abidahreptiles
New Member
i was sent this on fb this morning .. there was no link or anything so i dont know where my other half found it
mouth problems aren't uncommon in xanths, especially in the back corner, where the upper lip meets the lower lip, and especially if they are fed a lot of larger crickets. why would the feeder type/size matter? when they eat a fly or something, they generally get the entire feeder in their mouth , but, when they eat a larger crick or dubia, hornworm etc, then they often have 1/2 of the feeder sticking out the side of their mouth, as they chew, it creates a bug paste of sorts and this tends to stick in the corners of their mouth. they are not very good at cleaning this on their own.
i usually do a preventative cleaning of this area about once a month or as needed. in otherwise healthy chams the issue will often go away without meds if it is just properly cleaned/flushed. i usually use a qtip with the fuzzy part cut off, and a saline filled curved tip dental syringe for this. usually the prob is cleared up in a couple of days, sometimes a repeat cleaning is necessary,
if its farther forward in the mouth it may be a different issue.
as with all cham health problems, the longer you wait the harder it is to reverse.
ps betadyne is not an antibiotic, it is an antiseptic/disinfectant and contains iodine which, imo, makes it a poor choice for cham issues in general, but especially mouth issues.
personally i would start with saline, if that doesnt help, i would try hydrogen peroxide, (being careful not to get so much in the mouth that it is capable of draining down their esophagus or being aspirated.
if neither of those approaches work, then its probably time to switch to a broad spectrum antibiotic and probably consider vet care as the antibiotic would best be targeted to the infecting organism.
mouth problems aren't uncommon in xanths, especially in the back corner, where the upper lip meets the lower lip, and especially if they are fed a lot of larger crickets. why would the feeder type/size matter? when they eat a fly or something, they generally get the entire feeder in their mouth , but, when they eat a larger crick or dubia, hornworm etc, then they often have 1/2 of the feeder sticking out the side of their mouth, as they chew, it creates a bug paste of sorts and this tends to stick in the corners of their mouth. they are not very good at cleaning this on their own.
i usually do a preventative cleaning of this area about once a month or as needed. in otherwise healthy chams the issue will often go away without meds if it is just properly cleaned/flushed. i usually use a qtip with the fuzzy part cut off, and a saline filled curved tip dental syringe for this. usually the prob is cleared up in a couple of days, sometimes a repeat cleaning is necessary,
if its farther forward in the mouth it may be a different issue.
as with all cham health problems, the longer you wait the harder it is to reverse.
ps betadyne is not an antibiotic, it is an antiseptic/disinfectant and contains iodine which, imo, makes it a poor choice for cham issues in general, but especially mouth issues.
personally i would start with saline, if that doesnt help, i would try hydrogen peroxide, (being careful not to get so much in the mouth that it is capable of draining down their esophagus or being aspirated.
if neither of those approaches work, then its probably time to switch to a broad spectrum antibiotic and probably consider vet care as the antibiotic would best be targeted to the infecting organism.
