Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Has anyone ever had a panther cham with stained teeth? I am not talking yellow; I am talking brown to black towards the base and white or cream at the tips. None broken or any discoloration in the gums. Let me mention that I have a large adult older male panther with this. I am looking for experienced keepers to answer who have had experience keeping or having had panthers into their later years, not newbies telling me in a sentence to go to the vet or saying that they have a melleri with a purple mouth, as is standard. Sorry guys, not trying to insult you all, but I have already been to the vet and she cannot find anything wrong. And yes, this is a reptile certified vet. This panther eats fine, no tounge probs, supplimented twice a month; I can assure you he has better conditions than most keep your chams in, not being pompus, there is just something to be said for outdoor kept animals with fresh water, plenty of room and air.

Just looking to see what keepers notice about their panther chams as they get older and if there are any similar occurrances.

Thanks.

As long as the gums look healthy, you have a normal patination of the adult's teeth. Feeding locusts or hornworms could progress this staining faster, because the tobacco spit can stain (like coffee or dark teas stains human teeth). I've noticed it in large chams, but not in the smaller cham species.

It's also possible that this stain is partly due to the tartar produced by normal flora of the cham's mouth. If this bothers you, have your vet order you a bottle of the chlorhexidine mouthwash for animals:
http://www.addisonlabs.com/OralCleansingGel.htm

I have had healthy older chams with brown teeth, and never used anything on them, just let them go natural, and never had a stomatitis issue.

(A side note- the oral mucosa of melleri usually pales with age, so one would be hard-pressed to find an adult with pure black mucosa.)

Kristina

Hi there Kristina! Glad to see you on this forum! Some of my chams had what I assumed was staining on their teeth, but I never noticed it was associated with problems. Again, tooth losses, swollen discolored gums would be the warning signs.

Thanks for the welcome, Carlton! (:^) I see a lot of familiar names here.

Kristina