swolen eyes

Question
My female turtel is unable to open her both the eyes for last two weeks.Eyes are swolen as well.We tried to cure it by keeping her in warm water ( 80 F) However it did not help.She is not taking her regular diet since the problem has occured.

Kindly advice.

Regards


Sanjay Singh

Answer
Swollen eyes can be caused by several things- infections, dirty/chemical water, poor diet, stress, etc.

The trick here is to figure out what the issue is and treat that.

A good 'overall' treatment is:

1. Review cares at a good site like http://www.redearslider.com and make sure the diet, temps, water quality, etc. is good.

2. Clean the tank well. Boost temps to 80-85F

3. Treat with either Turtle Sulfa Dip or the fish medicine Stress Coat- but not both

4. Drizzle cod-liver oil or vitamin A oil in the eyes daily, then keep the turtle out of the water for an hour afterwards. A good source of the oil is Cod-Liver Oil gel-caps. Pop one with a pin and squeeze on the eyes.

5. Do not bother feeding it when the eyes are swollen.

6. If there is no improvement within about a week, you should see a vet.