Overbite and possible mouth rot
Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2015 10:18 pm
So a month or so ago after my Northern bluey shed the scales right above his mouth I realized they were flared out a bit, like he had a bit of an overbite. I assumed this was just because of some weird shedding thing and nothing to worry about (he was eating and behaving normally).
Well a few weeks ago my bluey burned a small spot on his chin due to resting it on some hot glass that was too close to a baseboard heater (long story, it was a simple mistake and will not occur again) so I took him to the vet. When I was examining his chin from below I realized that the inside of my skink's lip looked a little red and crusty in the places where his scales were flared out. So when I was at the vet getting the burn checked out (I have a very good reptile vet) I pointed out the possible mouth issue. The vet looked and said he didn't think it looked like mouth rot, but that if I was worried I could irrigate his mouth with dilute disinfectant.
I've irrigated the spots on the insides of his lips with an irrigation syringe and .25% Nolvasan solution (with his head facing downwards so it drains out of his mouth). However I think he may still be swallowing some of the solution which worries me. If the case is mild enough that my vet doesn't seem to think it's an issue should I just keep my bluey extra clean and feed him less juicy foods and let it heal on its own? I don't want to risk him getting sick from swallowing disinfectant over something very minor (he also licks some of the silver sulfadene cream I put on his burned chin which worries me as well).
I will try to post pictures soon, but he doesn't like his mouth being opened and it's hard to get a good picture.
Mostly I'm curious if anyone else has seen this overbite thing before and if it is usually linked to mouth rot. I also wonder if the overbite was due to the possible mouth infection or if the overbite caused food to get stuck in those places which then caused the mouth infection.
Well a few weeks ago my bluey burned a small spot on his chin due to resting it on some hot glass that was too close to a baseboard heater (long story, it was a simple mistake and will not occur again) so I took him to the vet. When I was examining his chin from below I realized that the inside of my skink's lip looked a little red and crusty in the places where his scales were flared out. So when I was at the vet getting the burn checked out (I have a very good reptile vet) I pointed out the possible mouth issue. The vet looked and said he didn't think it looked like mouth rot, but that if I was worried I could irrigate his mouth with dilute disinfectant.
I've irrigated the spots on the insides of his lips with an irrigation syringe and .25% Nolvasan solution (with his head facing downwards so it drains out of his mouth). However I think he may still be swallowing some of the solution which worries me. If the case is mild enough that my vet doesn't seem to think it's an issue should I just keep my bluey extra clean and feed him less juicy foods and let it heal on its own? I don't want to risk him getting sick from swallowing disinfectant over something very minor (he also licks some of the silver sulfadene cream I put on his burned chin which worries me as well).
I will try to post pictures soon, but he doesn't like his mouth being opened and it's hard to get a good picture.
Mostly I'm curious if anyone else has seen this overbite thing before and if it is usually linked to mouth rot. I also wonder if the overbite was due to the possible mouth infection or if the overbite caused food to get stuck in those places which then caused the mouth infection.