gums hanging out?

nightcrawler

nightcrawler

Avid Member
so laity (as in two times) ive seen my cham sitting there
with part of his gum hanging out on his right side.
so naturally i freak out. i dont no why he does it.
i mist him really well in the face so he will open his mouth
in anger or to drink but to see if it will go back in and it does.
i also try to keep it moist when i see it is there if i cant get it in his face.
the first time i did it i just poked it and he put it back in.
it sticks out a little bit about a half an inch or a little more long.
anyone have any ideas?

ill try to get a pic if he does it again, but hopefully he will not.
 
Howdy,

This might be something important to keep an eye on. It might be nothing or it could be Infectious Stomatitis (Mouth Rot). I've witnessed it in several keepers' chameleons. It can happen fast. It is likely that this isn't what is happening in your case but a few well-focused, close-up, well-lit photos could help. If he is docile enough, try running a Q-tip along the jaw/lip edge and see if any flesh comes away with the Q-tip.
 
In my opinion it is one of two things, mouth rot or vit. A deficiency. Watch his or her eyes to see if there is anything irregular with them because vit. A deficiency is also characterized by having slight eye problems as well. I have a female that has this condition and I have noticed if i supplement her with a very small amount of vit. A her eyes as well as her gums (lower mouth line) seems to be doing better. I have had her for about 8 months and I noticed her lower lip seemed to be poking out a little bit. Then months later here eyes also started looking as if they were dry (the skin around her eye made her squint a little bit but not completely shut). I would only notice her eyes if I walked up slowly and she didn't realize I was there, if she saw me she would have them completely open. So, I started giving her very small doses of vit. A and it seems to be working a month into treatment.

Hope it helps...at least gives you something to think about.

Good luck,
-chris
 
i give him a small dot of vit A every other sunday.
so i dont know if that could be it
i havent seen him do it today.
when he opens his mouth it looks like the gums on the outside of his teeth
inbetween the lip and teeth look to hang down a little bit.
ill try to get a photo of him sometime really soon.
he is always gaping. when he is basking then
shortly after he is away from the basking area.
the basking area is only like 92.4(right now) but never reaches more then 95.
i have a temp gun and he never reaches more then 94 himself.
 
Dean Pulcini said:
When lips curl it can be bacterial in nature only your vet would know for sure.
Click to expand...

his lips dont really curl. it is this gum like thing.
i have few old pics that im going to give two examples of,
hopefuly you can see my paint edit.
but this is the thing that sticks out.
december006.jpg

december006c.jpg

december024.jpg


i tried to get a cutip in his mouth but everytime i would try he wouldent do anything.
he wouldent even puff up and hiss, he would just get bright and move off
my hand a lot. i guess thats a good thing.
 
I'm thinking bacterial I never seen that before. Its not mouth rot because he looks clean.I would take him to a vet just to be sure better safe then sorry.
 
these arent new pics they are from december.
i cant get a pic because my sister has the camra.
they dont look to be any other color then the ones in the pics,
but his teeth look to have cavities?
maybe?
it might be just the silkworm goop, because he has been eating them laitly.
they have that brown goop in them from the chow.
 
so he has mouth rot.
the vet was very nice, and the place was very clean.
she didnt give him a shot because they are sensative to them,
so she gave him oral medication.
i have to give him baytril once a day for seven days.
she said that i cought the mouthrot really early so it will be ok.

its hard giving liquid med to my cham.
he doesnt every open his mouth and gape at me.
im holding him in my arms and touching his mouth and nothing.
i guess i should be happy he doesnt want to bite me tho right?
 
Sorry to hear about his health problem, but glad you got a handle on it.

There are many different ways to get a cham to open its mouth for meds, but any/all of them can be stressful to the cham and owner, and none of them are easy. And you have to find which one works best for your cham. Here is one thing we do- if the oral med is a very small amount, I sometimes draw out the proper amount into the syringe provided by the vet, and then squirt all of it onto a good size feeder (such as large silkworm or large cricket or dubia) and then immediately hand feed that to the cham. This works first thing in the morning when the cham is hungriest, if your cham is a good quick eater, and can be hand fed (or will eat when food is offered on the end of rubberized tongs). That is the easiest method. Some people actually inject the med into the feeder's body, using a needle and syringe.

For force feeding, a very small rubber spatula wedged between the lips or gums can sometimes prompt a cham to open up. My vet showed me how to do this with a paperclip (of all things)- which works for the most stubborn, but you want to be very careful, especially since your cham's problem is actually in his mouth and gums. Another option is pulling down on their gular skin. When done repeatedly, however, this can result in bruising.

Most recommend wrapping the cham's body in a small towel before doing this. It is an easy and harmless way to immobilize the cham without risking injury to cham or handler.
 
I find that if I have my GF helping me it is a lot easier. I hold the cham and open his mouth while she squirts the medication. I have had to do this more with Jake than Fred. With Jake I let him stand on my left hand... he thinks nothing is going on. then I slowly move my right hand from behind him and place his head between my middle finger and index finger. I don't squeeze his head, just touching the sides of his head makes him gape. I use my other fingers to sorta hold him in place. As SOON as he gapes my GF squirts his meds into his mouth and I release him and hold him up above my head. He calms down quickly.
 
summoner12 said:
I find that if I have my GF helping me it is a lot easier. I hold the cham and open his mouth while she squirts the medication. I have had to do this more with Jake than Fred. With Jake I let him stand on my left hand... he thinks nothing is going on. then I slowly move my right hand from behind him and place his head between my middle finger and index finger. I don't squeeze his head, just touching the sides of his head makes him gape. I use my other fingers to sorta hold him in place. As SOON as he gapes my GF squirts his meds into his mouth and I release him and hold him up above my head. He calms down quickly.
Click to expand...

yea, this is what we do too. sort of. i hold him firmly, but
not enough to hurt him (its prob too lose because he always gets away)
and i tickle his lips and he opens him mouth and she squirts it in his mouth.

my mother is getting a syringe with a small needle from my uncles
(diabetic) and i will try to inject my worms.
he seems to be eating less now because of the stress we are providing him
im hoping that i can get a good injection into supers (his fav) so he will eat
them fast, and get his meds that way.

anyone know of supers will hold the liquid or just silks or hornworms?


he also took a huge poo today. it was massive. i didnt notice him poop
yesterday, but he took a two inch poo today. how much does a
fecal test usually cost? im thinking of getting that done.

and another great thing happened today...
...the power supply to my room he is in is out. nothing in my room works.
we checked the circits, and nothing is blown. we are now testing all the
wires to see if its a blown wire. but i put an extension cord to his lights
and that so he is getting heat, but what a crappy sort of event.
 
lol I told you the story of how I give him his meds..... and then I try to give him his baytril 30 minutes later and he won't open up! HAHAHA I'll try again later... but it was really stressing him out.... grrrrrrr I need a needle as well. How do I get one without sounding like a drug adict?
 
so he is starting to understand what we are doing in the morning
now and he hates it. its so hard giving him his meds now.
i got a syringe from my uncle so i can inject it into a super.

he eats supers like no other, but he doesnt seem to like the silkworms
anymore. i have like 30 jumbo ones, like 2.5 inches or more, and about 30-45 more little 1.5-2 inch left, but im not sure if he doesnt like them because of the stress of the
handling every morning, or if he just disslikes their lack of movement.
he still eats the hornworms, but i only have two left. i give him a few crickets from time to time and he seems to like thos better. so i think i need to get more soon.

my hand is getting scratched up from his nails. its funny it looks like
i got in a cat fight with a stray.
 
nightcrawler said:
my hand is getting scratched up from his nails. its funny it looks like
i got in a cat fight with a stray.
Click to expand...

I have a nice three inch long scratch from Fred... I don't know how he did it. Must have been sliding his foot along while trying to dangle from my hand. He has a crazy grip when he is trying to reach for something.:eek:
 
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