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I NEED SOME HELP PLEASE

The Original Dan Jul 20, 2003 08:20 AM

I am very worried about one of by dragons. Yesterday when returning home from a night out I checked up on my three ladies. I noticed that my oldest lady wasn't closing her mouth all the way. When I pulled her out of the tank and opened her mouth I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Her gums were so swollen, very red, and had a puslike sustance on top of her gums. So I immediately washed it out with some peroxide in case of infection and then put her to bed. This morning when I went to check her again her gums did not look as red but still very swollen. I rinsed her mouth out again with the peroxide. She will be going to the vet as soon as I get home tomorrow since there are no vets open here today because it is Sunday. What I need to know is what I should actually do for her. Should I still continue to rinse her mouth out? She I just let her be? And what about food? If she wants to eat should I let her? I am very worried about this. She was showing no signs of this yesterday morning. How could it get bad in a matter of a few hours?

Replies (3)

Christyj Jul 20, 2003 09:02 AM

From www.reptilevet.com/dragon.htm

Mouth rot is the common name for stomatitis i.e. inflammation of the mouth.. Mouthrot is most often caused by a bacterial infection however, parasites, fungal disease and cancer can cause similar changes in the mouth. If left untreated, the infection can invade the bones of the jaw or enter the bloodstream and spread to the lungs, liver or spleen.. Stomatitis presents as yellowish-whitish plaques, or irregular blotches in the mouth. The inside of the mouth may be coated with thick, stringy mucous in early cases which , without treatment, progresses to thick, white cheesy material. Treatment varies from antibacterial mouth flushes to surgical removal of infected tissues. Systemic antibiotics are often necessary. Due to the severe nature of many of these infections, long term antibiotic treatment may be necessary therefore, selection of antibiotics is often based on a culture of the offending organism and testing for which specific antibiotic to which it is sensitive. During the treatment period, hand/force feeding may be necessary.
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TheClassyLizard

The Original Dan Jul 20, 2003 09:16 AM

I was thinking that it could be the start of mouth rot but could she really get that bad of an infection in one day? Has anyone ever had a dragon that did have mouth rot?

Christyj Jul 20, 2003 02:27 PM

It may have not been just one day, unless you looked in the mouth the previous days??
Sorry, my dragons have never had it..I was just thinking that if you didn't look in the mouth all the time, you wouldn't notice until it had progressed.
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TheClassyLizard

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