Urgent Care :: Constant eye blinking and Constipation

[oriracoonrella]

Hello.

My male RES is 14 this year. And these days he has been pooping kind of irregularly. There were no changes to his diet. But today is the third day of his constipation and I tried not to feed him his regular Mazuri pellets and gave him some cucumber(I thought it might provide more moisture to his stools) , banana, lettuce and his usual kale instead. I also massaged his rear area a bit hoping it would help (now I really regret dong so... )

After that he wouldn't stop blinking his eyes, sometimes he'd close them for a long while. He's still rather active. But now it's near bedtime he's been closing his eyes unless I talk to him/get his attention. Could I have hurt any of his glands while massaging him?

I know this is very bad but we don't have a proper habitat for my RES yet. I've been trying to build one but the space constraint in my apartment makes it difficult. We sun them when the sun shines into the apartment. And I live in a tropical country where the temperature is always above 25 degrees celsius. I recently tried to bask my RES under an exoterra bulb we bought, could it be a contributing factor to his eye problem? But the last time he was under that bulb was two days ago and he only started the weird blinking a couple hours ago.

I've called the vet to book for an appointment tomorrow morning but I'm so worried. Please help out if you know why, thank you very much~

[steve]

Is this the only symptom? Can you provide more details about what you normally feed him and how much? Is there gravel, small rocks or sand in the tank? What kind of basking area? Is the stool consistency still the the same? If the vet is a herp/reptile vet, you might want to collect a sample the next time you get the opportunity.

[oriracoonrella]

I usually feed him 3-4 leaves with stem of a local vegetable that's similar to kale, but smaller in size. It's called chye sim/cai xin. Along with a small amount of Mazuri pellets, around half the size of his head, daily. The tank is bare but tilted so he could be out of the water if he wants, but there's not a 'real' basking area.

For about a week now, I've noticed him clicking his mouth occasionally when we let him roam around the house, with a small noise. He also wheezes a bit while swimming in deeper water or eating in deeper water. But he'd been wheezing since he was quite young and last time we didn't know much about turtle care

When he was a baby he couldn't really swim (always sinks under the water) so we never let him lived in deep waters, only for occasional swims, which he did today. He was also prone to eye puffiness when he was a baby, and there were a few times back then he'd refused to eat, but got better on his own. Again, we didn't know about turtle care and didn' know what to do about it back then.

-edit-

The herp vet we usually go to is on leave for two weeks but the nurse said all the vets in their clinic knows how to handle reptiles. I will keep his stool if I can, but he always eats it up right after he's done defecating

[steve]

Wheezing might just be a sign of being overweight. Do you turn off his lights at night? How is his appetite now?

[oriracoonrella]

Yes the lights are off at night. His appetite was normal. His mealtime was just before the blinking happened. But today he ate in the deeper water he swims in instead of the shallower feeding tank he usually eats in. I took him out for a roam after seeing him blink abnormally and he roams around fine, although still blinking. After that I placed him back into his tank and offered him two pellets and he ate them.

The way he blinks looks like he's suddenly sensitive to light. But he blinks (and closes his eyes after blinking more) in the water too. He would also rub his eyes with his hands, he seems frustrated and bothered by it.

[steve]

And you're not using any artificial UVB light? I wouldn't use kale and maybe give him a bit of cod liver oil. Has he been rubbing his eyes?

[oriracoonrella]

I only began using a UVB bulb a few days ago, we get him under the sun when it shines in the house. But at this time of the year there's none so I let him go under the new UVB bulb hoping he'd like it. The last time he was under the bulb was two days ago. Thanks for the advice. We fed him kale because it was the only veggie he would eat for a long while. He doesn't like lettuce but I'll try to change it to his staple. He's only been rubbing since this blinking started.

[oriracoonrella]

What kind of cod liver oil can I give him? Do I mix it into his pellets? It's bedtime now so I wouldn't disturb him. I hope everything will be fine tmr morning after a good sleep.

[steve]

Turn off the UVB. What kind did you get? New ones need to have a "burn period" since they might give off excessive amounts when first used. You can add cod liver oil (they are sold as gel capsules... puncture the capsule to squeeze out the oil) to food or apply directly to the eye.

[oriracoonrella]

Ok, I didn't know about it needing a "burn period" Sigh. Is this a case of the UVB hurting his eyes then? But why is he only having a reaction now?
If that's the case, what will the treatment for it be?

Thanks, I will get the cold liver oil and try it on him tomorrow.

[oriracoonrella]

Oh, the one I've got is an Exo Terra Solar Glo in 125W.

We also do not have any filtration and we do a water change daily. I so desperately want to set up good living conditions for him and my female RES (they live separately now due to aggression) but the space constraint is driving me nuts. Sometimes I feel like they can sense my panic and desperation and it's doing them more harm than good, it's so difficult

[steve]

So you're using an MVB? How warm is water/basking area? MVBs are not really suitable for small tanks. I'm not sure what's causing the eye irritation, but I'd start with these changes.

[oriracoonrella]

Ok... what kind of bulb should I change to in this case? There's limited choices of UVB bulb in the pet stores here

I'd say the water is at our room temperature? (around 27-29 degrees celsius) and I guess it's the same for the basking area. We do not use any heating system nor thermometer.

[steve]

Skip the UVB for a couple of days. He should still have a basking light.

[oriracoonrella]

Ok, he doesn't have one now. Will try to get one for both of them. What kind of lightbulb is suitable as a basking light in a small enclosure like this? Do I replace it with a UVB bulb when I find a suitable one? I've read through the Basking Overview section but... I'm not knowledgeable enough about electronics to fully understand :S I wouldn't want to risk hurting them again

Me and my endless questions.. Whenever I go to the vet they just suggested to sun them more. I have no experience with setting up any sort of lightings at all.