I have got 2 baby map turtles and both didn't seem to be opening their eyes at all. I bought some zoo med turtle eye drops and started using it 2 days ago.
one of them has started opening them but the other one hasn't.
first question is if there is anything else i can do to help the one that's still having problems, second question is what causes it and is it something I'm doing wrong?
the people i bought them off weren't the cleanest people in the world by far but i think i'm glad i bought them cos otherwise i don't think they'd of survived for long.
the tank they were in was all mouldy and the uv wasn't working and the heat lamp and water heater was only for a short while every day so the temperature was nowhere near what they needed.
I've been out and bought a new tank, hood, uv and starter, heat lamp, water heater and new plants, rocks and a turtle dock which they didn't have anything like when we brought them home.
I have used the water treatments to keep the chlorine down and to keep the water fresher and cleaner. I got an external pump/filter for them rather than the little fluval internal thing they had in it which was clogged up with so much s**t i couldn't believe it.
any advice or criticism would be very helpful as all i'm bothered about is their welfare.
thanks

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1 06 female beardie BORAT
1 05 male beardie DAVE
1 german shepherd CLEO
1 border collie PODGE

Alright, good save - i hope they do well.

The new hood for the tank - say Au Revoir, you dont need it and its just going to create respiratory issues for the turts.

Filteration - what do you have? You are going to need a big extenal (Fluval 405, Eheim 2217 - i think, something along those lines).

Heat Lamp - good job, make sure its positioned close to the dock so they can get out and get all the benefits. Same with the UV light - concentrate it on that area too.

I dont know about the eyes, it may require a trip to a specialist vet, or it may clear up in time. It could be caused by a number of things, it could be previous dirty water, it could be untreated water, it could be vitamin deficiency.

What diet do you have them on now, and are they both eating??

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the water they used to be in didn't look like it had ever been cleaned but i'm not surprised, the whole flat was full of dog s**t.
i've put the hood on more for the fact that i've got 2 dogs that try catching everything and also the uv and heat lights are fixed to it.
i've got an aqua-one CF1000 external pump which people use for ponds so should be more than adequate.
the heat lamp is directly above the dock and the uv runs the whole width of the tank so they should get it wherever they are.
they are on a mixture of turtle and terrapin food, koi pond sticks and bloodworm.
i've seen one of them eat but not the one which has still got bad eyes.

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1 06 female beardie BORAT
1 05 male beardie DAVE
1 german shepherd CLEO
1 border collie PODGE

Okay, your quoting method is a bit off the wall, but i like that in a person

Alrighty - the hood you really need to lose. I undertsand the concerns about the dogs, but some kind of mesh/metal gauze kinda thing stretched across the top should discourage them. You could even cut it to dimensions of the aquarium, but slightly bigger, and put a wooden block on each 4 corners so its weighed down (on the outside, im having a hard time describing that haha).

UV lighting, whats it rated at? Needs to be at least 5% i think, the more the merrier. Ive not personally used a strip light, so i cant comment on them!

Food wise, try to feed around a decent staple pellet such as Reptomin and avoid excessive protein, such as shrimp, and even bloodworm etc - they should be offered as treats less regular than the usual pellet fare.

The filter im not familiar with, but it looks like it should be decent.

Re the old water, the turts would have been bothered by bad water even if the owners were not. A good job on taking them though, once again i hope it all works out. The story is all too familiar.

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the uv is a 6% strip and food they have the turtle food and koi food most of the time as the koi food is low in protein for the fish anyway. the blood worm they only have as a treat as thiat is one thing i was told right in my local reptile shop. i'm just hoping that i've managed to get them out of there in time to rectify the damage that has already been done.
thanks for the info though and i'll post any updates on how they are.

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1 06 female beardie BORAT
1 05 male beardie DAVE
1 german shepherd CLEO
1 border collie PODGE

Also worth considering what advice Graham comes here and gives.

He has turtle knowledge coming out of his shell-like ears!

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Our ruminant friend is right about the hood, it's bad news for turts as it creates high humidity which can cause many serious health issues, take it off and replace it with wire mesh if the dogs are a problem, but do take it off asap.

The eye problem could be a number of things, from what you've said an infection is most likely from dirty water, second most likely would be irritation caused by chlorine/chloramine, but if you're usuing a water treatment we can probably discount that. Or it could be caused by high levels of UVB but again in this case that's hardly likely.

If the water is now clean, and the condition isn't responding to the eye drops after a few days, then I think you need to take the turts to a herp vet for antibiotic treatment.

ok, thanks.
they've only been having eye drops for 2 days and it says to do it for a week and if no improvement then to take them to a vet so i'll see what happens over the next 5 days and go from there, hopefully he'll pull through.

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1 06 female beardie BORAT
1 05 male beardie DAVE
1 german shepherd CLEO
1 border collie PODGE

Worth bearing in mind that Reptile water conditioner removes more than regular aquatic conditioner, i believe?

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it is reptile water condition.

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1 06 female beardie BORAT
1 05 male beardie DAVE
1 german shepherd CLEO
1 border collie PODGE