black spot on "teeth" / mouth question

[heartben]

its been awhile since i asked a question that had me a little worried.

do dark spots in a chams mouth (on the "gum" / "teeth" area) mean anything? guess i never noticed it but today he opened his mouth and i saw a spot..is it sort of like a bruise or something? which reminds me.. somehow he got a gnarly looking bruise on one of his knees. i had another question about how their lips should meet but i cant really word it.. essentially his mouth is closed tight but there is a spot that doesnt seem to line up quite as good. i imagine its nothing to be worried about, im pretty sure hes been like that forever it just came to mind when i was looking at his mouth.

i supplement, gutload and take him outside when i can ( a few times a week ) so i dont think its anything to worry about but i thought id mention it.

thats about it, its probably nothing. think ive seen other chams with them but i wanted to make sure it wasnt some major warning sign i missed.
thanks

 

[clarkrw3]

It's most likely decay or a cavity....just bring him down to my office and I will take care of it for you










In all honesty I have no idea, but since I am a dentist I thought it was funny

 

[seanUTD]

Mouth rot may start out in this way but i Haven't seen it first hand so I can't guarantee... I would say if it gets worse take a little trip to the vet

 

[heartben]

what could cause mouth rot? i honestly have no idea what couldve caused this (assuming its something like mouth rot or whatever) .. well. lets hope its no that.

 

[heartben]

well, i havent been able to find any good like.. open mouth shots to really compare.. i suppose i shouldve asked sooner, i feel like id seen it before and didnt think anything of it but today i just thought... that.. just doesnt look right.

i found a vet that does work with reptiles/exotic pets (although not exclusively) so im hoping to bring as much information to him as possible just incase. i assume they will know what it is but - ive seen alot of people post stuff like "just ask the vet for :insert meds:" so just incase, id like to know.

whats the protocol to see if it IS mouth rot? what really causes it? and most importantly, what is the typical treatment? if the area of his lip thats not quite lined up is mouth rot - will it ever line back up again?

if its something i did im going to feel like an awful person so i hope it just.. happens... and hopefully it doesnt happen again if this is what it turns out to be.

 

[tadeusz]

You know I noticed some black/red inside my littlest Oustalet's mouth and was immediately thinking mouth rot, but I caught him chewing on his branches a little and thought that may be why, but I ended up giving him a 10 day treatment of reptaid just in case and it went away. So, wasn't sure if I was being overly cautious but worst case I just used some reptaid. It may be worth it to just get him on some to boost immunity. Just my 2 cents

 

[heartben]

does anyone else use reptaid for mouth rot symptoms? i dont even know if i've seen it but i will google it. going to call a vet tomorrow and see what they have experience with and go from there.. i just feel like.. frustrated with myself i didnt really think anything of it for awhile..i guess i felt like i had new owners syndrom and was trying to overcome that.. the feeling that everything is wrong.

 

[tadeusz]

I kind of felt the same way honestly, cause I supplement all of my guys the same way and feed the same thing, but my littlest Oustalet had the issues with the black/redness. I checked online and couldn't see anything exactly like it, so I assumed it was from chewing branches. Check out one of the site sponsors Northwest chameleons they have some information on their site about reptaid and their experiences with it over the years. I was convinced after reading their testimonials. I hope its nothing, but best of luck with your guy.

 

[burnedrose]

Mouth rot is generally a small black or green spot in the mouth and is usually caused by a sore getting infected (if I recall correctly). Can you take some pix?

 

[heartben]

no idea how id get his mouth open and i know if i got some someone would tell me to post better pictures. all i have to work with picture wise is a flip camera or a cell camera.

wish i could open his mouth or get a decent shot of his lip.. its been awhile now so i cant even remember where in his mouth i saw it.

 

[tadeusz]

I believe mouth rot is associated with as a secondary infection. I read that some people site getting some parasites and what not from feeders which could weaken the chameleons immune system over time (which I could see making sense if you buy feeders and all it takes is one infected bug). After reading up a little, I decided to go the route of reptaid, just in case there was an infection. My little guy had not other symptoms of anything being wrong (very active, eating like a champ, drinking, good poops, etc), but honestly after 10 days of reptaid, I noticed the red/black coloring on the gums was completely gone. So, not sure if in my case it was early stage or mouth rot, but cleared it up. It's worth a shot. My thoughts were to try it out for 10 days as recommended and if I didn't see improvement I was gonna get him to a vet and figure it out, but it worked out. Give it a shot!

 

[homegrown78]

mouth problems

I am a noob here in this forum and forums in general....I recently purchased a veiled chameleon from petco...I realize now that she has had mouth problems since we purchased her... I feel like an idiot and really don't want to take her back to petco..... I noticed that I couldn't find any images that show a condition similar to hers... so I've copied and pasted a link from my Facebook account of images of Ivy .... I really would like to know, what i can do, if anything at all, to treat this problem without going to a vet.....I'm not cheap, just broke..... Thanks

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.165629806849231.43584.100002066398232&l=f3dfd63be4&type=1

 

[kinyonga]

You really need to see a vet when a chameleon has mouth rot because it needs to be cleaned out properly and the exudate sent for a culture and sensitivity test so the chameleon can be put on the appropriate antibiotics to get rid of it. The most often encountered germ involved with it is pseudomonas and its hard to get rid of without more than one treatment. If you don't treat it, it will likely show up in other places in the chameleon.

 

[pssh]

I had a female that had a serious case of mouth rot. Before she was in my care, she had been treated twice for the issue (but with what meds I am not completely sure of.)

After a failed attempt to clear it. I used some reptaid and she cleared right back up! She hasn't had an issue with her mouth since then. I highly recommend it.

 

[Thezillaman21]

It's most likely decay or a cavity....just bring him down to my office and I will take care of it for you










In all honesty I have no idea, but since I am a dentist I thought it was funny

haha nice one. yeah my dads a horse dentist but i dont think anyone would want him working on there cham lol. idk bout the black spot. and as for the mouth thing i think it just happens iv noticed my chams does just alittle somedays and some days it doesnt.

 

[heartben]

i didnt realize there were anymore responses to this thread.

since posting i realized it was a false alarm, there is no more spot so it was likely a bit of bark or perhaps a fly or something (he was outside at the time i noticed)..i have also ordered reptaid just incase, i expect it to be here tuesday or wednesday.

and the lip thing, ive noticed it on both sides, in the same spot.. so i think thats just how he is or perhaps its part of growing (he is just about 5 months now so he still has lots of growing to do)

i appreciate the responses!

 

[kinyonga]

Well...that's good news!

homegrown78...what are you going to do with yours?

 

[msis125125]

I know the solution!

I have notised why the same thing start to happen with my cham. I live in Portugal and during high season was catching crickets on my back yeard for my Champ (his name is Valera, he is Russian). While i was giving him fresh crickets his teeth was white and shiny, now in the whinter it is very difficult to find crickets with all the rain and cold, so i started to buy some bug larva in the pet store, and his teeth start to chage color as i was govong larva calcium, so what happends, larva degest calcium and Valera eats them. Calcuim makes larva to become rich with vitamin b12, which has an color effect on my cham teeth. Simple. I am introducing crickets (very expencive here) back into his diet and teeth colour getting better by days.

Hope that hellps!