closed eyelid - similar to snowblind

[raredesign]

My BTS is healthy, but his left eye is having trouble. It looks very similar to overexposure to UV, but I have turned it off for the past couple days just in case. At close inspection, it looks like it was a bad shed. The only spot that didn't come off cleanly was the top eyelid. I always give him baths when he sheds to make it easier for him, and I just soaked him yesterday and lightly rubbed some water around the eye but not on it. He can open his eye, but it is delayed often times like it is sticky, but sometimes he just keeps that one closed.

I keep a humidifier running 24/7 next to his tank this time of year to keep the humidity up.

Is there anything I can put on it to help him along, such as a a triple antibiotic? I heard that the triple antibiotics that contain the "plus" pain reliever can kill some lizards so I would never touch that to my BTS unless I get more info that says otherwise.

Any help is much appreciated.

[Katrina]

Can you post pictures? It is hard to tell just from a description what it might be.

I've had blueys with eye troubles, where it looks like gunk it kind of gluing the eye shut - if that is the case, I would recommend a saline gel product called Tear Gel, available from most pharmacies, to help open the eye. It was recommended from by my vet. Depending on the pictures, I'd probably recommend a vet visit. I wouldn't use any antibiotic products unless they were recommended by a vet - there are lots of antibiotic eye drops that they can prescribe if needed. Good luck!

[raredesign]

thank you for the response. I will try to post pictures tomorrow.

[raredesign]

Sorry I never followed up. I have my own serious health issues that kept me away.

I took my BTS to the best vet in the area, and I was highly disappointed. She was stated as being very familiar with skinks and other exotics, but she couldn't answer my questions, and also handled him rather roughly.
For his eye, she gave me Tobramycin (.3% solution given twice daily), and then said his heavy breathing (due to her handling) was sign of a respiratory infection. She then prescribed 22.7mg tablets of Baytril (to be given in 1/4 doses daily).

It is very difficult to give a skink eye drops, and he was also very picky about the tablet crushed in his food. Since it had to be given daily, I fed him much smaller meals.

He didn't seem to get any better, and his eye started sticking even more. I read that Baytril can have a side effect of permanent blindness! She should have told me that.
I stopped his meds, and just worked with the eyedrops, and lightly rubbed with a cotton swab. After several days, a layer of skin came off and he was able to open/close his eyes normally. It was quite raw, but later that week he shed anyway.

The humidity was not that great in his cage, so he started to close his eye again and I noticed it sticking. After some cool ideas I came across online, I simply wet down some towels, and covered half his cage top, then moistened down the inside of his cage and fluffed up the aspen.

The humidity maintains a steady 30-40% and he is as happy as can be with NO eye problems. It is so frustrating that the vet was so quick to push meds and not really question anything to where i could have helped my pet sooner.

I am just glad I have learned, and no he is fine.

[Susann]

That is so awesome! Thank you so much for following up! What a learning experience for you. Frustrating, but I am so happy YOU found what he needed even though the vet didn't seem familiar with BTS. Unfortunately this is exactly what so many of us are left with since there is so little information out there on frustrating chronic BTS illnesses, sometimes even vets can't get good info when their ideas run dry.
Extremely happy your little guy is doing well!

[raredesign]

Thanks, I am so excited now. He is much happier.