Reptile & Amphibian Forums

OK, I bought a Tokay gecko about a month ago. The kid who worked at the pet store was trying to catch the one I wanted, and my tokay was running around with his mouth open, but not trying to bite. Then all of a sudden, another Tokay in the tank bit the Tokay I wanted right on his mouth. He caught him on the low part of the mouth, right hand side. and My Tokay started bleeding a little bit. For the first two weeks I put neosporin on the outside of his mouth where the scab was. That has healed, and looking at him you cant tell there was/is a problem. It has been about a month, maybe a little longer. Yesterday I picked him up for the first time. he bit me a little but mainly let me hold him but had his mouth open. I looked in his mouth, and the right side where he got bit is still swollen. Its not bloody, not really red (kind of a light pink, close to the same color as the rest of his mouth) I dont think it looks pussy at all. No yellow crusty stuff either It just looks swollen and tender. Is this a normal part of the healing process? should it take this long? He is definately eating normally, he shed the other day, so everything else is fine. Should I be worried? Is there anything i can put on the inside of his mouth to help keep it clean or speed up the healing? I have no problem getting him to open his mouth for me . Thanks in advance for your help.

If he's having no trouble eating and his mouth isn't swelling open on that side, I wouldn't worry. Reptiles are a little slow to complete the healing process sometimes.

someone else suggested it may be an abscess, and that there is bacteria in there and it needs to be cut open and have the fluid drained and flushed and put on an antibiotic. does this sound extreme to you? Is this far fetched? or is this completely possible, and i should go to the vet just in case?

I answered this in a reply to your E-mail, but I'll answer in here as well.

Yes, it is possible, but normally when there is an active infection causing an abcess in a reptile's mouth (Stomatitis) it will refuse food because it is painful for it to eat. There are some bacteria that commonly cause this that are easily treated with drugs like Baytril. It is not always necessary or advisable to open, drain, debride or otherwise perform invasive procedures inside the oral cavity. Sometimes it is indicated, but normally you can treat without it. If it were a subcutaneous cyst or abcess somewhere else on the animal's body, then incising and removing (in the case of a caseated cyst) or draining with a needle (for a soft abcess) might be indicated as well as obtaining a culture and identifying the pathogen (usually Serratia spp.). Normally stomatitis is caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, P. fluorescens, or Aeromonas sp., occasionally by others such as Citrobacter freundii or Proteus sp.

In your case, since the gecko is eating normally and otherwise seems fine, I would just watch it for a bit. If it seems to continue to improve, then I wouldn't worry about it. If it seems to be swelling more or getting worse or the animal seems to be losing interest in food, then I would take it to the vet. I'm a firm believer in treating medically only when it's necessary, though. I don't like the idea of over-medicating or treating things that don't really call for treatment. Your mileage may vary...different people do thing in different ways. If it makes you feel more comfortable to take her to the vet, then you should take her. I'm confident that your vet is capable of making a sound judgement on whether to treat or not.