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Update on beardie with red sore in mouth...

veronicag Aug 12, 2003 10:56 AM

I took Ojay to the vet over the weekend. My favorite reptile specialist was on vacation and I had to settle for another vet who claimed to know a lot about reptiles. We'll see.

She took a look at Ojay and said he looked really good except for the wrinkled skin on his back - dehydration. I knew he was slightly dehydrated and have been attempting to rehyrdrate him in the last few weeks. This has not been an easy task. To get his sore mouth open requires both my husband and I prying on his sore mouth. I feel so bad for the little guy. The vet injected some liquids into the folds of the skin on his back. I have never seen it done this way before. The area on Ojay's back where she gave the liquids formed a hard lump the size of a small grape. Then she repeated the injection on the other side of his back. It looked terribly painful! Is that the way liquids are normally given? OUCH!

The vet said his "sore" was most likely a mouth ulcer. What is that? I've looked all over the internet and haven't been able to find much on reptile mouth ulcers. Does anyone have any info on this for me? She prescribed Baytril for 10 days and when I asked about probiotics to go along with the antibiotics, she said to give yogurt or acidophilus. At least we agreed on that part.

I was hoping to get more answers during this vet visit but maybe my expectations were a little high. Just want my Ojay back.

Veronica

Beautiful Dragons

Replies (7)

LauraV Aug 12, 2003 11:21 AM

in severely dehydrated animals. It is standard and normally just saline solution or H2O. It helps the animal rehydrate faster. It will form hard lumps until absorbed.
Don;t know anything about the mouth ulcer business, but the under the skin hydration I've had performed on newborn puppies that failed to thrive. I know it is done on all animals/retiles though.
Best wishes!
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Photos

reiko Aug 12, 2003 11:39 AM

did she take cultures or do anything else with the sore inside his mouth? well hope the treatment works and Ojay returns to normal, keep us updated on how he is doing...

>>I took Ojay to the vet over the weekend. My favorite reptile specialist was on vacation and I had to settle for another vet who claimed to know a lot about reptiles. We'll see.
>>
>>She took a look at Ojay and said he looked really good except for the wrinkled skin on his back - dehydration. I knew he was slightly dehydrated and have been attempting to rehyrdrate him in the last few weeks. This has not been an easy task. To get his sore mouth open requires both my husband and I prying on his sore mouth. I feel so bad for the little guy. The vet injected some liquids into the folds of the skin on his back. I have never seen it done this way before. The area on Ojay's back where she gave the liquids formed a hard lump the size of a small grape. Then she repeated the injection on the other side of his back. It looked terribly painful! Is that the way liquids are normally given? OUCH!
>>
>>The vet said his "sore" was most likely a mouth ulcer. What is that? I've looked all over the internet and haven't been able to find much on reptile mouth ulcers. Does anyone have any info on this for me? She prescribed Baytril for 10 days and when I asked about probiotics to go along with the antibiotics, she said to give yogurt or acidophilus. At least we agreed on that part.
>>
>>I was hoping to get more answers during this vet visit but maybe my expectations were a little high. Just want my Ojay back.
>>
>>Veronica
>>
>>Beautiful Dragons
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reiko
photos

veronicag Aug 12, 2003 11:47 AM

That's one of the things I was so upset about. I asked her to do a mouth culture but she said it most likely would yield mixed results. The best way to get a sample would be to cut into the red area and remove a small piece of skin. She said she recommended trying the Baytril with probiotics first, and if he's not better in 7 to 10 days we'll go from there. Ugh.

Veronica

reiko Aug 12, 2003 12:00 PM

hrm... well maybe its better taking the less stressful way for the little guy first.. but then again medicating him without truly knowing what that sore is... i duno... i suppose 7 days isnt too bad, hopefully this will clear it up and he wont need further treatment. Well we are pullin for the little guy, let us know how he makes out on his meds
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reiko
photos

Amk2109 Aug 12, 2003 01:38 PM

You know my beardie had what looks to be the same problem that yours does, except not only was the roof of his mouth like that but also the gums if you would pull his little lips down. I didn't realize anything was wrong until his eyes started watering and I took him to the vet and she pulled his mouth open. Then I felt like the most horrid pet owner in the world that I didn't notice it. But then again how often do you go pulling on your reptiles gum lines. Of course I do now but I never did before. Turns out that it was not mouth rot but a somewhat similar bacterial infection within the mouth rot family of disease. I had to give him 21 injections every other day. Oh what joyous fun that was!!! Hope he gets better soon.

CheriS Aug 12, 2003 09:18 PM

There are several types of mouth ulcers, but the more common one in reptiles(mostly in snakes and lizards) is Stomatitis also known as mouthrot, its can be caused by a virus or gram negative bacteria (reptiles often have this as the base of it) and the secondary infections you see are the sore(s)

In Humans
In Reptiles

CheriS Aug 12, 2003 09:26 PM
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