Visine, and put drops in his eyes about 3 times a day, and that would rid him of the infection. Well, i'm always skeptical about giving human treatments to animals, so i wanted to ask the help of some more knowledgeable people before i did anything. What should i do? :?
Well...before you can do anything else you need to settle some things with your husbandry The temps need to be higher, a basking spot of 95-105 should be available, with an ambient temp of around 85 and a cool end temp of 75-80. You also need a UVB light, if you do not have one of these, the eye issue could be partially related to this. Good UVB bulbs include the reptisun 5.0, 8.0 and 10.0. If you do have a UVB bulb, remove the glass top, or at least part of it, as UVB can not pass through glass. If you do not have one of these bulbs, buy one and remove the glass top so the UVB can get to your dragon. How are you supplementing and how often? It sounds as if your dragon may have some respiratory symptoms from the low temps, or possibly an infection from some other cause.... Your best bet is to get to a good exotics vet, Visine is not going to cure an infection, all it will do is flush out the eyes. Respiratory infections get severe very quickly, and travel all along the respiratory system (eyes, nose, trachea, lungs) very quickly as well. A good exotics vet will be able to determine the cause of the infection, discuss proper husbandry and prescribe proper antibiotics and supportive care Good luck!
I agree with the above. Visine could only be treating the symptoms (if it even worked), not the illness, which could progressively worsen very easily. Find a good herp vet!
my thermometer is in my cooler end, so i'm sure the basking spot is near 100. I have the reptisun 5.0, so i have proper lighting for him. I feed him mealworms daily, and crickets - a dozen every few days. i supplement with this calcium + vitamins powder by putting the powder in the bag with the crickets and shaking them around, so they're coated in it. I didn't get your guys' messages until this morning, and i didn't want to risk anything, so i bought some visine, and used it about 3 x's a day for the entire weekend, and his eyes are all cleared up. I don't think it was an infection, i believe his eyes just got irritated because some of the substrate got in it. Thanks for all of your help!
Glad to hear he's doing better. FYI, you really should have a thermometer at the basking area as well. I mean do you really know what his basking temps are or are you completely guessing? Without a thermometer you are completely guessing and why take the risk when you can pick up a digital that's a lot more accurate than any of the dial types for about $10 at your local Target? Just something to think about.
You can use a digital thermometer with a probe and just place the probe on the basking spot for a few minutes to get a reading. Or you can buy a temp gun (www.tempgun.com) and just shoot the basking spot Mim
Yeah you can get a digital with a probe for about $10.00 at your local Target. Might want to leave it there for more than just a few minutes, though. I'd leave it for 30 minutes to get a good reading.
