Weird mouth issue

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Knucklesam
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Weird mouth issue

Postby Knucklesam » Sun Jan 19, 2014 6:22 pm

I'll start by saying I have my BTS(Peaches) in a 36x18x18 glass aquarium. The basking spot stays pretty constant around 100-102 with the ambient temperature staying anywhere from 70-78 depending on the temperature outside (Northern Florida winter temperatures fluctuate wildly). I've been having some issues with her recently where she hasn't been eating over the last few weeks. I've had her going about a year I think and I've never had her go this long without eating. She generally goes about a week before she sheds without eating, but once she sheds she usually picks right back up eating like a beast. I've read a lot about them brumating, and we just recently started having the cold air set in here. I was thinking maybe that was it because she's much grumpier and just hides out pretty much all the time. But I noticed a couple lumps on each side of her mouth within the past couple of days that I don't think have been there before recently. I immediately looked up pictures of mouth rot because I feared that might be what it was. However, all the pictures I've seen of mouthrot look down right nasty. I'm a little confused because there is one on each side opposite of each other. I wouldn't think that mouth rot would form symmetrical. Hopefully you guys can help because I'm not really sure if it's something I need to act on or leave alone.

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Susann
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Re: Weird mouth issue

Postby Susann » Mon Jan 20, 2014 10:21 am

You need to find a way to look inside her mouth, make sure that the gums around the affected area isn't turning a different color from the rest of her mouth.
Lots of BTS have lip scales that turn out like that, but this is pretty pronounced.
If she's over a year old, I would not worry about her not eating for a few weeks, that is completely normal, especially when weather turns cooler. Grumpiness can come with it as well. :)
Breeder and keeper of Meraukes from 2010 to 2022.
Knucklesam
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Re: Weird mouth issue

Postby Knucklesam » Mon Jan 20, 2014 12:00 pm

I opened her mouth a little yesterday kind of just to see if she would let me do it, and surprisingly she did. She wasn't very happy about it though. I'll try to get a closer look today. Since I've got a second set of hands available I'll try to get a close up picture.
Knucklesam
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Re: Weird mouth issue

Postby Knucklesam » Thu Jan 23, 2014 5:28 pm

Just wanted to follow up by saying that I got some chlorhexidine and I've been swabbing the areas in question once or twice a day. Some of the swelling has gone down and also some of the discoloration has already gone away. I'm going to continue this for probably two weeks to make sure it goes away. She also devoured her food today which is a huge departure from the running away from it she has been doing.
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Susann
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Re: Weird mouth issue

Postby Susann » Fri Jan 24, 2014 2:21 am

Chlorhexidine is not good to use on reptiles, especially on broken areas as it can be damaging to tissues,
(look under Treatment Of Wounds: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=15239)
but I'm not sure about the use on mouth issues like this...
Breeder and keeper of Meraukes from 2010 to 2022.
Romeyrider
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Re: Weird mouth issue

Postby Romeyrider » Sun May 18, 2014 5:08 am

How is your BTS doing?
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Susann
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Re: Weird mouth issue

Postby Susann » Sun May 18, 2014 2:16 pm

We ask that threads that are over 3 months old not be revived. You are welcome to send the original poster a PM to inquire about his skink, or feel free to start a new thread on the subject if you'd like more info than can be found through using the search function at the top of this forum.
Breeder and keeper of Meraukes from 2010 to 2022.

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