Jackson's with strange growth on lip
- Thread starter radstusky
- Start date
Pilotman800
New Member
It looks like mouth rot to me. You should take him to a vet so they can prescribe the antibiotics necessary to cure him.
ChameleonNerd
New Member
camimom
New Member
Aside from the obvious of he needs a vet visit to treat it, what are the meds vets use to treat mouth rot? (Just curious in case I have to go to avet and they dont know about chams)
(I know cham experienced vets are best, I just havent found one near me yet, Ijust moved so im still loooking)
(I know cham experienced vets are best, I just havent found one near me yet, Ijust moved so im still loooking)
xanthoman
Avid Member
you probably should get him to a vet, mouth rot can be a sign of metabolic imbalance but it can also be caused by excess food debris that never completely clears, thats a common area for it to happen. i usually recommend cleaning that area out about once every mth or 2. jmo.
Carlton
Chameleon Enthusiast
No problem? I can't agree. Mouth rot can be very tricky to eradicate. It can recurr if a culture sensitivity test isn't done to diagnose the specific bacteria causing it. Just shotgunning with Baytril isn't the best option but very common. Baytril can be hard on your cham too.
Chase
Chameleon Enthusiast
Along with the numerous people above me, I too say it is mouth rot.
Here is an excerpt from a site with information on it (http://chameleonnews.com/05DecRouthouska.html)-
"I have run into a couple mouth problems (one minor, the other more serious). The more serious one involved an adult male that had some swelling on his lower jaw. I brought him into the Vet and an abscess was removed along with a large portion of the skin. A culture was taken (DO THIS whenever you can - know what you are dealing with) and a Pseudomonas infection was identified (common reptile bacteria). I was given Ceftazidime (Ceptaz, Fortaz and Pentacef are examples) along with syringes for treatment. The infection did go away but the damage will take some time to completely heal. The other mouth issue was superficial and was cleared up with the same treatment.
Sometimes I catch mouth problems very early, and will usually treat the area with a Q-tip mildly dampened with some Virosan/Nolvasan. This disinfectant works great and I also use it to clean containers, tools, etc., I use to maintain my collection. It shouldn’t be consumed though so only use a very small amount on the Q-tip."
LPR08
Here is an excerpt from a site with information on it (http://chameleonnews.com/05DecRouthouska.html)-
"I have run into a couple mouth problems (one minor, the other more serious). The more serious one involved an adult male that had some swelling on his lower jaw. I brought him into the Vet and an abscess was removed along with a large portion of the skin. A culture was taken (DO THIS whenever you can - know what you are dealing with) and a Pseudomonas infection was identified (common reptile bacteria). I was given Ceftazidime (Ceptaz, Fortaz and Pentacef are examples) along with syringes for treatment. The infection did go away but the damage will take some time to completely heal. The other mouth issue was superficial and was cleared up with the same treatment.
Sometimes I catch mouth problems very early, and will usually treat the area with a Q-tip mildly dampened with some Virosan/Nolvasan. This disinfectant works great and I also use it to clean containers, tools, etc., I use to maintain my collection. It shouldn’t be consumed though so only use a very small amount on the Q-tip."
LPR08
radstusky
Avid Member
Thanks for your info. I made an appointment to see the vet this Saturday. I tried to get an earlier appointment, but that was the earliest that worked out. He's been otherwise very healthy and weighs about 135 grams or so, which is hefty for a Jacksons I believe. I have a good vet so I am optimistic!
I'll let you know how it goes.
I'll let you know how it goes.
OldChamKeeper
Chameleon Enthusiast
Looks like a straight forward case of mouth rot. Numerous things can cause that. I once had a superworm that "bit" the inside of one animal's lip and caused an infection, same spot too.
If you have the option to take him to a Herp vet, that's the way to go to obtain the Nolvasan. If you don't have the option there is a an old mix I used back before Nolvasan was around I'll share. I'd avoid the baytril if you can since it is rough on most herps. However the final say would be your vet.
Now, you showed a pic (good pics by the way) of the outside. What's the inside look like? If the infection is extensive I would strongly say visit the vet if you have zero experience in dealing with that. If the infection is still mostly on the outside portion of the jawline you might be able to treat it with the topical method. from your pics I'd say it is very treatable, but some lab work helps take out the guesswork.
One thing nobody here mentioned, and from years of dealing with keepers I know it needs to be said is this: That infection needs treatment, it won't go away on it's own most likely just using the animal's own immune system. Some folks tend to wait and see if the problem will start to improve on it's own. In the case of a Cham you never waste time once you obeserve a problem, they just crash too fast.
Good luck. Part of keeping these interesting animals is learning their medical needs and that is some difficult stuff to learn from the school of hard knocks.
radstusky
Avid Member
I meant to post this sooner than this, but it is the busy holiday season. I took Drake to the vet last Saturday and after a quick glance he did confirm the mouth rot diagnosis. The medicine he gave me is SMZ-TMP pediatric suspension (aka bactrim, cotrim, sulfatrim...) which I give 0.1 ml every other day for a month. Hopefully that'll do the trick. I did ask him about the cause of mouth rot and he said that it could be from him not swallowing correctly and some part of his food getting stuck in his mouth.
I am optimistic that Drake will make a full recovery. He's become a very "robust" Jackson's chameleon weighing in at around 135 grams. The vet said he's one of the best he's seen. He was going to tweet his picture, but then I saw he didn't yet anyway. Here's a link to my vet, the "odd pet vet": http://www.wildlife-education-center.com/blog/2011/09/odd-pet-vet-is-now-on-twitter/
Action Jackson
Chameleon Enthusiast
Can you post a picture of him? Maybe on your hand or something for size reference. 135 grams is a big Jackson and would be cool to see.
radstusky
Avid Member
Sure, here are a couple of pics. They were taken two months ago when he was about 125 grams or so actually. I keep track of his growth so I'll go ahead and post a graph here too. You can see a dip in his weight back in April when he had a minor bout with MBD. I took him to the vet then and obviously he made a full recovery. I also posted about this back then too: https://www.chameleonforums.com/jacksons-health-concerns-55372/. When he's healthy again I'll take some more pics!
