It’s gone from bad to worse.

[Legally_Vanilla]

Hi everyone.

I have a quick question.
I have a Rankin dragon who is 10 years old. Full of life and doing well.
Couple of months ago he got an eye infection from his substrate. Took him to the vets who cleaned his eyes, gave meds and eye drops.
Seemed to be doing great until he stopped opening one of his eyes. Was told that it’s because it’s swollen and that it’ll correct itself soon.
Cut to today, I had him out as usual and he opened his closed eye. It’s black and sticking right out (photo attached). He was trying to scratch it and was rubbing it on my leg.

Does anyone know if his eye is dead? Looks awful. Hasn’t bothered him at all apart from that one scratch and rub earlier. He hasn’t touched it since.

Any advise would be very much appreciated. He’s eating/drinking and running about as normal. Perfect health other than this one eye.

 

[HoomanSlave]

It looks like it was/still is severely infected. Please get him to the vet, there may be an ongoing issue with it.
What substrate were you using that caused this? Please get rid of it if you have not already.

 

[Legally_Vanilla]

Appt is going to be made on Monday as they are closed over the weekend. Only noticed it today as he opened it for the first time since infection.

The substrate was a substitute from his normal one which was out of stock but I was assured by the ‘reptile expert’ in the shop that it would be absolutely fine plus it said on the packaging for dragons etc. I removed it after a day in the tank as was able to get his actual sand.

 

[Legally_Vanilla]

Unsure who to delete post but will be calling vets Monday to figure out what’s going on. If anyone can respond with how to delete a post, that would be great. Appreciate the replies I’ve had so far.

 

[Bailey]

Hope he gets treated well and it isn't too serious. That looks a little painful

 

[Emilia Thuet]

Heads up any sand or loose substrate can be bad for them due to the fact that they can harbour bacteria and can lead to things such as infections, parasite, impaction issues. Best thing to get them is something that isn’t loose such as tile (I find that this is the best one), non-adhesive shelf liners, paper towel, I’ve even used felt before. These are the safest for substrates for beardies

 

[HoomanSlave]

If you do decide to use a loose substrate, it should not be sand. Beardies don't live on sand in the wild, they live on a sandy soil type of ground. Blend some organic, non fertilized soil (nothing added at all) with a bit of sand and use that instead. Pure sand can stain your beardie's scales, cause impaction, and give than all kinds of complications. Most, if not all, loose substrates marketed for beardies are not actually safe, especially vitamin/calcium sands, which are even worse than regular sand.
The "reptile experts" at pet stores are forced by their managers to sell as many products as possible, even if they know better than to recommend them. You were likely told to select that one because they didn't want to lose a customer.

One of the best substrate options is to use a rubber shelf liner for the main substrate and eating area, and provide a dig box at the opposite end. That way, your beardie gets the burrowing and enrichment provided by the dig box without the dangers. Dirt is also pretty easy to wipe off the shelf liner.

 

[Legally_Vanilla]

If you do decide to use a loose substrate, it should not be sand. Beardies don't live on sand in the wild, they live on a sandy soil type of ground. Blend some organic, non fertilized soil (nothing added at all) with a bit of sand and use that instead. Pure sand can stain your beardie's scales, cause impaction, and give than all kinds of complications. Most, if not all, loose substrates marketed for beardies are not actually safe, especially vitamin/calcium sands, which are even worse than regular sand.
The "reptile experts" at pet stores are forced by their managers to sell as many products as possible, even if they know better than to recommend them. You were likely told to select that one because they didn't want to lose a customer.

One of the best substrate options is to use a rubber shelf liner for the main substrate and eating area, and provide a dig box at the opposite end. That way, your beardie gets the burrowing and enrichment provided by the dig box without the dangers. Dirt is also pretty easy to wipe off the shelf liner.

Thanks for the advice.

We've been using sand for 10 years with him now. No issues, he's always been of perfect health. It was the sandy soil type substrate that gave him this infection after one day.

I kind of wanted to know what I was going to hear from the vets tomorrow so I could prep myself. If his eye had died and what that would mean for him.