Is my baby blind?

[Aleena]

I know, I'm probably just too overly worried about her, and the vet told me she wasn't blind, but she can't seem to figure out where her food is unless i wave it in her face and make sure to touch it on her nose, and even then she'll go in a different direction to try and grab it, I have to anticipate where she's going to be to get it in her mouth. She has this strange gold band around her pupil that is extremely bright that the other dragons don't have, and just thought I would post a pic of it in case any one has had experience. Do Italian Leatherbacks eyes just look brighter than other beardies? This is not enhanced by the flash, it's really how bright that band around her eyes looks.

 

[silverado991]

ive seen one other animal that has an eye like this and it was punctured from another beardie on accident while i was taking care of her she was underweight at the store got her back up from actually feeding her i believe she was 15 inchs atleast 9 months old and was barely 175 grams id guess
she was very aggressive and i did not notice her having any issue with getting crickets the next thing that would come to mind is cataract

 

[Aleena]

ive seen one other animal that has an eye like this and it was punctured from another beardie on accident while i was taking care of her she was underweight at the store got her back up from actually feeding her i believe she was 15 inchs atleast 9 months old and was barely 175 grams id guess
she was very aggressive and i did not notice her having any issue with getting crickets the next thing that would come to mind is cataract

Both of her eyes look like this, and they're not injured. She doesn't hunt, for a while we thought she was in brumation so we left her alone and she started getting picked on while in that state so was separated at that time. The longer she spends alone the more active she seems to get, but she's still not eating well. I can get her to eat greens about twice a week now, and I'm sure she'd eat a pinkie if I fed her one by hand but I've been told that's a bad eating habit for a 2 year old. She is the sweetest thing in the world, not aggressive at all. I've only ever seen her beard blacken if she took a bath that wasn't warm enough for her tastes. I've never seen what a cataract looks like. Thanks, I know you raise leatherbacks so you would definitely know if it was a leatherback trait. At least I have my suspicions confirmed that it's not normal. I really need to get another vet.

 

[silverado991]

Both of her eyes look like this, and they're not injured. She doesn't hunt, for a while we thought she was in brumation so we left her alone and she started getting picked on while in that state so was separated at that time. The longer she spends alone the more active she seems to get, but she's still not eating well. I can get her to eat greens about twice a week now, and I'm sure she'd eat a pinkie if I fed her one by hand but I've been told that's a bad eating habit for a 2 year old. She is the sweetest thing in the world, not aggressive at all. I've only ever seen her beard blacken if she took a bath that wasn't warm enough for her tastes. I've never seen what a cataract looks like. Thanks, I know you raise leatherbacks so you would definitely know if it was a leatherback trait. At least I have my suspicions confirmed that it's not normal. I really need to get another vet.

oh yeah definetly not normal, crickets are suspect to biting the eye lens which can make them go partially blind from eye infections being how dirty crickets are
if they start to cloud cataracts would be a 66% viable cause she is not okay eye issues arent to common shes opening them thats great atleast you know its not uvb related

 

[Aleena]

oh yeah definetly not normal, crickets are suspect to biting the eye lens which can make them go partially blind from eye infections being how dirty crickets are
if they start to cloud cataracts would be a 66% viable cause she is not okay eye issues arent to common shes opening them thats great atleast you know its not uvb related

And the infection would have come and gone already since she's eating and everything again. About when this started happening I was thinking her eyes looked puffy but couldn't find anything that looked similar to it in the handbook I had for dragon related illnesses, then my husband took her to the pet store we got her from and they said she was probably in brumation. I should have listened to my gut that I didn't think things were right. It was when she started opening her eyes again within the last month I noticed the change right away.

 

[silverado991]

they do look cloudy but not enough to make me think shes blind if she was bitten in brumation it can and probly is the issue what you want the vet to to is apply blacklight eye gel and look for sratchs under the blacklight and that will give you a good idea
photo kerato would be full closure of eyes
infection would be really puffy
cataracts would be cloudy
sratchs you just cannot see until the vets visit
ive seen one very bad case of puffy eye that was a heart failure case that blood refused to travel down but thats not the case here at all
is that a mass on her eyeball the green part or is that just her eye?

 

[Aleena]

they do look cloudy but not enough to make me think shes blind if she was bitten in brumation it can and probly is the issue what you want the vet to to is apply blacklight eye gel and look for sratchs under the blacklight and that will give you a good idea
photo kerato would be full closure of eyes
infection would be really puffy
cataracts would be cloudy
sratchs you just cannot see until the vets visit
ive seen one very bad case of puffy eye that was a heart failure case that blood refused to travel down but thats not the case here at all
is that a mass on her eyeball the green part or is that just her eye?

That's her eye. No mass. Pupil is really misshapen, and in the other eye it's like a pinprick, almost no pupil at all. She's very clumsy, I sometimes think she can see, like I'll see her clambering at her reflection at times, and other times I'm sure she can't. Her eyes looked slightly puffy to me before I came back to UT and left her in FL with my husband in May. He said she was in brumation and it was nothing to worry about, did not take her to the vet. By the time they got out here in August there was no swelling, but she was still out. She slowly started coming to, but wasn't really opening her eyes. We would have to hand feed her to get her to eat, and she was spitting out her veggies. We just barely started to get her to eat veggies within the last couple weeks, and we have to hand feed them.

 

[silverado991]

yeah she really needs to get into a vet it should be clear not clouded

 

[Aleena]

I took her to the vet and she said her eyes looked normal stupid vet.

 

[silverado991]

yeah most arent qualified i personally dont use vets i find the internet to be alot more useful in the weird case i cant think of anything
id really recommend the blacklight test if they refuse to listen to you you can send me there information and ill talk to them

 

[Aleena]

yeah most arent qualified i personally dont use vets i find the internet to be alot more useful in the weird case i cant think of anything
id really recommend the blacklight test if they refuse to listen to you you can send me there information and ill talk to them

I give up! She is so stupid! I advised the vet there was a small chance she could be gravid because she was with the male for a short time when we were trying to get him away from the other dragon. She also said... She's not gravid, 'TRUST ME' I know how to palpate for eggs... and guess what she's in a bin doing right now? There's a reason she was acting so silly in her tank today. She was also scratching around so I got her a laying bin... and felt her belly. Definitely gravid! Felt at least 5 good sized lumps before I quit looking. Grumble, grumble, grumble... I could have been better prepared if the vet knew what she was talking about! Grrr!

 

[silverado991]

I give up! She is so stupid! I advised the vet there was a small chance she could be gravid because she was with the male for a short time when we were trying to get him away from the other dragon. She also said... She's not gravid, 'TRUST ME' I know how to palpate for eggs... and guess what she's in a bin doing right now? There's a reason she was acting so silly in her tank today. She was also scratching around so I got her a laying bin... and felt her belly. Definitely gravid! Felt at least 5 good sized lumps before I quit looking. Grumble, grumble, grumble... I could have been better prepared if the vet knew what she was talking about! Grrr!

id talk to the director and get a visit refund id be appauled if i walked into a office that misinformed

 

[Aleena]

yeah most arent qualified i personally dont use vets i find the internet to be alot more useful in the weird case i cant think of anything
id really recommend the blacklight test if they refuse to listen to you you can send me there information and ill talk to them

I'm going to another vet. She has done nothing but misinform me. I hate being misinformed by the very people whose job it is to help you raise your little angels correctly and in good health. The only thing I appreciate is the fecal flotation I got from her that was clear. It's hard to mess that up.

 

[Aleena]

id talk to the director and get a visit refund id be appauled if i walked into a office that misinformed

I'm sure I'll have to get a second opinion first.

 

[silverado991]

I'm going to another vet. She has done nothing but misinform me. I hate being misinformed by the very people whose job it is to help you raise your little angels correctly and in good health. The only thing I appreciate is the fecal flotation I got from her that was clear. It's hard to mess that up.

actually hate to upset you even more but there quite easy to mess up if they dont properly id organisms

 

[Aleena]

actually hate to upset you even more but there quite easy to mess up if they dont properly id organisms

There were 0 parasites present. It's hard to mess that up I would think . Of course, it's just as odd that there were 0 present as if there were a million.

 

[silverado991]

There were 0 parasites present. It's hard to mess that up I would think . Of course, it's just as odd that there were 0 present as if there were a million.

yeah if she said 0 were present she messed that up also
all beardies have parasties its the gut floras job to keep it under control

 

[Aleena]

yeah if she said 0 were present she messed that up also
all beardies have parasties its the gut floras job to keep it under control

We have given her parasite meds before back when my male had them. I figured this was the reason for the 0.

 

[silverado991]

We have given her parasite meds before back when my male had them. I figured this was the reason for the 0.

yeah that wouldent do it it would have low numbers but would not wipe them out whens your appt?

 

[Aleena]

yeah that wouldent do it it would have low numbers but would not wipe them out whens your appt?

I didn't have a follow up. I'll make another with a different vet. I was suppose to get back with her on whether I wanted to pay for blood work now or later, but I'll just go to someone else.