Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,

I have a year-old rudis male who's been fighting a stubborn stomatitis problem for a little more than a month. When he first presented the problem, I took him to a vet and got him a scrip for Maxiguard, which I've been applying topically every day. This worked for a little while, but I'm pretty sure his system developed an immunity to the gel, as the problem came back with a vengeance about a week ago. When I checked on him today, the stomatitis was the worst it's ever been, and worse, he was evincing signs of dehydration (sunken eyes, listless.) Anyway, I took him to the emergency vet and they gave him subcutaneous fluids, put him in a nebulizer for a bit, cleaned off his mouth and gave me a bunch of silver sulifidizine cream to apply topically twice a day. I brought him home a couple of hours ago, and he's been super listless and weak and is currently sitting on a damp towel on the floor of his enclosure. I know he feels crummy, and I don't want to stress him out too much, but is there anything you guys can recommend to keep him comfortable and on the road to recovery, other than being vigilant with the antibiotics and keeping him really hydrated?

Also, any advice on ways to keep a cham whose mouth hurts and who's thus not really interested in drinking hydrated? I've got a mister that goes off every 3 hours, plus a dripper, plus I mist by hand, and I've been giving him water in a dropper (which he haaaates.) Anything else I can do?

Thanks a lot for reading and for any advice. I'm sure my guy will appreciate it too.

You sad..."the stomatitis was the worst it's ever been, and worse, he was evincing signs of dehydration (sunken eyes, listless.) Anyway, I took him to the emergency vet and they gave him subcutaneous fluids, put him in a nebulizer for a bit, cleaned off his mouth and gave me a bunch of silver sulifidizine cream to apply topically twice a day"...in my experience, if the mouth rot isn't debrided, a sample sent for a culture and sensitivity test and the chameleon put on antibiotics the mouth rot will keep coming back. Quite often it will go systemic.

You said..."any advice on ways to keep a cham whose mouth hurts and who's thus not really interested in drinking hydrated? I've got a mister that goes off every 3 hours, plus a dripper"...you could try dripping water on the end of his nose. Is he eating?

Here are some sites that talk about mouth rot...
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=17&cat=1831&articleid=2385
http://www.pkreptiles.com/informationterms/articles/mouthrot.asp?format=print

Kinyonga's right. If there is a "pocket" of infection or an abscessed temporal gland (many species have a gland right at the corner of the mouth) if the area isn't opened up and cleaned out, the stomatitis just recurs again and again. It can be very difficult to treat. And, it is probably systemic by this point so an antibiotic may be needed.

Try dripping warm water on his face so it runs down to the lip. He can lick it from there. If he really stops drinking completely try some diluted Pedialyte for electrolyte balance. You can also give fluids subcutaneously, but again that is stressful. Add citrus to your gutload. A higher level of vit. C is supposedly good for avoiding infection.