Eyes Won't Completely Close

[Aiion]

I posted earlier about my Gu Sally hunching over and refusing to lay down. At this point I believe it may be do to a shedding issue. Her skin is wrinkly and there appears to be 2 sheds, even though her last shed appeared great.

Additionally, she is not able to completely close her eyes today. Has anyone heard of this? I soaked her for about 40 minutes and she is able to lay down comfortably but her eyes seem irritated and do not close completely. I'm thinking this has to be shed related.

Any advice or ideas?

 

[JohnMatthew]

Irritated stomach, irritated eyes.. What type of bedding are you using?

 

[Aiion]

reptibark and some moss. I can't remember what kind but it is what the pet store uses. They sell it in bulk so there is no label to look at.

 

[JohnMatthew]

Maybe he's having a bad reaction to whatever the mystery moss is.. I'd get him off that stuff until I figured out what was up.

 

[Aiion]

Actually, the moss had completely broken down so I just added more,literally about an hour ago, due to her bad shed and eye issue. It's like the skin around her eyes is too tight for them to completely close. I rubbed them for a while and she was mostly able to close them. I was hoping someone had experience with this.

 

[JohnMatthew]

It might have broken down but it didn't disappear.. Whatever is going on it sounds like your GU is extremely uncomfortable(doesn't want to rest body on substrate, now eyes are swollen/irritated). Personally, I would put her on newspaper or paper towels for a day or two and see if any changes occur.

 

[frost]

i would take the substrate completely out and replace it with the rep carpet or paper towels.i can defiantly see something i stuck in there or something is irritating it. i would try to flush it out with some warm water daily until it heals up and try to get the substrate out until it clears up.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

When you soaked her did you give her enough water to where she could submerge or swim?

Or even pour a little water over her (head included) which will help flush the eye in case there is something in there. Watch the nostrils to make sure they close.

How long have you been adding new moss to old that has broken down?
When was the last time you changed and or dried the moss out?

Moss can grow mold over time if not treated and used properly. The mold can be toxic which may be causing her issues.

For her shedding issues,.. what are you using to measure humidity?
What are you feeding and how often?

 

[Aiion]

She didn't have anything in her eyes. She just couldn't close them all the way, like the skin was too tight around them. I massaged them and it helped a lot. Plus it seemed counter intuitive to take away her source of humidity. She has a mealworm colony in her substrate that keeps it pretty clean. The moss had been broken down for weeks.

I put new moss in her habitat right after I put this message up. Her skin isn't feeling as hard today and her eyes are closing completely. She seems much more comfortable too.

There is definitely not any mold in her cage. She has a hydrometer in the cage and I do mist a couple times a day. To be honest, I wasn't keeping my eye on the humidity. I was just making sure that it was being misted. The added moss will be a great help I believe...from what I have seen today.

I feed her 1 fuzzy a week. I also feed her red grapes, raisins (red and white), cranraisins, a little bit of whatever meat we are having for dinner, dusted with calcium and sometimes vitamin supplement, fish and eggs every once and a while. I try to feed her veggies every day but it's rare she goes for them. Also some days she would rather lick the grapes than eat them.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Are those the only fruits you feed? The grapes are fine but raisins and cranraisins have been dehydrated and have to be re hydrated to break down and digest properly. Causing her digestive system to work a little harder so that she's not as hydrated as she normally would be.

After she eats there's only so much room left over for water. Now her digestive system has to work harder to break down food that doesn't have a lot of moisture in it. It's the same concept with dogs and dry food. They require and drink more water with dry food than wet.

 

[Aiion]

Oh, I forgot to mention that she also has mealworms, beatles and crickets. I raise them all myself and they are fed a variety of veggies and a little dog food here and there.

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Good to know. I will hydrate them first. Thanks for the info.

I can't get her to eat any other fruits yet. I read that sometimes they don't start accepting them before 6 months so I am hoping that she starts liking a bigger variety by then.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Not a problem,.. that's what we're here for. I'm just rattling off what comes to mind when I read your responses with the issues she's having. With animals it's always a guessing game and the process of elimination.

Whether it's something we have all experienced or not others may be able to see or consider something that we missed, so it doesn't hurt to ask.

I know each one's different but for mine I've found that if the fruits not sweet enough they won't eat it. From melons to berries,.. so I add either honey or a little sugar and let it sit in the refrigerator over night. Unless they're just not hungry I haven't had one refuse fruit yet, even then they still lap up the juice. Which gets them use to the smell and taste so they eat it eventually.

 

[Aiion]

I am definitely going to try that! She is so picky sometimes when it comes to anything non protein.

I put her down for her mid day nap and UV. She plopped down on the damp moss like it was a feather bed and is currently basking comfortably. Her eyes are still closing completely

 

[Piercedcub32]

yeah her eyes look like what is called chemosis, its an inflammatory response, there is def. something going on with husbandry... you said the eyes closed today, are the lids still swollen?

 

[Aiion]

No, her eyes look good and she is milky again, like when they first go into shed. It seems like the damp moss helped a lot.

My husband was cooking and filled the house with smoke like he sometimes does blackening meat, the other day. Do you think that might have irritated her eyes?

The only issue I have today is that she drank too much of the juice from the re hydrating of the raisin's. I didn't realize it until it was too late. She had her head up for an hour. On the plus side, I am really happy she liked the juice.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

She'll pee and or poop and be fine, she just ate or drank so much that it's hard to keep it down. Just let her relax for some time afterwards. If you have to pic her up make sure her head is higher than her stomach. Or you'll see some of the fluid come up and ooze out, it can freak people out sometimes,.. but it happens.

 

[Aiion]

Yes, that did happen. First time it happened I did freak out. Then I researched for a couple hours till I was sure I had all the info on it that there was and I was certain that she was okay. I actually thought she was sick after eating a horned worm. She was oozing green snot bubbles.