Need advice on helping my girl through mouth rot :(

[EarthToEmily]

Alright. So I don't really post on here often but I do read through frequently, and I'm sure there are probably similar threads to mine on here but some personalized responses and tips would be nice

So here's the rundown. My little jacksons female, Penelope, has been showing signs of mouth rot for a couple (2ish) of weeks now, unfortunately today was the first that I could get her to a vet..had to go out of town and then the only herp vet around was all booked..

My vet says that she has a pretty bad bacterial infection, and is hopeful for a full recovery but right now the chances aren't great.

She perscribed Baytril and some powdery stuff to mix with water and syringe-feed (Penelope stopped eating insects the day I made my vet appt last week, unfortunately they were booked till today, I'm trying not to beat myself up but I keep telling myself I should have made the trip and found another vet who could see her sooner, no matter how far away...)

I'm trying not to make this super long, buttttttttt I guess I just need some advice on the best ways to do the syringe feeding, I'm trying my hardest to get her mouth open (using a real thin piece of clean plastic to pry her jaws open) but it seems like there has to be an easier way. We got back from the vet a few hours ago, I let her have some time to recover from the whole trip and then attempted to give her the Baytril and the powder mixture. The vet cleaned and scraped a lot of the infected blood and tissue from inside of her mouth but there's still blood, and it's breaking my heart to see her try to struggle away from me and to have her blood on my fingers when I'm done. I was able to pry her mouth open and give her doses of both but if anyone knows an easier way to do this I would really like the help.

Also, any other advice on helping her make it through this would be appreciated. Its crazy how quickly she went downhill. I really care about her and i just want her to be ok


Here's my husbandry stats, the vet said that everything I was doing looked good, just suggested I the vitamin A levels in her diet up a little.


Chameleon Info:
1. Chameleon: Jacksons, female, probably about 1.5 years old
2. Handling: we only take her out when cleaning her cage
3. Feeding: gutloaded superworms and crickets (gutload on fresh fruits and veggies)
4.Supplements: Calcium dusting once a week or so
5. Watering: Dripper going all day, misting for several minutes twice a day
6. Fecal Description: Normal, except she hasn't passed a urate in days since she hasn't been eating
7. History: She has been healthy since I got her from LLL Reptile, except for this

Cage Info:
Cage Type: Screen, about 12"x15"x30"
Lighting: Heat/basking bulb, 5.0 UVB bulb
Temperature: 90 in highest, about 75 in lowest. about 65-70 at night.
Humidity -about 50%
Plants - all artificial
Placement -my bedroom, not a high traffic area at all, she is up on my dresser
Location - WA state

 

[kinyonga]

Did the vet clean out the areas of the mouth that were/are infected and run a culture and sensitivity test on the exudate?

Before you syringe feed her try dripping water on her nose and when she opens her mouth stick an insect between her teeth and see if she will eat on her own. If she doesn't you can still use the watering idea to get her to open her mouth and ease the food from the syringe in while its opening. If you approach her with the syringe from below and to the side she may not notice it coming.

Why did he suggest that you increase the vitamin A??
Good luck with her!

 

[ataraxia]

your basking temp need to be lowered to high 70's-80 degrees. maybe try some live plants to get your humidity up.

encouragement: i recently went through a mouth rot problem. reptaid, tobramycin and provodone iodine worked for me. hes back to eating again... thank god!!

 

[EarthToEmily]

Thanks for your replies, both of you!!

About the vitamin A thing, I'm not sure why. The vet didn't actually even see her before she suggested it, nor had she been told about my husbandry. When I called her, the first thing she said after I said she had an infection was that I probably needed more Vitamin A?

And yes, the vet did put her under and scrape the dead tissue and try to get as much out as possible and run a culture.

As far as the basking temps, I did pull the lamp away from the cage a bit and now we are down to about 80 or so.

But anyway, she seems to be a little bit better today. I did not have such a hard time opening her mouth, and she was even feisty enough to gape at me a little today, which she definitely has not been doing. The blood was also not just freely flowing today.

However, I am more concerned about her eye today then I was yesterday--I can't remember if I posted anything about it yesterday but the whole side of her face on one side is swollen, including her eye. Its weird because her eyes will both look clear and fine one second, but the next this one is all clouded over looking and almost a beigh color. Since her little eyes are SOOO tiny, it's hard to tell if its her actual eye or just a little piece of skin going over the top of it I hope that made sense. Anyway, overall i think she is showing a tiny improvement but if her eye doesn't look better tomorrow I am taking her back in.

 

[EarthToEmily]

your basking temp need to be lowered to high 70's-80 degrees. maybe try some live plants to get your humidity up.

encouragement: i recently went through a mouth rot problem. reptaid, tobramycin and provodone iodine worked for me. hes back to eating again... thank god!!

Thank youuu, and i'm happy that your guy is ok again