3 turtles with eye infections

Question
I have 3 adult turtle's who seem to have irritated eyes/ eye infections. It started with one and now all 3 have it. It does not seem to be severe I have been trying to treat it with opt. eye ointment and repti drops for the past week with very little improvement. It seems to be on and off and reoccurring. I have good filter/ uva uvb bulbs water is consistent @ about 85 degrees I use heat lamp at night during winter but since it's summer just water heater, they are not near a window.  I have read some scary things about respitory infections I have not noticed any other symptoms they do breathe loud and hiss when I pick them up, and when they sleep a tiny bubble forms around their noses. I have read these could be symptoms of a respitory infection. right now I have them dry docked with medication on their eyes in a large enclosure hoping that it will give enough time for the eye ointment to work. any help or input would be greatly appreciated!

Answer
Ah, eye infections.

These annoying problems are generally caused by one or more of three things...
- Bacterial infection, the most common problem in water turtles
- Viral infection- the Respiratory Infection issue, and
- Dietary problem- the vitamin A issue- rare in water turtles with decent diets.

According to the best veterinary reference I have (Dr. Douglas Mader "Reptile Medicine and Surgery"- hey, I'm not a vet but I believe in doing research!:-) ) 'dry docking' is no longer the preferred method.

You have a few options...
1. Vet visit. A vet can determine what pathogen is affecting your turtle and offer the proper medications. The problem here is that many vets have been taught that swollen eyes are a vitamin A deficiency and will go straight to various vitamin solutions.

2. Self-care, no meds. This is a safe and easy process that is effective in many, but not all cases. The reality is that NONE of these cares are always effective for swollen eyes.

3. Self-care, with meds. I don't like this option, but it is commonly discussed on some turtle care forums. The problem is that the infection can be any of about a dozen germs and no meds treat all of them.



Assuming you do option 2, you would...

A) Tear the habitat down and either sterilize or replace everything. Here is your chance to rebuild! I like tanks with no gravel on the bottom and lots of potted water and pond plants personally. As part of the remodel, make sure you have a good BIG filter running (and if you HAD a good filter, replace all media!) A big filter with a biological filtration element is a big part of the treatment.

Oh, and use spring water or filtered water. This is not usually a problem, but the chemicals in the water may irritate the eyes.

B) Treat each turtle with Turtle Sulfa Dip per directions, then put them in the new habitat.

C) Either continue the Sulfa Dip, OR use the fish medicine 'Stress Coat'.

D) Once a day, use the eye drops and let them dry for about an hour before returning to the water. (Vitamin A is not likely to the problem, but this covers that side, and helps sooth the eyes.)

E) Wait and watch. If it improves, great. if not, go to the vet.

Good luck, and you can find more at http://www.austinsturtlepage.com for more info.