Walks around with eyes closed?

[Tucker]

Hey y'all, I've had Bender since Thursday 7/6 and I've noticed that he often walks around with his eyes closed. He does open them some times. Is this normal or a symptom of something?

 

[Zyn]

Damn sleep walking Tegus they'll sneak up on you every time

 

[dpjm]

No, not normal at all. I would first suspect that he may be suffering from photokeratitis, which is caused by overexposure to UV. Is that a possibility?

 

[Walter1]

No, not normal at all. I would first suspect that he may be suffering from photokeratitis, which is caused by overexposure to UV. Is that a possibility?

DPJM- I just thought about how turtles will have closed, even if swollen, eyes feom lack of I think D. I st this a possibility as well??

 

[dpjm]

Well, there are a few things that could cause an eye problem. Without a picture and just going with the information we got, which is that the lizard is walking around with it's eyes closed, but with no mention that there are any other issues with the eye like swelling or redness or anything else wrong with the tegu, photokeratitis makes the most sense to me. That's why I asked the poster if that would be a possibility, i.e., does the tegu possibly have access to overly high intensity UV.

 

[Tucker]

I've only had him since last Thursday, and he's done it since he came out of the box. Unless he was getting overexposed living with Mr. Irwin down in Homestead, FL then I dont see that as being likely. His current UV setup may be a little overkill but I've never seen him basking, all he does is burrow and sleep, the whole time I've had him so far. Current UV is a Zilla 10.0 strip light and a ZooMed 160w PowerSun hanging 18" above his basking area. I'm thinking about moving the strip light to the other side of the terrarium tomorrow.

 

[Zyn]

If he has a powersun does he need the fluorescent as well ?

 

[Trede]

A few months ago, my tegu was doing that with one of her eyes. No noticeable swelling or irritation, but she would keep her right eye closed 95% of the time. When she did open it, it was briefly and followed by a period of (as best I can describe it) holding it closed extra tight, if that makes sense. Long story short (too late, I know), took her to the vet, was told she had a tiny bit of something irritating her eye, got some "eye drops" (actually closer to the consistency of vaseline) and after a few days of those she was fine.

tl;dr: Veterinarians have fancy magnifying helmets and weird thick eye drops, making them an invaluable resource.

Best of luck, and I hope Bender has something similarly simple to fix.

 

[Tucker]

Found him basking today and he had both eyes open, I left the fluorescent off this morning on my way in from work. I've got him on my lap now and he's sleeping. It's like if he's going a short distance he says "screw or not worth opening my eyes" but if he's going to be walking for a minute he opens them. Maybe I just have a wierd Tegu?

 

[Zyn]

I think you answered your own question and I don't mean him being weird lol. Now correct me if I'm wrong because my baby blue isn't even out of the egg yet lol. But they need a UV gradient just like they need a hot and cold area to thermoregulate. Maybe he's hiding so much because he's getting to much UV. The powersun should be enough I'd think. Again please correct me if im wrong lol. I've done more research then any sane person should before their tegu has even hatched yet so there is a very real possibility that I'm completely wrong lol

 

[Tucker]

That could definitely be the case. The fluorescent is really weak past 12" IIRC so I thought it'd be ok. I guess removing it helped. Oh and he also ate today. Venison, meal worms, and strawberries covered in quail egg.

 

[Zyn]

Good sounds like he's settling in