Weird Mouth Thing (final update)

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Toady
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Weird Mouth Thing (final update)

Postby Toady » Tue Jul 03, 2018 5:56 am

is it vet time for Babylegs? the very point of his bottom lip has a black mark (maybe scab?) on the inside, making it a little swollen. Does this seem like mouth rot,or maybe an injury?

1530630340562.JPEG
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Last edited by Toady on Tue Jul 10, 2018 5:51 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Weird Mouth Thing

Postby Toady » Tue Jul 03, 2018 8:07 am

Edit: Posted the picture! I don't know why it didn't work before.

Btw, he's usually not that squinty, I just woke him up for the pic lol
He doesn't have any sort of thick saliva, he let me open up his mouth after some protesting (he's always been a very calm lizard) and it's just the tip that seems to have some kind of scabbing on it. Rest of his mouth looks healthy. He also ate back on friday, so he hasn't had any problems eating as of late. I also found him with a small piece of bedding sticking out of his mouth when I recognized it so maybe he just chewed on it.... me and Babylegs would like some advice :)
Last edited by Toady on Tue Jul 03, 2018 8:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Weird Mouth Thing (help?)

Postby Whnthsungoesdwn » Tue Jul 03, 2018 8:14 am

Personally I would just keep an eye on it. Kinda hard to see in the pic. Just watch to make sure no redness, discharged, swelling, spreading, etc
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Re: Weird Mouth Thing (help?)

Postby Toady » Tue Jul 03, 2018 8:20 am

It does seem to be much more pink than usual. I managed to snap a pic of his mouth! He has a very calm disposition so it wasn't that hard:
1530631153963.JPEG

It's also not debris, I tried gently cleaning it with a damp paper towel.
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Re: Weird Mouth Thing (help?)

Postby Whnthsungoesdwn » Tue Jul 03, 2018 9:11 am

How long has it been like this?
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Re: Weird Mouth Thing (help?)

Postby Toady » Tue Jul 03, 2018 9:26 am

Only just today.
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Re: Weird Mouth Thing (help?)

Postby Whnthsungoesdwn » Tue Jul 03, 2018 9:27 am

I’d let others weigh in. But personally, I’d give it a few days to see what happens. If it gets worse, bring him in.
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Re: Weird Mouth Thing (help?)

Postby kayla990 » Tue Jul 03, 2018 10:52 am

Hmm, that's odd (admitably, didn't see which part at first - but now can see the swelling/mark you're referring to). Difficult to say a possible cause - do you think the mark could be dried blood? As a guess, he may have bitten down on something hard.. but hoping others have come across something similar for a more definite answer. I would keep watch on if he's still eating/drinking well.

And as mentioned - watch for any further swelling/discharge. At this point I would presume the swelling should go back down on it's own (by tomorrow likely). If it doesn't - I would get a checkup (as not entirely sure what the dark mark is, just to make sure there's no secondary infection).

Just a secondary question - what subspecies is he? I'm probably over cautious from aspen bedding, but believe that the dryness can cause more cracking of the skin (as it makes the environment very dry).
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Re: Weird Mouth Thing (help?)

Postby Toady » Tue Jul 03, 2018 12:40 pm

It's likely I was just being overly cautious, which isn't exactly a bad thing! the swelling has already gone down a bit from this morning, it looks like he probably crunched down on something hard. I'm going to keep a really close eye on it, though.

Oh! he's a meruake, and only the top half of his bedding is aspen, just because it's so good for tunneling, lol. The rest is coco :) I usually mix it up a little bit but it tends to separate.
1530630815918.JPEG
Here's a full pic of him in all his glory.
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Re: Weird Mouth Thing (help?)

Postby kayla990 » Tue Jul 03, 2018 10:12 pm

Pretty skink! Since you have a Merauke I would really recommend to get rid of the aspen (even if it is partial) as it would cause the humidity to fluctuate too much (unless you live in an extrememly humid environment already that is 60%+ naturally). What are your readings like? They should be able to burrow well in just the cococoir (and if you'd like more sturdy substrate, adding in cypress mulch, sphagnum moss, cocohusk or things like repti-bark would be much better vs aspen - as all of these can help retain humidity; and the sphagnum moss is thought to have additional benefits such as antibacterial values :) )

Really glad to hear the swelling went down! I wouldn't say you're being overly cautious, I would be too seeing that :D
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Re: Weird Mouth Thing (help?)

Postby Toady » Sat Jul 07, 2018 10:13 am

Thank you for the advice! Although I live in a very humid environment (I pretty much live in the swamp) the aspen still does seem to be a little too dry. I'm going to the store tomorrow to pick up cypress mulch instead, which I'll mix with the extra spagnum I have :)

He is completely back to normal and is even happily crunching on some dried grasshoppers, so it seems he did just have a small injury in his mouth. I'll still be checking his mouth every day though! Can't be too careful
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Re: Weird Mouth Thing (help?)

Postby kayla990 » Sun Jul 08, 2018 11:54 am

Yay! So glad to hear it wasn't anything too bad :D thanks for the update and info!
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Re: Weird Mouth Thing (final update)

Postby Toady » Tue Jul 10, 2018 5:59 am

Babylegs is very well! The mark in his mouth healed up in a few days and he has been eating roaches :)

thanks to some advice by Kayla I was actually inspired to completely redo his tank, replacing the aspen with cypress and spagnum... plus his godowner bought him some nifty new plants to lay on and dig under.

Image

Image

He uses the grass mat as a blanket... lol

Image
and his favorite new thing is this big rock that he can lay on. It's set up as a cave, too.
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Re: Weird Mouth Thing (final update)

Postby kayla990 » Tue Jul 17, 2018 8:35 am

Awesome, looks good! Have you noticed any difference in behaviour since changing it around? So glad the mark has healed up :D
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