Advice please. Eye cap? I can't tell what's going on here. Indention in eye.

[Stingray74]

Hey all,
Had one of the girls out today and noticed that she had an indention of some sort on her eye. The eye looks clear, and doesn't appear to be a retained cap, but I may be wrong. Regardless, it's definitely indented. Husbandry is rock-solid. I unfortunately did not save her last shed to verify the cap. Humidity is a constant 60%. She's never missed a meal and shows zero issues at all. I have this girl out all the time and I've never seen this before today. Your thoughts? Thanks in advance for your time to reply.

[bcr229]

That's usually a sign of dehydration. What kind of setup is she in and what are you using to measure humidity?

[Stingray74]

That's usually a sign of dehydration. What kind of setup is she in and what are you using to measure humidity?

Thanks, BCR. She's in a 20 gallon long display tank and is 9 months old. Substrate has been paper towels from day one. Using an AcuRite with remote sensor in the tank, as well as a VE temp/humidity probe. The VE currently reads 55% humidity in there, which the probe is dead center in the tank. The AcuRite reads 52% on cold side and 59% on warm side. Pics coming soon.

[Stingray74]

20L with Herpstat 2 regulating overhead CHE and Ultratherm heat pad underneath on warm side (right side in this pic). I control the humidity with the plexiglass pieces on top. Add and remove pieces as the seasons change. Looks much better than tin foil IMHO, and can be easily "tweaked" by adding and removing pieces as needed.

[bcr229]

I'd guess she's still dry - it's hard to have a humid environment with paper towel or newspaper as substrate and not have the paper turn into a sopping wet mess.

Try adding a second water bowl or a damp sponge in a shallow dish or zip-lock plastic container. The sponge provides a lot of surface area for evaporation which helps keep the humidity up.

[zina10]

Like bcr229 said, its usually a sign of dehydration. Despite the Plexi, its still very dry on paper towels. Yet when misted, they stay pretty wet.

You might need to change to a substrate that helps retain moisture without being swampy, like a coco substrate. Esp. with a overhead heat source sucking the humidity right down..

The eye is not permanently damaged, it will straighten out again!!

[Stingray74]

Thanks for the information all. I'll try increasing the humidity and see how it goes.