EYELID STUCK CLOSED AFTER NAPPING-WHAT CAN I DO?

[Trooper]

This seems to be Trooper's month: first he got a small injury on his right cheek and it swelled up. Then he got his middle finger claw torn and it swelled up. Now I am writing about his eyelid.
Particularly his right eyelid. Every time (or at least it seems as every time) he wakes up from a nap or overnight sleep, he would wake up with his right eyelid stuck closed. It is not closed glue-tight like conjunctivitis, because he can sometimes get it open on his own by rubing his hand over it or I can wet my finger and get it "unglued" in 5 to 10 seconds, I suspect it is not such a big deal.

All his beds (he has 3) are filed with pillow "polyfill" fluff material, and this condition happens whether he is in one or another bed and even after I changed for fresh filler material.

Is there a drug/chemical I can treat Trooper to prevent or avoid this condition?

Thanks,

Trooper's dad

[Jen413]

I'm not sure if this is Troopers issue, but my Sammy has some disfunction with his right eye that causes him to produce white tears in that eye. Occasionally it will seal his eye shut when he naps. It's never gunky like you said, just sealed closed. Every once in a while he will have a teeny tiny whit spot at the rear duct when this happens where the white tears have dried. Has he had white tears that you've seen?

[lennysmom]

My 3 year old Angel has the same issue with one of his eyes from time to time and I have no idea what causes it.:dono I do have to help him open it on occasion like you do with Trooper. I've always equated it to something like "sleep" in our eyes. It doesn't really seem to bother him that much so I've never stressed too much about it but I have always wondered what causes it as he is the only squirrel I've ever had to struggle with that issue.:thinking

[Diggie's Friend]

Our girl had this happen when we gave her some TP and she began to make a nest out of it, so we gave her more. When she completed the bottom she made a top; then inside it pulled it over her head. When she awoke her eyes were stuck closed, as the paper has absorbed so much of the moisture.

Should you give any TP. or absorbant paper towels to your squirrel remove them and not use them again. Even without paper sheeting this may occur during the dry months, especially the squirrel isn't drinking enough water; but also in the colder months, when the heaters are on. Just one of those things that you eventually see when caring for squirrels.


If this happens, don't wait for the squirrel to get it unstuck, as they will use their claw to try to open it up, that may result in eye being scratched. Instead, take a lukewarm damp wash cloth and with one finger over it, gently blot the eye lid(s) till they loosen and fully pop open.

Another way is to use a non needle syringe using pure lukewarm water to gently irrigate the eyeids, then blot; just not too close lest the squirrel moves suddenly, and bumps their eye.

As for our girl's 'opus nest', we had to throw away. I wish we had, had the presense of mind to take a photo of it though before we did.

[Lighten-Up]

I had this happen to a squee I had overwintering in the house before release. I was horrified when I went to find I had a one eyed squirrel looking at me. I did not know what to do, being my first squirrel. I was relieved to find that it opened on its own in a short amount of time. It happened a second time while she was in my care. And yes, my squirrels had padded their inside nests with toilet paper and tissues. Thank you Diggie for that correlation.

I saw it happen one more time with that girl when she was outside. And yes, she was living inside the RC in a toilet paper nest. (full roof over it, or I never would have given toilet paper if it would get wet) Interesting. I may consider not using toilet paper again....It was so much fun to watch them unroll it and make a nest with it...

[Diggie's Friend]

It is 'pretty disturbing' when you first see them not able to open one or both of their eyes. They so like the paper, but were meant to use leaves and moss to make their nests, not highly absorbent human resources. From then on we only used fleece (indoors); even then they got their nails caught on the boarder stitching, which in learning we removed to prevent them from being entangled in it.

There was a yard squirrel at my mother's house that ripped into her lawn chair pads to get the poly stuffing for their nest; beyond this obviously not endearing tree squirrels to residents, baby squirrels in the nest can become tangled in it, perhaps even suffocate.

In my desire to support tree squirrels in need, both in and out of doors, I found it needful to educate myself in their natural biology. Of all the issues I have encountered, the greatest challenge by far has been their diet.