That a turtle with a swollen eye closed. Treatment of a red-eared turtle: eyes do not come off

Unfortunately, reptile owners often face various eye diseases in their pets. In our article, we will explain why the red-eared turtle may not open its eyes and how to cope with this ailment.

The main symptoms of eye problems

Determining the presence of a disease of the organs of vision in a turtle is quite simple, since all the main symptoms are “on the face”:

the mucous membrane becomes red;
on the mucous note the appearance of white plaque, which covers the eyeballs;
the cornea becomes cloudy;
note the appearance of mucous, curdled and purulent discharge from the organs of vision;
swelling appears on the eyelids;
the reptile cannot open its eyes;
movement of the eyeballs is difficult.

Associated symptoms of the body and behavior

In addition to the main symptoms of the manifestation of diseases of the visual organs in turtles, there are also secondary ones, which include:

lethargy;
increase in body temperature;
lack of coordination;
general weakness.

Important! In the presence of diseases of the visual organs, a sick pet should be kept in a container without water until complete recovery.

Since the reptile loses sight and cannot always see food, the amount of food consumed is reduced, and over time it may die.

Causes of the disease

The main factors that can provoke the development of eye ailments include:

lack of vitamins;
stay of a reptile in water with a low temperature, which can cause hypothermia of the whole organism;
lack of ultraviolet;
insufficiently good filtration;
stagnant water;
rare cleaning of the bottom.

In addition to the above reasons, other diseases can cause the disease. Let's consider them.

Conjunctivitis

The causative agent of this pathology are streptococci and staphylococci. Most often, the disease develops if the reptile is in dirty water. First, the inflammatory process begins in one eye, it begins to swell and close, fester, the mucous membranes and eyelids become burgundy, the turtle constantly rubs the eye. If therapeutic measures are not taken in time, the disease will cover the second one.

The disease provokes a lack of vitamin A or the presence of a bacterial infection in the body. The eyes also close, the eyelids become swollen and red, pus collects in the conjunctival sac, discharge from the nose appears, the skin begins to peel off, the body swells, the reptile refuses to eat.

With this disease, the choroid becomes inflamed, as pathogenic bacteria penetrate it. Purulent deposits begin to appear under the lower eyelid, the appearance of mucous discharge from the nose is noted. The reptile loses its appetite and severe exhaustion of the body occurs.

It is characterized by the presence of inflammation in the cornea, that appear as a result of injuries, burns, winter sleep or infections. There is reddening of the conjunctiva and surrounding tissues, clouding of the cornea, increased tearing, swelling and enlargement of the eyelids, which significantly complicates the opening of the eyes. If there is a traumatic nature of the disease, then blood can be seen in the visual organ.

Optic neuropathy

The turtle has a constriction of the pupil, while the eyeball deepens inward, it retracts, after which it loses mobility. In addition, it is strongly covered by the eyelid, as a result of which it does not open well.

Other signs are also present: clouding of the lens and vitreous body, violation of the structure of the retina, atrophy of the optic nerve. The disease can affect both one and two eyes at once. Causes temporary or permanent loss of vision.

Did you know? The heaviest are leatherback turtles - their weight can be from 300 to 500 kg.

The most common cause of this disease is hypothermia. At the same time, coughing, wheezing during breathing, shortness of breath, appetite fades, foamy discharge from the mouth and sinuses. In addition, there is difficulty in opening the eyes, the animal loses the ability to swim and the desire to dive.

In the presence of this disease, the reptile cannot open its eyes, they constantly itch. Most of the time, the turtle is with its mouth open, from which mucus flows, and during breathing, bubbles appear and a squeak is heard.

A lack of vitamin D leads to softening and deformation of the skeleton. The upper jaw can also be deformed, as a result of which the animal refuses food. If treatment is not started in a timely manner, redness appears on the eyes, they swell and eventually do not open.

What should the owner do

When the first symptoms of the disease appear, the owners should immediately take measures to eliminate the disease.

Veterinary diagnostics and treatment

The most correct decision when a symptom of the disease appears is to immediately consult a veterinarian. With the help of special examinations, the doctor will determine the exact cause of the disease and prescribe the necessary treatment.

To relieve symptoms, it is recommended to instill one of the drops under the eyelid 2 times a day: Albucid, Sofradex, Eleovit, Tobradex, Floksal. The use of tetracycline ointment is also practiced. If the animal begins to rub its eyes, use hydrocortisone ointment.

Important! Before instillation of the eyes, be sure to remove plaque from them, otherwise the drops will not work!

In some cases, redness of the eye organs and problems with their opening arise due to violations of the rules for keeping reptiles - in this case, the veterinarian will give recommendations on how to improve the conditions for the turtle.

Treatment at home

If you notice that the turtle's eyes do not open, wait 6 hours - if after this time they still do not open, most likely the reptile is sick. The first thing to do is to wash the turtle in running water, isolate it in a separate container and disinfect the aquarium well.

Practicing a chamomile bath for an animal. To prepare it, you need to pour 100 g of chamomile flowers into 3 liters of hot water. You need to insist the broth for about 15-20 minutes, after which it should be poured into a bowl with warm water. Immerse the turtle in a healing bath until the water in it cools down. After that, the reptile needs to be well warmed up for 6 hours with an ultraviolet lamp.

Prevention

In order to prevent eye problems in your pet, you should adhere to the following recommendations:

check your turtle's eyes regularly;
observe the coordination of the movement of the animal;
change the water in the aquarium regularly;
feed your reptile healthy food that contains vitamins and nutrients;
watch the temperature of the water in the aquarium - it should not be cold.

Did you know? There are reptiles that can survive in the absence of food: marsh turtles can do without food for about 5 years.

In order for your pet to always be healthy and please you, pay attention to it and take care of its health. Unfortunately, animals often suffer from the same ailments as humans and need timely treatment and care.

Exotic animals in particular are becoming increasingly popular for keeping and breeding at home. This is due to the relative unpretentiousness of the animal, its high resistance to diseases, as well as the inquisitive nature of such turtles. However, even these pets can sometimes get sick, and one common symptom may be that the red-eared turtle won't open its eyes.

Why doesn't the turtle open its eyes?

There may be several reasons for this phenomenon, and among them there are both quite harmless and very serious ones, which should immediately attract the attention of the owner and make him turn to the veterinarian.

The most harmless reason why a domestic turtle does not open its eyes is a banal dream. The duration of sleep and the time of day in which the red-eared turtle rests are strictly individual and depend on the pet's lifestyle, conditions of detention and nutrition. Therefore, if your turtle is active during wakefulness, her eyes are open, there are no symptoms of the disease, then it is worth waiting a while after the eyes are closed and make sure that the animal is just sleeping.

A more serious reason could be a breach of containment. During a lack of vitamins, from too cold water or malnutrition, the eyes of the red-eared turtle can become inflamed, reddened, or even tightened with a white film. The most common mistakes novice reptile breeders make is neglecting to install UV lamps, which turtles simply need for normal life, as well as trying to feed the animal with unusual food, most often vegetables and fruits. Remember that red-eared turtles are aquatic predators and their diet includes fish and a variety of marine animals. That's what they should be given as a top dressing. A monotonous diet can also lead to eye diseases.

Finally, the most dangerous and serious illness can be a cold or an infection. If the water in the aquarium is too cold or you walk the turtle on the street, then the animal may well get sick. The symptoms are usually swollen and reddened eyelids and closed eyes. These are very serious, and without proper treatment, the red-eared turtle can go blind and even die.

What to do if the turtle does not open its eyes?

If the turtle does not open its eyes, white films appear on them, and the eyelids are swollen or reddened, then this is a reason to immediately contact the veterinarian. Without his recommendations, you should not use any drugs, eye drops, and even more so, do your own injections of drugs.

The steps you can take on your own are as follows: first, you should observe your pet's behavior very carefully so that you can then describe all the details to the doctor. This will help him make the correct diagnosis and prescribe adequate treatment. The second step is a thorough analysis of the conditions in which the turtle is kept. The diet of red-eared turtles should be varied and include dry food (for example, gammarus), fish, shrimp, mussels and other seafood. A heating and UV lamp must be installed above the aquarium. The temperature on land in the aquaterrarium should be 30-31°C, water in a warm corner - 28-29°C, in a cold one - 27-28°C. You can also arrange baths with chamomile for the turtle: boil 4-5 tablespoons of dry chamomile in water at a temperature of 39-45 ° C and place the turtle there. Keep until the water has cooled to room temperature. If after these procedures the health of your pet began to improve, then you can postpone the visit to the veterinarian and still watch the animal. If not, then you need to see a doctor immediately.

Turtle eyes are the most exposed organs, exposed to harmful bacteria living in the water. Diseases of the organs of vision cause not only discomfort in the pet, but can also lead to blindness. If you notice that your red-eared turtle has swollen eyes, first take the simplest measures to alleviate the condition of the animal, and then seek help from a veterinarian.

Eye diseases of red-eared turtles and their symptoms

The main symptoms of eye problems are:

the mucous membrane of the eyes is red;

swollen eyelids;

white coating on the eyeballs;

eyes closed or completely closed;

clouding of the cornea;

difficulty moving the eyeball.

Associated symptoms: incoordination, weakness, poor appetite, high fever.

The most common diagnosis that is made in the presence of the above symptoms is conjunctivitis. This disease is caused by Staphylococcus and Streptococcus bacteria.

The cause of an infectious disease can be both poor living conditions and malnutrition.

If the red-eared turtle has swollen eyes, this may also be due to beriberi or keeping the amphibian in dirty, stagnant water.

Another eye disease of turtles - panophthalmitis. This is a deep purulent inflammation of the tissues of the eyeball. The infection first affects the lower eyelid. Then there is clouding of the eye. Lack of treatment in this case inevitably leads the turtle to blindness.

Diseases of the eyes of red-eared turtles - treatment

First of all, the animal must be placed in clean water, since it is the polluted environment that often causes eye diseases in turtles.

Drug treatment consists in the use of drops and antibiotics.

One of the drugs ("Sofradex", "Tsiprolet", "Albucid", "Tobradex") is instilled 2 times a day in the eyes of a pet. If the eyelids are tightly closed, then the lower one must be gently pulled back. The course lasts 5-10 days, depending on the condition of the turtle.

Panophthalmitis is treated with antibiotics. A course of these drugs should be prescribed by a veterinarian, since self-medication with such heavy medications for a turtle is usually fatal.

In severe cases, the eyeball is removed.

Treatment of eye disease in red-eared turtles is recommended to be accompanied by the use of veterinary multivitamin complexes: Intravit, Multivit, Eleovit. When buying, be sure to read the composition of the drug. It should not contain vitamin D2, as it is poisonous to turtles. Vitamins, on the recommendation of a doctor, can be administered by injection.

As an additional measure to relieve the condition of the red-eared turtle, use a decoction of chamomile and a solution of boric acid. Wetting a cotton swab with them, remove plaque from the eyes.

In mild forms of diseases, tetracycline ointment is used externally.

Nutrition for diseases of the eyes of red-eared turtles

With eye diseases for red-eared turtles, proper nutrition is very important. So, the menu must contain products containing vitamin A, which is useful for vision, for example, carrots. Give your pet a liver once a week. The main food is seafood. Focus on plant foods, especially if the turtle is already an adult: cabbage, lettuce, seaweed, seaweed.

Since a sick animal may lose sight or be unable to open its eyes due to purulent discharge, it is difficult for it to find food in the aquarium on its own. Then the owner will have to feed the pet from a pipette.

If several turtles live in one aquarium, it is better to isolate the patient temporarily.

Pets such as red-eared turtles have long ceased to be exotic. Most believe that keeping them is not a troublesome process, since these animals are completely unpretentious and can eat any fruit.

This is not entirely true: improper handling of red-eared turtles and poor conditions can lead to sad consequences. The pet may get sick, become less active. What symptoms should cause concern, what to do after they appear?

Rubella turtle behavior problems and their causes

Turtles can lose their appetite during adaptation to new conditions, with the onset of autumn, during the mating season. If none of the options are suitable, it is worth checking the temperature of the content. It should fluctuate between 26-35 degrees. Otherwise, the animal will be in stressful conditions.

Do not forget that turtles are cold-blooded creatures that need constant warmth to maintain their vital activity.

Among other things, pay attention to the diet: a young individual can be fed only with meat, and the menu of an adult pet consists of 50% meat and 50% plant products (vegetables, fruits).

All pets please with their actions and positive mood, of course, if they are not sick. People who have turtles at home can face various problems, the buried eyes of a pet are one of them. Like any animal, reptiles close their eyes when sleeping or resting, but sometimes the turtle does not open its eyes at all, and the eyelids may swell. Then you need to know what to do.

The actions of breeders with their eyes closed

If the pet has decreased activity and behavior is not like what it was before, and such behavior is accompanied by closed eyes, then you should start examining and monitoring the animal. This will allow you to identify the cause, consider the symptoms and begin treatment.

The disease itself is not as terrible as a lack of therapy or a belated reaction to the manifestation of ailments. Many breeders wait until diseases or other malfunctions in the functioning of the animal go away on their own. It is strictly forbidden to do this, because the animal cannot independently control its health and tell the owner that she is unwell. By the way, diseases develop quite quickly in reptiles.

Initially, owners need to make sure that the pet has normal living conditions. Perhaps the eyes are closed due to a decrease in temperature, and thus, the turtle tries to hibernate. In addition, there may be dirty water and bacteria begin to multiply in it. When care and maintenance is correct and after correcting mistakes, the disease can slow down its development.

You should carefully examine your pet, watch how the turtle moves, breathes, eats or does not eat anything, how long it takes to stay on land and in water. Such observations reveal the reasons why the turtle does not open its eyes. The main thing is not to delay the inspection time. It is recommended to observe about one day, and the next day to engage in treatment.

The reasons

Even if the conditions for keeping are close to ideal for a turtle, it can still get sick. In this case, there may be inflamed eyelids. They become inflamed due to conjunctivitis, pneumonia or rhinitis. It is recommended that the examination be carried out by a specialist, although not everywhere there are such doctors who are able to diagnose turtles and identify the true reason why the reptile's eyes do not open.

Sometimes it happens that after expensive treatment, the pet does not recover, but gets even sicker. This is caused by the use of drugs against turtle disease, which are not used for their intended purpose. In other words, the drugs are intended for cats and other pets.

So, the main reasons why the red-eared turtle does not open its eyes are:

Sleep or hibernation. Depending on the conditions, it can be within 2-3 months. If there are no obvious signs of illness in front of your eyes, then you can not worry and wait for the pet to wake up.
If there is a white spit in front of the eyes, then the reason is the wrong content or lack of UV radiation.
If the eyelids are swollen and reddened, then the pet has a cold or other infectious disease. A similar reason is the most terrible for reptiles.

So, having learned all the causes of closed eyes, you need to know the main diseases and methods for their treatment.

Diseases and treatment

The most common disease is conjunctivitis. The signs of its appearance include covered one or two eyes, which, together with this, swell and close completely. A red tint may appear on the mucous membrane. For treatment, you will need to initially transplant the pet into a basin without water or into another aquarium. As a rule, such an ailment is a sign of microbes or bacteria that got into the eyes from the water.

If the turtle is kept further in the water, the microbes will multiply and the disease will flourish. Therefore, only dry content is needed for treatment. It is necessary to treat such an ailment with drops of sodium sulfacyl (Albucid). They drip 2-3 times a day. The main thing is that the reptile does not retract its head, otherwise the treatment will not work. Additionally, tetracycline ointment should be applied to the eyes.

If purulent discharge appears before our eyes, then they must be removed with a cotton swab, with extreme caution. It will be good for the patient to make a warm bath in which the water will be warmer than at the standard content. It is recommended to insist on chamomile in water.

The aquarium should be washed and cleaned to remove bacteria and then filled with new and clean water. It is recommended to add a couple of drops of Methylene blue to the water. When the eyes open and the pet recovers, it can be immersed in your house.

Often closed eyelids can be due to pneumonia. In this case, there is little activity of the turtle, spending time on the water, but without diving and without any movement. Often with pneumonia, the reptile cannot dive. Additionally, appetite disappears and there may be a cough. Treatment is possible in different ways.

If drug therapy is used, then it is necessary to show the pet to the doctor. The veterinarian will have to weigh the patient and, depending on the weight, prescribe the dosage of drugs for injection. The most difficult thing is to correctly calculate the dosage of the drug, because it is done without taking into account the shell, and the slightest overdose leads to death.

If the breeder treats the pet on his own, using folk methods, then the pet will be alive and in the early stages of pneumonia, such methods are very effective. For treatment, you will need to transplant the reptile into a dry house, without water. In the room it is necessary to make the air temperature high and exclude drafts, it is better to dry the air itself as much as possible. With this therapy, chamomile is considered the main drug, which is sold in a pharmacy. The treatment is carried out with a decoction. Bathing or inhalation can be carried out.

With the help of inhalations, the lungs of the red-eared turtle will warm up. To do this, boil water in a saucepan and add grass, after which you should carry out the usual inhalation for influenza. It is recommended to sit comfortably and set a chair with a pot and broth nearby. The turtle needs to be right above the vessel. Additionally, you can carry out inhalation under the covers. So that the turtle does not have burns, the distance should be from 10 cm.

The therapy allows you to breathe hot medicinal decoction, which has a positive effect on the course of the disease. Bathing is carried out in a similar broth, but cooled to an acceptable temperature. In such water, the reptile should be bathed for no more than 20-30 minutes, and then again placed in a container without water.

The eyes of a red-eared turtle with pneumonia can be cured with the same drugs as with conjunctivitis.

No less common is a disease called rhinitis. As a rule, with such an infection, the inflammatory process manifests itself not only in the nose, but also the eyes fester. Symptoms of the disease include a runny nose, squeaking during inhalation and purulent discharge in the eyes.

It can be treated using antibiotics, however, it can also be kept in a dry aquarium or basin without water, with additional alternation of chamomile herb baths. The main rule is not to allow the pet to freeze.

For any ailment, it is necessary to correctly identify the cause and immediately begin treatment. At home, it is possible to conduct a course of therapy, and it will be very effective, even without medication. Despite everything that may be said, chamomile is an excellent natural herb with healing properties for many diseases. If the therapy used does not bring results within 2-3 days, then you need to contact your veterinarian.