BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hey guys,
My BTS Rocket has had some eye issues for some time now. I was hoping it would clear up on it's own, but then it got to the point where he was just wandering around his tank with both eyes completely closed, only opening them if he HAD to. I turned his UV light off to see if that was what was hurting his eyes. After a few days of the light off, he was using his eyes a bit more again (but not normally) however I suspected that the UV was only irritating his eyes rather than being the cause of the problem. His right eye has been noticibly worse than his left the entire time.

I took him to a reptile specialist who flushed his eyes, then put him on Ocuflux eyedrops. The dose was 1 drop in each eye every couple of hours for day 1 (so he got 7 doses), then 3 times a day for the next 7 days. Both eyes improved a lot, but then his right eye got a little bit worse again before the end of the course of eyedrops ended. His left eye is functioning normally now and his right eye is open most of the time, but still is always closed more often and for longer than the left. I took him back to the vet a few days after the eyedrops ended since he was still favouring his right eye. The vet could still see his eyelid was still a bit swollen and there was still some redness. She said the eyeball itself seems to be okay. He's now on something called Vibravet 100 paste on a dose of 0.03ml daily for 40 days. I believe this was to treat him incase he had Chlamydia. Today will be his 5th day on this medication and I haven't noticed signs of improvement, although I was told to look for improvement over a period of 2 weeks. He's still very active, has a big appetite and is very sociable with me, however has recently had a few grumpy moments where he's tried to bite me. This is pretty out of character to how he's always been, but I figured it may have been something to do with hormones or just now he's getting older.

Now I have noticed a small rash starting on his face, on the same side as his bad eye. I took a few photos so hopefully someone can tell me how worried I should be and maybe what it is. It may also be worth mentioning that in the past, both of my BTS have had persistant respiratory problems despite medication (ended up on a very, very long course of meds) and they've always had much more body movement when breathing than what is normal. They've been like this since I got them (6 weeks old) and still like this now (close to a year old). Anyway, here's the photos of the rash:





Thank you so SO much to anyone that can help!

Hi Caper,

I'm guessing the skin reaction is from him rubbing whilst trying to clean his eye. Always hard to tell from photos, but if it is then it should clear up after a couple of sheds.

As for the eyes, I have found the tear ducts always seem to get blocked with respiratory infections, and usually seem to be the last thing to clear. I usually use sterile saline to give them a clean a couple of times a day until the blockage clears, but have used antibiotic drops to good effect in the past.

Good luck!

The respiratory issues were some time ago and there were no eye issues at the time, but I hope it isn't anything too bad. I've been worrying myself sick over it because of the issues he's already had, and the earliest appointment I can get is on Wednesday unless the specialist is free on Monday during the time allotted to treating stray animals. I think Rocket's eye is worse than it was a couple of days ago, but the rash on his face looks the same to me.

I'll try to get my hands on the saline and keep cleaning him and hoping for the best until I can bring him in for his appointment. Thanks for the reply! I'll update whenever I know more or when things change.