Bob update, and eye problem, with pics

[pepper]

Okay, so bob(teacher's tiger salamander I am babysitting) has lost quite a bit of weight and actually is not that much of a BLOB anymore..

But his right eye, (left when you look at his face) is still having the problem of remaining closed almost all the time...

Now, he has been in his water dish for a few days, he goes in and soaks when he is about to shed...well I thought some shed skin was stuck in his left eye, that maybe he has been having some shedding problems, maybe like reptiles sometimes have problems..He's an old man, probably about 10 years old.

Well I seemed to get some gunk out of it and it looked a little better, the camera died before I could take pictures of the better eye, but it pretty much closed back up again...so here's some pictures..(the brown in the pic is a little bit of dirt by his eye)

It started to open up..

Thanks for any and all advice!

 

[Jan]

A few years ago, I had a similarly looking eye in a geriatric sal - who markedly resembles Bob. The eye became swollen, closed and for lack of a better word 'gunky'. We went to an exotic vet and the diagnosis was conjunctivitis...apparently secondary to a piece(s) of substrate which had been introduced into the eye or potentially a nip from a tank mate, in that there was also an ocular abrasion. This situation was readily treated with twice a day flushing with sterile amphibian ringer's solution and twice daily application of sterile ophthalmic Neosporin for two weeks. The issue resolved and remains so today. I continue to use coco-fiber as a substrate but did separate the old man...he lives alone...just in case it was a nip from a tankmate.

I know from your previous posts this condition has been going on for awhile and you have tried different things....you may not have access to a vet, but certainly being seen would be optimal.

 

[Jennewt]

This could be some kind of abrasion/inflammation of the eye. I'm not sure why it has been going on for so long.

I would recommend maintaining Bob in a clinical setup (plastic tub with damp paper towels changed daily + something "cleanable" to hide under) until the eye resolves. This will keep dirt out of it. I have also used Neosporin to treat a tiger sal eye (I just dabbed on the ointment). Be sure it is the Neosporin without pain killer, as benzocaine is deadly to sals.

 

[pepper]

I had him on moist paper towel, his eye didn't get better, and he was in his water dish all day for almost a month..

I put him back on co co fiber a few weeks ago and he seemed happy to be able to bury under it..

This morning his eye looked okay..

I'll see if I can get some neosporin.

 

[Jennewt]

I had him on moist paper towel, his eye didn't get better, and he was in his water dish all day for almost a month..

I put him back on co co fiber a few weeks ago and he seemed happy to be able to bury under it..

This morning his eye looked okay..

I'll see if I can get some neosporin.

I'm a little confused about the time sequence here. Was he staying in the water dish during the time you had him on paper towels? Or after he went back to cocofiber? I don't provide a water dish in a paper towel setup.

When my tiger developed the eye problem, he also stayed in his water dish. That's what first alerted us to there being a problem with him. I kept him on paper towels for about 5 months before putting him back in dirt. The eye healed very slowly.

Thanks for providing the photos, it makes it much easier to get a grasp on what's going on. It doesn't appear that they eye itself is abnormal, just the eye lid area.

Good luck!

 

[pepper]

When he was on paper towels I did not have dish of water in with him. His eye got worse when he was just on paper towels without a water dish. Then I put in a dish of water and he stayed in that the entire time...

Then, I put him back on coco fiber and a water dish..He will sit in the water dish for a few days when he sheds, then goes into the coco fiber until he is about to shed again, which I'm not sure when that is..I think he's shed once or twice in the 2 months I've had him.

I'm going to check later on his eye.

I'm starting to think this is a shedding problem. As it will look good for a while, then look nasty when he begins to shed. It's like the shed builds up inside his eye, because I was pulling quite a bit of it out...

Could this be because he wasn't getting very much nutrition for a long period of time?

I dust his crickets with vitamins and such and gut load them..but he went like, years without any dusting or gut loading..

 

[pepper]

Well his eye has looked fine for the past week even when he buries down in his coco fiber...so I'm not sure what the problem is since it only happens when he sheds, I guess I'll just have to help him out come shed time.