Need help

[Louuis]

Hello, I have a female Nosy Be she's approximately in the 6-8 month range for age and has been acting a bit weird lately; I had taken her to the vet November 22, about fifteen days ago because her bottom lip wasn't flush with the top. I suspected she might be having a mouth rot problem and the vet confirmed it. There was a little bit of black on her gums and it was swollen, she was still feeding perfectly fine. The vet then prescribed me some medication to give her every other day and said I should dilute iodine and clean her gums as well. The same day I also bought a new uvb bulb but made the mistake of buying a 10.0. Today (12/7/2013) fifteen days later I finally bought a 5.0 once again. SO now with the back story established, my problem is that she's been sleeping during the day. Could the light have harmed her? Could the medication be possibly making her drowsy? Also another thing is that she's aggressive, she's easy to treat when she just has her mouth open but sometimes she gets out of hand and bites everything. Could the stress be inducing these sleeps?

Best

Louuis

 

[Louuis]

Also another inquiry; the uvb tube I got is flicker, its on but flicker. Should get a new one?

 

[Lathis]

The light didn't harm her. My experience has been that medication will reduce appetite but it has never made my cham sleepy. If she is sleeping during the day, it's more likely that she is still ill. It could be that the first round of medication did not kill the infection. I would recommend that you take her back to the vet.

She's aggressive because she doesn't feel well, your big face is all up in hers, and you're shoving nasty medicine in her mouth. Get through the illness, and then start "courting" her again with treats. Give her time to associate you with food and good things, be patient, and hopefully she will start to calm down. Some chams are never friendly, though, so she could just be crabby.

As for the flickering light - is it one of the long tube style? Try removing it from the fixture and reinstall it. It could be seated in the socket wrong. If that does not fix the problem, take it back and ask for it to be exchanged. It could be a bad bulb - new bulbs should not flicker.

 

[Louuis]

Thanks for the input; My concern still is that she wasn't acting like this until I started treatment. The prescription says to sty on this treatment for 30 days, I am on day 16 and I've seen no improvements, shes only gotten worse. (and she's always been aggressive, even when she was a baby)

 

[Louuis]

and by her actions I mean sleeping during the day not that she's being aggressive. The vet said she was fine besides the mouth rot problem, is mouth rot that serious as to making her sleep?

 

[ashutt19]

How old it the light fixture. Sometime the flicker isn't the bulb it self. It could the ballist.

 

[Lathis]

and by her actions I mean sleeping during the day not that she's being aggressive. The vet said she was fine besides the mouth rot problem, is mouth rot that serious as to making her sleep?

Yes, it could be. Mouth rot can get very serious, as the infection can spread into the bone and can become fatal. She could be very ill - animals are very good at hiding their illnesses until they are severe.

If it were me, I would call the vet to discuss my concerns, but keep her on the prescription unless told otherwise. A 30-day regimen seems pretty intense.

The meds are pretty hard on the chameleon, too. Make sure she is getting extra opportunities to drink and stay warm.

 

[Louuis]

So an update to this situation; I voiced my concerns to my vet, she said my case isn't that bad but its also not well, she said she's seen worse. My chameleons mouth is still swollen but there is no puss nor blood, her gums are dark in some places on the bottom and top lip but there are no open wounds or anything. She seems to still have an appetite but I haven't seen her poop in a while. She is also going on her third day of sleeping in and out during the day. Ive been wiping her mouth with bedatine, my vet said I should dilute iodine, as bedatine contains iodine, should I still dilute the bedatine or not? my vet hasn't gotten back to me yet so I haven't had the opportunity to ask