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Linzlou83

I have read a few posts about swollen eyes in aquatic turtles and it seems like it rarely turns out well and is usually pneumonia.

I rescued my little baby painted turtle Muckey from a close call with a lawn mower last spring when he was the size of a quarter and he's been such a joy in our family. He has a 20 gallon tank all to him self with basking areas, UVB lamps, heaters, and a nice strong filter and has never shown any signs of unhappiness or illness. He gets a mixture of high quality turtle food, veggies, and fresh fish/insects. Yesterday morning however, he wasn't himself. He lingered on his rock and took a little longer than usual to open his eyes, which to my surprise seemed to be swollen and puffy.

He swims fine once aroused and no signs of labored breathing or coughing/sneezing/bubbles. His lethargy and puffy eyes still worry me. I purchased some ZooMed eye drops and gave him one in each eye last night and again this morning. I also cleaned his tank totally and add fresh warm water.

Should I rush him off to the vet and assume it could be dreaded and fatal pneumonia, or should I keep him warm and comfortable and see how he does?

He's my first turtle and I've learned a lot in the year that I have had him, but I'm still very new. And scared...

Any imput would be helpful! Thanks!

turtle_grl77 · Level 4 Joined: 18 Nov 2005 Posts: 985 Location: Florida

Take him to the vet just to make sure.

Linzlou83 · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 9:12 am Post subject:

Just wanted to give an update on this and see what you guys think...

We took him to the vet yesterday as his eye thing was getting better, but where it had been a week since the symptoms started we wanted to get it checked out. The vet took a Qtip and was able to clean a lot of the gunk out and said it probably had to do with not properly shedding the skin around his eyes. He also gave him a vitamin shot and said that the eyes could stay red and puffy for a day or two but should be ok after that.

Of course when we left the vet's he was looking great, but this morning they were back to being puffy again. It's so frustrating to see him like that and not know what to do to help him. Confused

turtlelesss · Guest Joined: 09 Apr 2007 Posts: 3

My turtle kept getting puffy eyes..I just kept putting the drops in atleast 3x a day till it cleared. Be careful if it swells to bad they can't see to eat or swim and could die...