possible eye infection?

Question
(i have 2 RT's in one 55-gal tank.  heat is kept between 80-85, humidity at about 45%.  i feed them kale, mustard, and collard.  they have a water dish that gets changed daily, a log to hide under, and a reptile-approved felt-like lining.  i take out the extra food as soon as they're done eating.)  for about a week now, one of my RT's has been showing problems with her eyes.  it started with them just being really watery and gooey, and now they're swollen shut.  they don't crust over, but they always seem gooey.  she's lost her appetite now - it was fine in the beginning - and i just suspected it was because she can't see.  the other RT hasn't shown any signs of eye problems.  i've been giving her daily warm baths in clean, filtered water, and rubbing her eyes with warm water 3 times+ daily before adding "Repti Turtle Eye Drops" twice a day.  they were recommended by our local pet store, who's known for her selection of reptiles.  the eyes haven't gotten any better though.  what do i do to help her?  we were told it could be a piece of dust or something that got into her eye, but wouldn't it only affect the one eye?  is there anything i should be doing differently?  i feel so bad for her!!!

Answer
Hi Rachelle,

The good news is, you should be able to fix this pretty easily.  The bad news is, you're keeping them all wrong.  ;)  

My first piece of advice is, never take advice on tortoise care from a pet store.  They're notorious for knowing zip about proper care.  My second tip is, most products sold for reptiles are useless at best and dangerous at worst.  I know, why the heck do they sell this stuff then?  It's very hard to know what to use, but I'm here to help you.  So here's what you need to do:
 
1)  Enclosure:  they need something big and open.  Get them out of the tank and into the biggest open enclosure you can find.  For two tortoises, it should be at least 4' x 6'.  You can build a tortoise table, or use an old bookcase turned on its back.  Russian tortoises are quite active and need a lot of room.

2)  Substrate:  that reptile carpet is bad stuff for tortoises.  They need humidity in their enclosure and being too dry is probably the cause of all the problems you're seeing.  So take out the carpet.  Get some bricks of coir (ecoearth or bed-a-beast), wet them down per the instructions on the brick, and mix half and half with playsand.  Keep that a little damp and it's the perfect substrate for tortoises.  They can dig, and they'll have the humidity they need.  Don't believe anyone who tells you that Russian torts need to be kept bone dry--in the wild, they spend most of their time in high humidity burrows.  Dehydration is the number one cause of health problems.  I keep hatchlings on this substrate and they do very well with it (my adults live outside).

3)  They need a basking area of 90-95 degrees, with a cooler area of 70-75 degrees.  If the temperature is uniformly in the 80s, it's too hot and if they're too warm or too cool they won't eat.  Tortoises are ectothermic, which means they regulate their temperature through outside sources, so they need to be able to move between warm and cool areas.  They also need a good source of UVB to metabolize calcium.  I use an all-in-one heat and UVB bulb, the T-Rex Active UVheat bulb.  You can order one at www.carolinapetsupply.com.  I highly recommend it because it gives off good UVB and is very durable.  

4)  They need a shallow water dish large enough for them to get into, plus they should be soaked for about 15 minutes in warm (not hot) water 2-3 times a week.  

5)  Diet:  leafy greens and weeds.  No veggies, no fruit, no pellets.  Turnip, dandelion, collards, endive, kale, spring mix, raddichio, etc., along with chicory, chickweed, mallow, plantain, sow thistle, mulberry and grape leaves, hibiscus, nasturtium, viola, etc.  The more variety the better.

6)  Throw out the eye drops.  They won't help, and if you make these changes you won't need them anymore.  

If you have more questions, please ask.  Here's some links that will also help:


Hands down, the best information online
www.russiantortoise.org

Yahoo group for the Russian tortoise
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/RussianTortoise/