Pygmy eye "welded" shut !???!?

[EvilLost]

Okay I have no clue what happened or how....

I check on my pygs pretty regularly (at least twice a day I account for them individually). Yesterday morning, all was fine. Last night....one of my pygs eyes looked like it was welded shut for lack of a better term....

one of the chams had shed but I couldn't tell which one as they were all pretty clean, I'm guessing it was this one and this problem is a result of shed complications over her eye, but thats just a guess.

Anyway, I applied a little terramycin over it and gave her a good misting and after a while gently rubbed it with a q-tip. A fairly good chunk of "stuff" (i'm guessing this was dried skin) came off easily and she immediately began making some minor movements of the eye turret (but did NOT open it). This was at night so I quarantined her and let her sleep.


Today, she isn't any better. Her looks welded shut, she gives a tiny flinch of the turret but otherwise does not move it nor open it. I have tried to apply more terramycin and keep her well misted but its not helping. I will upload pics in just a moment....



EDIT: I added pics below. Also, I know the front of her mouth is a bit messed up, its been like that since I got her and she's had no problems with it.


Also, I forgot to mention....


there was INFLAMMATION around the eye this morning. when I LIGHTLY touched the area around it with the qtip, there was a lot of LIQUID THAT CAME OUT OF HER EYE (but it still didnt' open, just liquid leaked out) and the inflammation went down.

 

[BocaJan]

I would be extremely hesitant in rubbing her eye with a Q-tip. They have such tiny and delicate eyes you could cause damage. Keep misting and putting terramycin on it and let her do the rubbing.

 

[EvilLost]

she isn't rubbing it at all.....I can't even see the "seam" where her eye closes, thats why I used the word welded. it looks as if it is sealed shut

 

[EvilLost]

PICS from last night...

 

[EvilLost]

Pics from today...

 

[EvilLost]

bump anyone please???


I just checked on her again and her eye is *INFLAMED* i mean SEVERELY INFLAMED. I tried to lightly tap it with the qtip to drain it again, but this time it is sealed...i can't drain it at all..



what can I do to drain it?


oddly enough, other than the eye when i hold her she is light color and mostly relaxed, strong grip, other eye is focused etc. i'm not even holding her just cradling her so i'm pretty sure she is ok with my q-tipping, but i'm afraid to push any harder and I can't get her eye open....although i did get a tiny bit of turret movement again


but when i put her in her quarantine tank, she goes immediately dark and sits still without moving.


she

 

[DavidBuchan]

I don't have any real idea what I'm talking about here....but it's infected, right? It's getting worse...... so get her to a vet.......that's what I'd have to do........

 

[EvilLost]

yea i'm going to take her but i can't do that at the earliest until tomorrow morning and her eye is flamed up pretty badly (i'm pretty sure its filled with some form of liquid)

 

[Solid Snake]

I'm not a vet.
Im not an "experienced" keeper.

Ok, logic suggests, that if she does not want to move the turret, that there maybe be debris in her eye that causes her pain to do so. That also would explain her not rubbing it, also the fluid retention in the turret(her body trying to flush it out). The mystery to me would be that she isnt/cant open the eye to help flush it out. That could mean the debris is large, or maybe even causes to much pain to even try to open it. Her eye could also be "sealed" from blood/puss due to an injury from said debris. Maybe its shed, maybe its somthing broke off from her rubbing when she shed. She might have poked her eye out doing so I think any further action to "help" her with it is risking further injury. Just keep her as happy as possible until you can get to the vet. When it first drained did she use the eye normaly afterwards? I hope she is ok

 

[EvilLost]

@Solid Snake: no, when it first drained it didn't open at all, but the inflammation/swelling went away



I held her for about 20 minutes last night gently putting drops of water on her and VERY gently rubbing a qtip against it....the qtip WAS slowly getting dried chunks of something on it. I did manage to drain it a tiny bit (but not really).

Throughout that process she was SITTING in my hand (on her own, i wasn't "holding" her) and was very light/etc. I'm pretty confident she was not bothered and possibly even enjoying it...


I put her back in her tank and checked in on her again this morning:

Good news, the swelling is completely gone and her colors have returned to the bright / good colors. However, her eye is still just a black lump and not opening or moving at all...


I'm not TOO concerned about it (worst case she'll be blind in one eye) but what I am worried about is her lack of eating (or potential lack of ABILITY to eat with only one eye). From my understanding they require both eyes to focus on the same point in order to get proper depth perception / etc....

I've had her in a small cage with lots of crickets just in case, but I have yet to see her eat in 3 days now. She's still "strong" but if she's not eating how long will that last....


She is looking a lot better today though and has also stopped turning black in her cage so thats a good sign.

 

[Solid Snake]

I'm glad to hear she's doing "better". I'm not trying to be a buzzkill, please understand. But in my mind, the worst case senario would be there is somthing in that eye. Which could cause infection, which could spread and kill her easily. Just playing devils advocate here, compare and contrast and all that. But that's WORST case senario k? My opinion is do not rub the eye, as she can do that herself, I understand that you are being gentle, but have you ever had a large piece of metal or wood lodged in your eye? It hurts so bad you don't want to move at all! The tiniest movement causes duress. Again that's just my two cents, I can't invision how you would get it out manualy though. Short of "surgery". Hope she comes out ok!

 

[EvilLost]

well BAD news!!


Swelling was down and it was just a "black eye"....


...until I just caught 3 crickets sitting on her face EATING HER BAD EYE.

She now has a gaping eye-hole (the liquid, on the bright side, is draining and continues to drain...)

she is moving on her own, but she's starting to show ribs and is obviously weaker....and of course my vet is closed.

trying to find another urgent care now..



EDIT: