VET CASE STUDY:
This is a Be Kind To Pets Veterinary Educational Video -
Vet Case Study.
Dr Sing Kong Yuen, BVMS (Glasgow)
13 Jun 2025
THE RED-EARED SLIDER SHUTS HIS EYES WHEN HE
IS IN THE WATER. WHAT CAUSES THIS ABNORMAL
BEHAVIOUR?
TELE-CONSULTATION VIA WHATSAPP
On 3 Jun 2025, I got a WhatsApp text from an owner
of two 1-year-old male red-eared sliders. One slider
shuts his eyes when he is in the tank water and
stops eating the pellets. Normally sliders' eyes
are open when they are in the water.
What is the cause of this abnormal behaviour?
The owner texted that this slider opens his eyes when he is taken out of the water. Why?
I asked the owner to send phone videos of the sliders in the
water, taking close-up of the eye area and the whole tank views.
TWO adult male red-eared sliders are housed in a water tank with
a large orange floating platform, water filtration system
and water temperature set at 29 deg C during night-time.
The videos show one slider is aggressive towards the sibling. He swims towards
his sibling, extends his long sharp claws to pat the eyes of the other.
All adult male sliders have much longer claws than the females.
His claws must have had injured the eyelids of the victim. Hence the victim's
eyelids shut when he is in the water facing clawing from his sibling.
The following video shows two well equipped tanks of
four healthy one-year-old sliders.
The tank with the orange floating platform houses the two male sliders
while the white tank houses two female sliders.
The problem is with the male sliders. What lead to this eye problem?
In this video, you can see that the orange floating
platform is too long and wide while the tank
too small to accomodate two adult red-eared sliders.
Both spend more time below the platform.
"They do climb up to the platform to bask", the owner said.
Certainly, the two sliders look fit and healthy as they have
excellent lighting and feeding.
My veterinary advice is to get a bigger water tank so that
the victim can swim further away from the aggressor slider.
Other than getting a bigger tank, what are
other solutions?
Bullying behaviour is present in sliders as in children
in the school. Housing the male sliders separately will
resolve this problem of eye injuries.
The claws must have had injured the eyelids of the victim. The pain results in the eyelids closed to prevent eye trauma. When the sliders are out of the water, the victim is able to open his eyes normally, as the other slider is separated further away from him.
CONCLUSION
The likely cause of the eyes shutting is the eyelid traumatic injuries due to the other male slider’s long claws poking into the victim’s eyelids.After separation for 3 days, the victim opens his eyes when he is in the water and has recovered his appetite.The owner is advised to get a larger tank.
After separation for 3 days, the victim opens
his eyes when he is in the water and has a
good appetite. I advise the owner to get a larger tank.
To view other educational videos:
www.youtube.com/c/99pups
To buy photos of red-eared sliders:
www.shutterstock.com/g/toapayohvets
UPDATES:
https://2010vets.blogspot.com/2025/06/vet-case-study-slider-shuts-his-eyes.html
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.