I need help! My baby turtles' eyes look weird.?

Question

He can't open his eyes they look swollen or something. What do you think it could be?

Answer 1

You shoud take him to the vet he sounds like he has a respiratory infection. If not treated it ill progress and he will die. To find a herp vet in your area check these links, http://www.nytts.org/nytts/helpnet.htm

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vets_for_herps

For more info on RI, respiratory infection read this,

Respiratory infection: Symptoms include difficulty breathing, breathing with the mouth open, discharge or mucus in the nose (bubbles appear in nostrils), frequent sneezing, lethargy, and lack of appetite. Preliminary treatment of these symptoms should be to increase the temperature of the enclosure to at least 85 degrees and eliminate any cold drafts from the room. If this is an aquatic turtle, make sure the water isn't too cold. Check your pet often to see if the symptoms improve over the next couple of days. If they do, continue treatment until the turtle is 100%. If the symptoms do not go away, or get worse, see a vet immediately. Respiratory infections can accelerate to pneumonia quickly, and will usually be fatal.

I agree with Madgins, you should review your care, but since this is a baby, I am sorry to say, he was probably sick when purchased. If you need more help, do not hesitate to email me. Also check out a forum I am a member of. Lots of great people who are always happy to help! http://www.turtleexchange.com/forum/index.php

Answer 2

For a good article on this, try: http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/medeyes.htm

There are three major reasons for this:
1.) Injury- not likely if both eyes are swollen.

2.) Vitamin A deficiency (common with many 'junk food' diets many keepers are told to use)

3.) Water quality. If the tank is clean and has ZERO odor, it might have too much chlorine or other chemicals in it.

General 'hospital mode' care:

A- Review the care and diet of your turtle at a site like http://www.austinsturtlepage.com Identify any problems or glitches you might have and correct them. (Sadly, many keepers are following totally wrong info goven to them by well-meaning but uniformed people)

B- Clean the tank totally, or replace it if it is too small. Aim for 10 gallons of water per inch of turtle. If your water is chemically or nasty, use any cheap bottled water.

C- Boost tank temps a little. Instead of the usualy 75-80, try 80-85 in the water and 95 on the basking sites.

D- Minimize stress- noises, vibrations, movement near the tank, handling, being stared at by giants, etc.

E- Offer a high-quality turtle pellet food- go with the best you can afford for a month, then you can combine a more reasonable food and supplement it with live fish fods like worms and feeder fish.

F- Monitor things for a week or two. If they are getting worse, see a vet. If getting better, great. if the same, wait another week.

G- After about a month of hospital care, shift back to regular mode, but be sure to continue providing good care.

Answer 3

He probably has some kind of eye infection. Call your zoo or the pet store and see if they can advise you.
The vet is always and option but if this can't be done you may want to try a very very small amount of anit-biotic cream in one eye to see if it helps.
Get the clear cream or ask the pharmacist to suggest something.

Answer 4

Let the turtle heal on its own , my turtles got that a few time and they are doing fine

Answer 5

it sounds like and infection. from the water hes in maybe? there is something in the reptile section at petstores to treat this. there is a number of causes that can make these symptoms(bacteria,fungus,poison)

Answer 6

Take it to an exotic animal vet soon.

Answer 7

see awnsers above.