Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello experts
I was wondering if anyone could help me with my sickly lizard.
background:
2 blue tongues
1-northern
1-IJ
both are almost five years old. northern is in perfect health and always has been.
IJ I can't seem to get him healthy no matter what.
I'll try and get pics to post but for now
He has a mouth infection and had worms going into this summer.
he was eating great and the mouth infection looked to be under control. I took him to the vet anyway because the mouth infection was still visible but not worsening. This was the third time for the mouth infection.

treated him for worms panacur

treated his mouth infection baytril

since these two treatments he has stopped eating and his mouth is getting worse.

Im confused with him.

He has had a history of problems with me.
his front feet have lost almost all his toes due to an infection/unpeeled skin prior to me having him.

he also can not have mulch, dirt, dusty newspaper, or anything that has dust with it.
reason he has a nose deformity that hinders his breathing.

the only substrates that work for his nose are tile(too hard to keep clean)and astro turf.
with these subtrates his feet crackle on bottom(humidity is good with two soakings a week). There is no left over skin.

???/
feet?
mouth?
not eating?
begining to lose wieght
been to herp vet several times?????

How was the baytril administered, in what doses, and for how long?

Tell us about diet, lighting, temps, humidity. Are the 2 animals you mentioned being housed together?

Hey thanks for replying.
ok I hope this will help
Baytril: Administered 2-3 times daily to infected area on mouth using a swab (the things you clean your ears with)for 2-3 weeks or until area is better.

I have been doing this for almost 2 months now.

The two blue tongues are not housed together.
His enclosure 3x 2x 15 inches high.
-two hide spots
-basking area 90-95 somedays a liitle hotter, never cooler
-cool area 75-80

diet
when he was eating consistently
feed 3-4 times a week
collards,turnip green, mixed veggies, gutloaded crickets, adult bearded dragon food. these were his staple foods

treats: bananas, grapes, pinkies, mealworms, dog food.
treats were feed twice a month(not all at once mix match foods)

now all he eats are prekilled crickets, pinkies and bannas. He won't eat very much at a time. maybe one pinky,10 crickets a week and this is a recent improvement.

lighting
12 hr photoperiod on a timer, source of heat and light are the same. The bulbs are zoomed reptile lighting

humidity
cage is sprayed heavily twice daily and he is soaked in tub for about 20 min once a week. Actual percentage of humidity I don't know but I asumed (maybe mistake to assume)it was good because other BTS does great on same regimen.

One last thing The BTS I am having such a hard time with is wild caught. The BTS that is great is CB. I have had these lizards for almost five years and I have been to the vet around ten times for the IJ and only once for the Northern and that was just a check up. Im still trying to get a picture up

IJ 20inches 1.5 lbs male
northern 22inches 2.0 lbs female

sounds like the effects from a form of stomatitus-something like that. There are different forms and some easily found, some not so easy. It is usually a secondary cause do to poor living conditions whether past or present, in the case of BTS and its immune system it takes time for symptoms to show.
When they appear infections have set-in in many different places, and stomatitus is usually a longer-lasting problem unless arrested right away.
With proper husbandry complete healing can be brought about anywhere from a few months to a year.
Proper deit, proper heating-and in the case of infection a 24hr minimum cage temp of 80F, access to clean water, clean cage conditions with no materials that could stick to the mouth area, hide and calm living conditions.
High quality reptile vit/min supplement used per directions and chunks of hard=boild egg, etc. and baby foods if the BTS refuses. Usually if picked up and food placed to its nose and mouth it will take some. Good luck.

forgot to add, unless you are running air-conditioning where the BTS is housed you might want to hold off on misting that often and if you are running air 2 times a day misting is still much. A few times a week should be plenty, Proper diet plays a large roll in good sheds/

As pointed out in another post, your husbandry seems good, but perhaps with a little high humidity; I'd suggest less misting.

With that said, I doubt it is the root of your problem, or even much of a complicating factor. Here are some random thoughts, in no particular order

1)While all vets are proffesionals, one cannot express the benefits of a vet that is herp crazy himself, and has the continueing education to back it up. (aka, a herp vet). It never hurts to ask for a referal if you are not happy with your progress.

2)Topical Baytril isn't a typical treatment, and obviously isn't working. Was bloodwork done? Was a culture and sensitivity done? Any diagnostics?

3)Panacur doesn't kill all parasites; actually, when dealing with wild-caught animals, it kills only a small portion of what may be present. Blood parasites have been known to obstruct the capillaries in small extremities and cut off circulation (your loss of toes?).

4)Medical treatment requires top notch husbandry. Review your setup and see if any improvements can be made. Healing takes a longer time in reptiles as compared to mammals.

5)You mentioned something to the effect that it's mouth infection was under control for a period of time. There is no "under control" infection and it should not be considered treated until it is gone.

I hope this unorganized response helps you out, and gives you a bit of outside perspective to your problem. If any clarification needed, feel free to ask

Ian

ps, I don't have a pic of my BTS, so enjoy Noodle, the monitor!

hey thanks to all of you that replied to my BTS health problems.
I think I have figured it out.
I totally stopped treating his mouth problem. Now he eats like a champ. I think he was aggravated so much by the treatments that he didn't want to eat.

I also took a closer look at the infected area. To me it looks like scare tissue only. Im not a vet but once I quit treating it the swelling has gone down and there is absolutly no redness. I am going to keep a very close eye on it. and keep you updated if it starts looking bad or anything.

I think the treatment might have worked and I just kept irritating it by trying to get rid of scare tissue.

Thanks for all the help.