Beginnings of Mouth Rot??

[Poptartjake]

My 1 year old jackson's has a black spot or two on the under side of her mouth along with some orange crustie like stuff in the corners of her mouth. I read the orange stuff could be from to large of feeders, but I am worries about the black spots.

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

Hello! Im no expert but what it looks like to me is a gland infection not mouth rot. These infections are very common in jacksons and cause the corner of the mouth to swell and usually the animal will stop eating. If this is the case, you need a vet to prescribe antibiotics. Hope this helps, maybe it will lead you in the right direction.

 

[Carlton]

I think the most conservative thing to do is first, see if you can inspect the inside of her mouth at the corners where the temporal gland is. If she'll gape at you take a close look, or at least hold her mouth open with a finger so you can check. Roll her lip back to look for any reddened areas, swelling, or other discoloration. Yes, the crusty stuff can be residue from crushing and chewing an insect but you can gently wipe this away with a wet Q tip. If you see any sign of infection I would take her to a herp vet. Several forum members have successfully treated these infections if caught early so I'd do a thread search on temporal gland infections.

Another thing that might help fight this off is to increase the citrus content of your feeder gutload. Offer your feeders fresh citrus fruit if you don't now. I have read that increasing the citric acid (vit C) in the diet can change the pH of the cham's saliva and that might help her fight off the infection. It won't hurt anyway.

 

[Poptartjake]

I think the most conservative thing to do is first, see if you can inspect the inside of her mouth at the corners where the temporal gland is. If she'll gape at you take a close look, or at least hold her mouth open with a finger so you can check. Roll her lip back to look for any reddened areas, swelling, or other discoloration. Yes, the crusty stuff can be residue from crushing and chewing an insect but you can gently wipe this away with a wet Q tip. If you see any sign of infection I would take her to a herp vet. Several forum members have successfully treated these infections if caught early so I'd do a thread search on temporal gland infections.

Another thing that might help fight this off is to increase the citrus content of your feeder gutload. Offer your feeders fresh citrus fruit if you don't now. I have read that increasing the citric acid (vit C) in the diet can change the pH of the cham's saliva and that might help her fight off the infection. It won't hurt anyway.

I will increase her citrus intake as much as possible and I haven't seen any reddening or swelling at all. She eats fine and doesn't seemed bothered or anything.

Also, could my Chameleon's nature just be mild and lazy? She doesn't move a lot but I know she can when she wants to like for feeding or running from my hand :s

 

[Carlton]

I will increase her citrus intake as much as possible and I haven't seen any reddening or swelling at all. She eats fine and doesn't seemed bothered or anything.

Also, could my Chameleon's nature just be mild and lazy? She doesn't move a lot but I know she can when she wants to like for feeding or running from my hand :s

A cham that feels fairly contented and has what she needs isn't all that active. She'll tend to spend a lot of her day in a favorite spot once she's warmed up for the day, eaten, or gotten a drink. After all, a cham's best defense is not to attract attention by moving for no reason. Now if she's sitting dark or with stress colors constantly, not eating, basking or drinking, that isn't normal.