eyes still droopy 3 months later

[Andyurgay]

So I've had my guy since mid November and his eyes are still saggy. He still gets veggies every day, fresh cut, gets misted, baths every couple days, soaks on his own in the tank and I've seen him drink in the baths a couple times.
And his poops are usually normal, solid brown with some good white urates but occasionally he has some watery poops with no urates, just liquidly brown and lots of water.
Also, ultra stinky. I have to open the windows for those, its unbearable.
When I first got him, he had just recovered from coccidia. He was treated for two weeks for it. But all of the stores Dragons were treated. But only the biggest dragon had a fecal test and when it came back negative, the store assumed ALL the dragons were negative. Could he possibly still have coccidia? Would I have not seen signs earlier? He's been eating, growing and shedding like a champ with only a few stinky, watery poops. Mostly when he gets more veggies than live food. Which would make sense but its not like I don't feed him live for days and only veggies. He gets veggies every day and live every day, just smaller amounts of live some days and larger amounts on others.

I just can't figure out why his eyes are still droopy. He's been very well hydrated for months. Do some dragons just never recover from severe dehydration?

 

[Monkeys563]

The soaks are good make sure he's hydrated. I had this issue with my boy but it never seemed to really effect him. His poops still stink really bad but he's tested negative for everything.
What kind of uvb are you using? Mines problem eye problem was solved a week or so after changing his 10.0 coil bulb to a t5 tube. I've seen a huge difference in him since. I really don't know about the smell, I think your right about it being the veggies always seems to be worse when he eats a lot of greens.
If all else fails and your really worried I'd say take him to the vet, but if he's acting normal and seems healthy he's probably okay.

 

[Canicke]

Personally – I think he looks great! The only way to 100% rule out coccidia is by a fecal smear

 

[Andyurgay]

Sorry, I got derailed by work. He has a compact UVB for the time being while I locate an affordable t5. It is focused on his basking and resting spot. He also gets natural sun daily through an open window when the light shines right through. He will be upgraded to a t5 in the next week or so. Also getting outside for the first time!
I'll be bringing him in for a fecal soon as well

 

[Mushuandcricket]

The compact UVB bulbs (spiral shape) have been know to cause eye problems in reptiles . I have seen it cause problems on forums once the owner changed to tubes or bulb the eye problems went away. I wish they would just stop selling them! That might be your problem with the eye. It would be an easy fix so I hope that is all it is.

Amazon has great prices. If you purchase the Zoomed T5HO light fixture it comes with a tube light in it.I just purchased one for $46. They last a year and put off high UVB.

 

[jarich]

It can take a long time for them to recover from chronic dehydration. I had a monitor that didnt go back to normal for about 7 months.

As for the smell, its basically a sign that something is disturbing the normal gut flora, whether thats parasites or the treatment itself is hard to say. It would be best to get it checked just so you know. There is no real way to tell if there are parasites other than via a lab test though. Parasites are not necessarily a bad thing, and they can live very healthy lives with parasites still. So there are no outward signs necessarily that they have them. If it becomes sick or otherwise immunosuppressed then the parasites can bloom and become a problem, which is why its best to know through a test.

 

[Andyurgay]

Okay maybe I was wrong about the compact bulb then. Its not one of the spiral shaped ones, its one of the compact tube bulbs, the ones you can screw into a normal dome light. I thought those were bad as well as the spiral ones? I avoided the spiral bulbs as I always knew they were bad so had him under the compact tube bulbs.
Was I confused and only the spiral shaped ones hurt their eyes?

I wanted to get him the long, straight tube uvbs as I've heard they produce more UVB and cover more of the tank.

 

[Mushuandcricket]

Okay maybe I was wrong about the compact bulb then. Its not one of the spiral shaped ones, its one of the compact tube bulbs, the ones you can screw into a normal dome light. I thought those were bad as well as the spiral ones? I avoided the spiral bulbs as I always knew they were bad so had him under the compact tube bulbs.
Was I confused and only the spiral shaped ones hurt their eyes?

I wanted to get him the long, straight tube uvbs as I've heard they produce more UVB and cover more of the tank.

Yes, they say the compact tubes your screw in the dome light along with the spiral type causes eye problems. The T5HO long tubes put put high UVB but you will still need a basking bulb for heat since they produce heat.

 

[jarich]

It's not so much that they are bad anymore, rather that the design itself is sort of inherently flawed. The result is that there is one small area of output, which tapers off very quickly to nothing. So you have no gradient really, just a small little bit of limited output in a tiny area directly under the light, and then pretty much nothing. It might work for a forest gecko, who does not require much UV exposure, but not really appropriate for a sun loving bearded dragon.

Most brands fixed the issue that was causing eye problems back around 2009/10, so that isnt really the concern anymore. Basically they were using cheap manufacturers that created glass and phosphors that released a lot of very short wavelength UVB and even UVC. Im not aware of any of the main companies that still have this issue.

 

[Andyurgay]

Ahh I see, that makes a lot of sense though. He spent most of his time under his cave, right where the UVB was pointing. But now I've finally got the 18 inch reptisun and suprise! He was out all day basking and eating. It really, really turned him around. Thanks for the info everyone. I am waiting for his next poop to check if he still needs a fecal done. I think I will just to be safe, they haven't been abnormal or wicked stinky for a long while, but I don't want to take chances with him. He's my main man, I love the little guy.

 

[PatsyB]

Good to hear he is doing better!

 

[Mushuandcricket]

Ahh I see, that makes a lot of sense though. He spent most of his time under his cave, right where the UVB was pointing. But now I've finally got the 18 inch reptisun and suprise! He was out all day basking and eating. It really, really turned him around. Thanks for the info everyone. I am waiting for his next poop to check if he still needs a fecal done. I think I will just to be safe, they haven't been abnormal or wicked stinky for a long while, but I don't want to take chances with him. He's my main man, I love the little guy.

Thanks for the update! That is great news !