# Argentine tegu eye shed?



## Amanda (Jan 22, 2015)

hey guys! 
I am in a huge dilemma at the moment. I got my tegu about 3 weeks ago. She seemed to be in the best of health. Sunday morning I noticed her eyes were very swollen and irritated. My first guess was that her powersun bulb (100watt) was too close to her. Her cage is on the low side but when I measured it was about 10 inches from her. So I bought a stand and it is now 15 inches away from her. Since then her eyes have shown slight improvement but not a whole lot. I have been bathing her about 3 times a day and applying gel tear drops twice daily to help sooth her eyes and also applying sterile neosporin that the vet gave me for another one of my animals. 
Her other owner had her on coco fiber which she appeared to do great on. I noticed the air in her tank would dry up pretty quickly so I added a little bit of cypress mulch, zoo Ned Forrest floor bedding to be exact. The humidity had improved a ton but I am also wondering that could be irritating her eyes as well?
My next guess is that she could be shedding? When I purchased her, her previous owner told me she was going through a shed. The shed on her chin still has not come off. It's almost stuck. But yesterday while bathing her I noticed there was a tiny almost hang nail looking thing comming from her eye. I was wondering if that could be shed? I am all out of ideas so my next step is to bring her to the vet. Unfortunately, I don't trust many vets around where I live. And I am sure none of them have experience with tegus as they couldn't help me with my more common pets in the past. So first I am going to read out to you guys and see what you guys think. 
The humidity in the tank is 76 at the moment. Like I mentioned she is on coco fiber and cypress mulch. Her baking temps are at 100 now that I raised the bulb. Cool end about 75 give or take. I am debating about added a smaller watt bulb to try to get her basking spot a little warmer. Yesterday I noticed it was around 95. I'm not sure what the previous owner fed her but prior to her comming home I prepared some ground turkey, collard greens, parsley, red bell pepper, and chicken hearts and gizzards all into little balls and would offer them to her daily. I also fed the hearts and gizzards whole on the side and she would eat them up. Her first week I also offered her a small mouse but she did not show any interest. The following week I tried again and she gobbled it right up! Now I actually just ate another small mouse with success. I just want me little girl to be happy and healthy. It's breaking my heart to see her like this


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## Josh (Jan 22, 2015)

Welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear about your tegu's eye issue. 
Can you post a photo of what it looks like? I assume that it isn't life-threatening or getting worse at this point because if it is, you should probably just take her to a vet ASAP.
It sounds like it could be the bulb or a shed - from what you've described. I'm not a big fan of the powersun bulbs - I like the fluorescent tubes better. Can you turn the light off for a day or two and see if there's any improvement?
If it's a shed, the humidity and eyedrops and neosporin should be helping to loosen it up. I think it'd be pretty apparent it was a stuck shed though. You would be able to see something there - I'm thinking. 
Does she scratch the area? Rub it? Is it discharging anything (even tears)? Is the eye itself red?


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## Amanda (Jan 22, 2015)

For whatever reason it won't let me upload a photo  it hasn't gotten worse that's for sure. The thing about the cage she came in is that it's so low. Also, there's two square mesh screen ventilations on top. So I wouldn't be able to use a linear light. If I mounted it inside it would be too close as well. I did remove the light for 3 days and it did seemed like it helped. It doesn't seem like it's stuck shed though. There's really no signs that her eyes are shedding other than that little hand nail looking piece under one eye. There is no discharge and she doesn't not scratch or rub her eyes. Her lower eye lid is a little red on the bottom but that's about it. Actually after I bathed her this morning she looked the best that she's looked since Sunday. Still a bit irritated but nothing close to what it's been like.


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## Amanda (Jan 22, 2015)

http://s79.photobucket.com/user/Ama...s[recent]=1&filters[publicOnly]=1&sort=1&o=25

This is from Sunday when the problem started.

http://s79.photobucket.com/user/Ama...s[recent]=1&filters[publicOnly]=1&sort=1&o=41

This was earlier after her bath 


http://s79.photobucket.com/user/Ama...s[recent]=1&filters[publicOnly]=1&sort=1&o=40

This was during her bath.

Sorry this was the only way I could get the pictures up!


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## Josh (Jan 22, 2015)

Amanda said:


> This is from Sunday when the problem started.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I added the photos directly to the site for you. PM me so we can figure out why uploads don't work for you.

It does look a bit inflamed. I'd try to go without the UVB and see if it improves. obviously if it gets any worse at any point you probably want to take her in. If it seems like it's improving and she isn't bothered by it or scratching etc then maybe it will heal up ASAP.


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## N8bub (Jan 22, 2015)

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but tegus don't shed skin on their eyes. I thought only snakes or a few species of fixed eyelid lizards actually shed skin on the eyes.


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## Josh (Jan 22, 2015)

i was under the impression it was the eyelid itself but maybe the surrounding area...?


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## Amanda (Jan 22, 2015)

Yea I was referring to the eye lid sorry guys. So far she's still pretty active and she's eating like a little monster. So I'm hoping it's just from the light. If by the end of the week she doesn't improve she will have to go to the vet. She has shown improvement which I am really glad but I don't want to risk it if it's still not cleared up by the end of the week.


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## Josh (Jan 23, 2015)

Could just be some foreign object inside her eye too. The eyelid doesn't look as inflamed as the lower part of the eye does... it's hard to tell exactly what's going on from only photos but that's my guess.
Glad to hear she's improving. Hopefully that trend continues. Keep us updated!!!


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## Amanda (Jan 23, 2015)

Well when I went to check on her this morning she almost looked 100% better! I'm not sure what it was but I am so glad it's not bothering her anymore. Thank you so much for your feedback guys!


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## Josh (Jan 23, 2015)

Glad to hear it! Happy to be of help! Hope you stick around and keep us updated on how your tegu is growing


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## Amanda (Jan 23, 2015)

Absolutely! I'm sure she is going to grow way faster than I want her too. But she'll always be the little baby even when she's 3+ feet


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