Shed & eyes

[jayeszoo]

Well I came home to an aquarium of shed. It looked like there had been two in there chasing and wrestling. It was stuck on the sides, on the rocks, on the paper towels, the driftwood, everywhere. She does look better. I actually saw eyes !!! Most days I don't. They are still matting shut. But boy did they look nice tonite. And she was moving all around that cage. So while I cleaned and washed the cage, she got to run around the room :-)

I read an article at the Arizona Exotic Hospital's site. It was about eye problems and shedding. Their article stated problems with shedding around the eyes and feet could be from a result of a lack of vitamin A. That you could give them a drop of a 10,000 IU gel cap once a week and generally this helps. Also mentioned soaking of course which I am doing. I actually read on another site that you could put a piece of plexiglass over the top of the tub to keep the moisture in while they are soaking. I have done that the last couple days. They also suggested using a little mineral oil around the eyes to help soften the dead skin. I have been using the Gen Teal drops, but I can go back up there in an hour or two and they are dried again and closed.

It was just soooo good to see some action out of her. It was like she was exploring her cage and the room.

I asking for comments on the above suggestions. I thought if someone else has heard on the vitamin A, I would try it. And also the mineral oil.

Thanks
jaye

[Katrina]

I've read about Vitamin A toxicity in chelonians. I don't know if this also applies to BTS, there isn't any data that I can find. From the text where I read about it "overdose can result in inappetence, full-thickness skin sloughing, secondary bacterial infection, discoloration of skin and lethargy. Treatment is ceasing Vitamin A, fluid and nutritional support and possibly antibiotics." I'm not trying to scare you, I'm sure vitamin A is like most anything that can be overdone. I'd definitely try supplementing it, but I'm not sure how much. Do you supplement a multivitamin? Does it have vitamin A in it? I would go ahead but just keep in mind that you can overdo it (same with Vitamin D3).

I haven't tried the mineral oil, but I've used emu oil with success. I've mostly used it for the feed rather than around the eyes. I think you'll see huge improvements with this shed, I'd wait a while and see if you have further eye problems before worrying too much. I've found often with a good shed anything irritating the eye is removed and so there is no weeping and no more problems with the eyes being shut. If you have recurring problems then definitely start looking into more, of course, but I'd wait and make sure is isn't pretty much healed by getting rid of any irritants.