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Bearded Dragon Swollen Eyes

22 13:54:10

Question
Bow
Bow  
QUESTION: Hi Tracie,
I have a bearded dragon named Bow. Bow is about 7 months old and was perfectly healthy until I upgraded to a bigger tank with new lights. Now he can barely open his eyes and has stopped eating. I did a little research on what could cause this and I found out that I could be his UV light so I turned it off and it looked like it was getting better but now he looks even worse. I would like to know how I can treat it and what are something and ways to feed him? Also what lights will be better for him?

ANSWER: Hello Patricia,

Sorry about Bow, poor guy.
Which UVB are you using, or were you using previously?  Is it a fluorescent tube bulb or a compact/coil light?  How close did you have it to him?  
Good that you have turned the light off for now.  What type of basking light are you using now?  A bright white light?
What you can do for now, is to get some sterile saline solution to flush the eyes out right now.  You can get an herbal tea bag, warm it up & moisten it & place it on his eyes for a few minutes at his bedtime & that might help to soothe his eyes a bit.

I would purchase the Reptisun 10 tube bulb.  You can get that from here:
http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-fluorescent-bulbs/504983/zoo-med-rept

You may need to handfeed him for awhile, or get some chicken or turkey babyfood with some squash babyfood until his eyes get better.  Use a plastic syringe or a plastic dropper & drip it onto the end of his nose to see if he will lick some of that off of his nose.  

Let me know how he is doing.

Tracie

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

Lights
Lights  
QUESTION: The lights in the picture is what I was using. They were just sitting on top of the screen on a 40 gal breeder. He has started to eat from the syringe fairly well.
Hes doing ok i cant wait until he is back to his normal ways.

Answer
Hello Patricia,

How is Bow doing?
Yeah, those lights would definitely be enough to cause the eye problems.  Has he been basking more now with the light off?
Just use the basking light until you get the Reptisun 10 tube bulb over him.  He will be fine, short term without UVB.  AT least he is eating pretty well from the syringe now, that is excellent.

I hope he gets better soon!
You could also get some Bee pollen to help out his immune system since he has been a little stressed out.

Tracie