Advice!?!?

[Jnicotina1]

Hi guys,


I got my Halmahera BTS last Saturday. Today, I noticed when I unburried him from the substrate (eco earth and cypress mulch) his right eye started to bubble. Of course, my paranoid self googled it right away and I found people on this forum saying it could be a sign of RI. I also saw someone post that their BTS didn’t respond to treatment and passed away, and now I am SUPER paranoid. When I took him out he ate some egg and got yolk on his noise, he was rubbing his face against the hard surfaces, which I thought he was just trying to get the yolk off but I saw someone on here say their BTS rubbed his face raw when he had an RI. I don’t notice any weird sounds when he’s breathing, but he does sneeze here and there.


I called an exotic vet in my area, but they have nothing available until a week from today, next Friday. How serious is this? Can it wait the week? I literally feel like breaking down and crying because I feel it’s my fault. I am doing the best I can trying to keep the humidity up. There’s moss, I spray 2-3 times a day, huge water bowl, alumnion foil covering half the top...I tried everything. I feel like I’m failing and I don’t want my baby to pay for it

[Jnicotina1]

His eye seemed fine after it bubbled up twice. This was him 10 mins after the bubbles.

[aaronhouts]

The eye bubbles are usually a sign of low humidity.
I think you're on the right track with the PVC cage you mentioned in the other thread. It might be time to make that move sooner rather than later.

[Dwarfbeardeddragon]

hello, this happened to one of my shinglebacks not long ago, i panicked like you, googled it to find people say it can be due to food being too big, im pretty sure that was the case with my guy as i gave him a whole cherry tomato and he was struggling to chew it down, its never happened since and he's fine, but i would still get him checked out if i were you.

[Jnicotina1]

Hi guys, thanks for the reply. I moved him into a tote bin enclosure where the temps are better and the humidity has been a solid 80-90 percent most of the time. However, today when I took him out I noticed his breathing was a bit off..kind of sounded like when your nose is a little stuffed and you’re trying to breath. Thank god I have the vet appointment on Friday, I just hope that’s not too late. I’m literally CRYING over this baby boy of mine. Dwarfbeardeddragon, I actually saw your post when I was searching. Did it look like this??

[Jnicotina1]

Here’s his enclosure.

[kingofnobbys]

That's a good sized tote , what are it's dimensions ?

If that is a UVB in the dome sitting on top , it will has no chance of penetrating the plastic in the lid.
.... I suggest mounting the 26W UVB10% compact in an ExoTerra NanoHood fixed to the underside of the lid - is real easy , remove the reflector temporarily , drill two holes through the black plastic that are big enough for a short (hexhead screw to slip into) and the drill two holes slightly small than the thread diameter of the screws, screw into place , replace reflector, install a good 26W globe ie a 26W UVB200 and you are done.
or
install a T8 reflector hood under lid (similar approach) and install a 10% to 12% UVB tube , make sure it's not more than 2/3 the length of the tute .

[Dwarfbeardeddragon]

yep it looked exactly the same...

[aaronhouts]

You’re on the right track now.
Take him out every other day, put him in a separate plastic tub with no substrate and spray him for 3-5 minutes with water. Make sure the water’s not too cold and spray his face and eyes gently as much as he’ll tolerate.
I’d still look into heating from below with a good quality thermostat and heat tape.

[Jnicotina1]

The UV is on a big hole cut out for it, I’m getting a dome today like I have for the heat source that I can actually stick INTO the tote so the UV can spread out, hopefully that’s suffice. I don’t know the exact dimensions, my bf picked it up for me but I know it’s 60 inches long. And it a lot higher than it appears lol.

I plan to leave him alone until the vet appointment on Friday because I want him to get all the heat and humidity he needs. Except for the fact he ONLY poops when I take him out...anyone else have a BTS who only poops when taken out? Lol. Idk if I should continue to take him out , I just don’t want him to get worse

[Jnicotina1]

Okay, I’ve been doing insane amount of research on this forum and just found info on mystery illness. I just want to know if this is normal - I had beaver out the other day and his leg was bent, so most of the pressure was on the upside of his foot, and the pad looked a bit swollen. He is my first BTS so I’m not sure what the pads of their feet should look like??