parsonii mouth rot?

[Twitchet]

Thanks Garrett, I'm thinking some of that wont be possible with him, but I'll start off with the paint brush and try and get closer- he's not going to be that pleased though. With my fine brush I can push the lips ape=art anyway and reach the infected area , just dont want him to have a horrible taste but guess thats better than an infection. Thanks again.

 

[Extensionofgreen]

I'm glad that he allows the application of a paste for you.
If you are interested in chlorahexadine. Try searching for the concentrate, as that is what you want and it won't contain the other ingredients. It is a wonderful thing for soaking injured chameleon feet in and cleansing wounds, cage furniture, and of course, mouth issues.

The edema looks vastly improved and find parsonii have a bit of neck waddle. So it helps to pay close attention to the interstitial skin, the skin between the scales, as when you notice the skin has stretched enough to make the little valleys between the scales visible, that's how you know it's swelling vs their typical loose skin.
Keen observation, which you obviously have, is 9/10ths the battle, IME.

 

[Twitchet]

Hey Drew, thanks for that, the interstitial skin-I'm looking at the photo and I see a few orange lines between the scales on the lower part of her throat different to some of the other gaps between the scale patterns? Is that what a swelling area would look like. I ask so that I become aware for the future and I can better identity it. Many thanks again. I'm pleased with how they are doing, getting better rather than worse!

 

[Extensionofgreen]

Yes, you'll see more of those orange areas, looking like streams and rivers on a map, when the area is swollen. She looks either perfectly well or still with the slightest touch of edema, so you're doing very well with your new parsons.

 

[Twitchet]

Oh goody, another thing to obsess about Seriously thank very much for telling me about that, I see the rivers of orange, really handy to know what's normal or off normal, all adds to my knowledge about parsons, I seem to spend vast parts of the day looking after their needs , the rest of the time I just worry about their needs!!! Lol
D'oh, I HAVE chlorohexidine already! We had a dog with a bad itchy skin and we bought some antimicrobial scrub called Hibiscrub, it's 4% and it's very good, the reviews on Amazon is why I got it, anyway that's looks promising. I'll check out the product range to find the best one and buy new.
So if I can sort this out my last stumbling block with him is whether he is a male or female.!
Thanks so much again and thanks for your kind comments, I am very aware of how fragile these things are and am trying my best but sometimes I panic and think I shouldn't of got them so thanks for your positive comments.

 

[OldChamKeeper]

This is another one of those parson's specific problems that's really common.
My personal opinion is that it's an infection, but localized and not overly aggressive, like gingivitis. These guys have really soft skin, and are not very tolerant to any kind of bacteria loads so any little scrape or abrasion, stuck food etc. on the lips can start developing these marks.
Both sides of the mouth in the same place is the most common location, that's where the insect gets crushed against the lips when they chew. Usually it doesn't progress past this stage, but they can develop stomatitis that involves the gums, teeth and jaw so it's a good idea to stay on top of it. I've been able to completely cure this by brushing their lips twice daily with a very soft toothbrush and betadine. Look for any stuck skin or flaps that move when you brush, a lot of times these are encapsulated and need to be debrided a bit. Don't be afraid if they bleed a little, normal. It takes a few weeks of this routine, these guys are really slow healers.
I'm not sure if there's a way to completely prevent this, I think feeder cleanliness and overall health is much more important in prevention than hard shells or leg spines on insects. I never bother removing parts of bugs before feeding and almost never see this in my own animals. I "have" seen this consistently with animals that came to me from someone else, so they must have been doing something differently, or they weren't kept in ideal conditions (parsonii margin of error is about +/-5%)
Your guy looks great otherwise, I don't think this requires a vet visit.
I would double check the inside of the mouth for any redness or sores just to be safe.

This

 

[Twitchet]

This ?

 

[Andie]

Yes, he's very shy- lived out of the way of much human traffic- he is cb though, but now he moved to a new viv and is in my eye line so there's been big changes in his life, I do see an improvement though, he took 2 weeks of not wanting to eat much, then all of a sudden gave in and now I dont worry about him losing condition and he eats regularly, if he skips a day i know the next day he'll eat- he's taking food from forceps with me in his view so thats a great leap forward.. Thanks

Hi T. Wow! That's great progress! Happy to hear he's finally used to you.

 

[Twitchet]

Hey Andie, Even better progress today- I stood full on infront of him- there were no leaves or cover between him and me, i usually hide behind foliage or tilt the angle of my body and look away from him,, thought there's no way he will eat with me looking at him so closely and he took a big dubia. I was amazed. The change from when he first got here is amazing.