Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I (force) fed my mhd thurs. I gave him a few crickets and one mealworm. I noticed yesterday he was holding his mouth open a crack and it just looked odd to me. Well this morning he was still doing it so I checked it. He had the bodies of two crickets in his mouth still. Also his mouth and tongue are very dark colored. Kinda purple like. The edge of his mouth/lips looks alittle red in the front. Also his body coloring is darker than normal. He still wont eat on his own either. If I put a cricket in his cage he ignores it. The only way he will take anything is if I give it to him with tweezers, and then that doesnt always work either. Is the color of his mouth right? Why would he hold food in his mouth. Also I noticed the flap on his neck has a buldge in it. Thanks.
-----
Heidi Kagarise
purpledragon777@hotmail.com

Personal experience with my 2 MHDs is that when healthy their mouths are a pretty pale pink/flesh color and "shiny" from saliva. I've been through a lot of stuff with mine but I never had them hold bugs in their mouths. Whenever I had to force feed, they would at least swallow whatever I put in there and then just fight me.

My vet gave me a powder called Reptile Enteral Diet that I mix 1:1 with water and then use a syringe to feed. At least this way it just rolls down their throat and there's nothing left to hold...

Good Luck

I wouldn't be concerned about the flesh color. In the case of all 3 of my dragons, the interior of the sides, and roof of the mouth is almost black. Others here will confirm that usually, (in the case of A.capra anyway,) that the tissue is darkly colored inside the mouth.

that the portions of the mouth that are not dark are usually a nice pale pink. If it is red or dark pink I would be concerned about the possibility of an infection.

Check for stringy mucous when she opens her mouth. If you see any of this there is something wrong and you will need to have a vet figure out what is wrong and how to treat it. Any illness in these guys if left untreated can be, and usually is, fatal.

Hope she gets better soon.
-----
Marcia - FroggieB Dragons
www.froggieb.com/MHDHome.html

>>that the portions of the mouth that are not dark are usually a nice pale pink. If it is red or dark pink I would be concerned about the possibility of an infection.
>>
>>Check for stringy mucous when she opens her mouth. If you see any of this there is something wrong and you will need to have a vet figure out what is wrong and how to treat it. Any illness in these guys if left untreated can be, and usually is, fatal.
>>
>>Hope she gets better soon.
>>-----
>>Marcia - FroggieB Dragons
>>www.froggieb.com/MHDHome.html

She does have a red spot right in the front on the bottom of her mouth. Looks kinda raw/sore. I havent really noticed any stringy mucus, but her mouth does seem kinda slimy like when she opens it. It might be mucus I guess. I am gonna call a vet monday to get her in asap. I will keep everyone updated. Thanks.
-----
Heidi Kagarise
purpledragon777@hotmail.com