Swelling in the eye of Indian Tent Tur

Question
I have an Indian Tent Turtle -  Kachuga tecta, he is about 2 and half year old. Recently his eyelids had started swelling , and finally, have swelled so much that, he is unable to open his eyes at all(though there are not red, and there are no tears), consequently his diet has got affected,as he is unable to see (though he is still eating , it has reduced from his earlier diet).

From the information I gathered on the net I assumed it to be some kind of bacterial infection, which needed immediate medication. I have visited vets for help, but they do not seem to have adequate information about turtles. One of them has told me that it is a process of hibernation, and that he will remain like that for few months. However I refuse to buy that theory , I have never seen him hibernate or any of my other turtles hibernate from the past two years,( I have two other red eared sliders, they live in another tank and are completely healthy)and plus I live in India, which is not a very cold country.
We give him appropriate heating , and a balanced diet.
Do you think you can advice or offer help on the current scenario??

Answer
Hi Pallavi,

I'm not a tent turtle expert by any means, but swollen eyes can be due to bacterial infection, illness, water quality, poor diet or injury.  An injury would likely only affect one eye, so consider the other three options.  Swollen eyes are not a precursor to hibernation, so I would disregard that.    

First, I would review your care and make sure you have the turtle set up correctly.  In particular, make sure the water quality is good and that the filter is working properly.  If your UVB bulb hasn't been changed recently, I'd do that as well.  Unfortunately, this species is very uncommon in the U.S. and I wasn't able to find much specific care information regarding temperatures and such, but in general I would make sure the water temperature is somewhere around 78-80 degrees and basking temperature 10-15 degrees above that.  

Next, check diet.  Tent turtles are omnivores, but may eat more plant than animal matter.  A good variety is important.  You can try boiled chicken, egg, or shrimp; worms, mealworms, or crickets; leafy greens such as turnip, mustard, collards, or dandelion; and commercial pellets.  Don't rely solely on pellets, as that's not enough variety.  You should also put a cuttlebone (used for pet birds) in the tank as an extra source of calcium.

Then, see if there are any other symptoms.  Is the turtle wheezing, bubbling from the nose, yawning or stretching the neck out to breathe, swimming lopsided or erratically (in circles, etc.)?  These are symptoms of respiratory infection, which needs to be treated with a course of antibiotics.

Finally, if you can find terramycin eye ointment, you can try using that to see if it helps.  I don't know if it's sold in India, but here's a link to what's available here in the U.S.:  http://www.jefferspet.com/ssc/product.asp?CID=0&pf_id=229

Here are some links that may also help:

http://www.turtlepuddle.org/health/eyes.html
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/medeyes.htm
http://redearslider.com/physical_conditions.html

Good luck with your turtle.  If anything is unclear, please write back and I'll try to clarify.