Mouth swollen?

[DierdreDreamwalker]

Hey guys and gals. I had a quick question about my veiled. We got her out earlier so I could clean her cage and she seemed fine, but I just went to check on her a few minutes ago to see how many of her crickets she had eaten and it appears as though the side of her mouth is starting to swell. At first I thought it may have just been a play on the eyes b/c she had her mouth partially open and was about to snatch her up a cricket, but when she closed her mouth back again she looks lopsided like the right side of her mouth is starting to swell. What could be the cause of this and what should we do? Is a vet visit in order? Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance everyone.

 

[Draco1702]

Hi, it is hard to tell without more info. You should take a look at the post "how to ask for help" and provide additional information.

 

[carol5208]

a couple of questions. I noticed the time of your post being 11:34. So why would you be checking to see what she is eating so late at night? Is she not sleeping? You should remove all crickets that are not eaten. They can bite your chameleon. It is possible that this is what happened. Just a guess. Mouth rot will cause a swelling and can make your chameleon not be able to close their mouth properly. Not saying that is what it is either. These are a couple possibilities. A picture would be helpful.

 

[ChameleonNerd]

most of all you will have to post a picture

 

[DierdreDreamwalker]

kk. I'll get a picture up here in a few minutes and look at the how to ask for help.

 

[DierdreDreamwalker]

a couple of questions. I noticed the time of your post being 11:34. So why would you be checking to see what she is eating so late at night? Is she not sleeping? You should remove all crickets that are not eaten. They can bite your chameleon. It is possible that this is what happened. Just a guess. Mouth rot will cause a swelling and can make your chameleon not be able to close their mouth properly. Not saying that is what it is either. These are a couple possibilities. A picture would be helpful.

It was actually 10:30 last night. (lol) I always check on her right before we go to bed and get out all of her crickets from earlier that she had not eaten. I usually feed her her about the same time I feed my kids their afternoon snack, and I leave them in there until we go to bed (which for the record is usually a little earlier than that. lol), and then I'll remove all the ones she doesn't eat. We had an incident a few years back with one of our leopard geckos where a cricket had bitten her tail and caused her to get tail rot, so we always try to make sure to do that now. (lol)

Idk if mouth rot is the same in leos and veilds, but I got her to open her mouth this morning and there's no discoloration or anything inside her mouth. ??

 

[camimom]

It was actually 10:30 last night. (lol) I always check on her right before we go to bed and get out all of her crickets from earlier that she had not eaten. I usually feed her her about the same time I feed my kids their afternoon snack, and I leave them in there until we go to bed (which for the record is usually a little earlier than that. lol), and then I'll remove all the ones she doesn't eat. We had an incident a few years back with one of our leopard geckos where a cricket had bitten her tail and caused her to get tail rot, so we always try to make sure to do that now. (lol)

Idk if mouth rot is the same in leos and veilds, but I got her to open her mouth this morning and there's no discoloration or anything inside her mouth. ??

I think its essentially the same. but even though there is no discoloration, it can still be mouth rot, just the beginning stages. can you post a pic of the affected area please?

 

[DierdreDreamwalker]

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? *Veiled, female, and approx. 3-4 months old. WE've had her for about a month or so.

Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? *We get her out for a few minutes every other day and she's stays out for about an hour once a week while I scrub her cage out really good. (Please know that I do remove feces, crickets, etc. daily.)

Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? *We are feeding her crickets dusted with a calcium supplement, without d3 and they are dusted with d3 about 2 or 3 times a month. We feed her about 10-15 crickets daily, removing any that are not eaten before we go to bed. we are gutloading our crickets with fresh fruits and veggies and a multivitamin.

Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? *repcal and zoo med repticalcium. and rep cal multivitamin. Her crickets are dusted at every feeding.

Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? *I mist her cage three times a day for about 5 minutes at a time. I see her drink every now and then but usually she won't do anything if she thinks you're watching her. (lol)

Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? *Her droppings look normal. It has been dark brown in color, with a gooey yet firm consistency. I did note that there seemed to be a yellow coloration to her feces a couple of days ago. She has not been tested for parasites while in our care, but the manager at Petsmart where we got her said that she had been to the vet and was awarded a clean bill of health, though they're not always a dependable source I'll admit.

History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. *None that I can think of at this time.

Cage Info:

Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? *She's in a 17x17x24 glass cage, with a screen top.

Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? *She has a exo-therma uv light and heat light. (Het light is a 75 watt, I think.) She's get's 12 hours of daylight, we have our lights on a timer. I'm not sure as to the exact make and model of the lights, as they came with the enclosure. We have been leaving her heat on at night, but we turn it down with a dimmer, to try to keep it from getting too hot.

Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? *The top of her cage stays between 80-83 degrees and the bottom is about 70-75 degrees. We have thermometers both inside her cage on the top and bottom and on the outside to measure room temp fluctuation.

Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? *humidity stays at about 50%. We are about to invest in a reptifogger for her cage to get it higher and slightly more regulated. We've had trouble with the cage holding humidity though I am not sure how. we have a hygrometer inside her cage at the top and bottom.

Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? *We're not using live plants as of now, though we have been reading into it.

Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? *Her cage is located in our bedroom, on a shelf in our entertainment center. (There's no tv in it.) We have a ceiling fan in our room that we run on low at night while we sleep. She isn't near the heat/ac vent. The only people that go in there are us, so it's not high traffic. The cage is about 2 feet off the floor.

Location - Where are you geographically located? *We are in AL

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about. *The right of her mouth swollen and we're we're trying to figure out the cause and proper course of action.




This is the best picture she would allow me to take. She's a little moody this morning.

 

[DierdreDreamwalker]

I think its essentially the same. but even though there is no discoloration, it can still be mouth rot, just the beginning stages. can you post a pic of the affected area please?

I posted a pic of her (the best she would allow me to get) and answered the questionaire. I hope that helps guys. Thanks again!

 

[DierdreDreamwalker]

Do I need to try to get one of the inside of her mouth as well??

 

[camimom]

There is definetly something wrong.
If possible, can you take a photo of her from the side, so we can see her legs?

i am concerned it might be the beginning of mouth rot.
I would think about a vet visit... JMO.

Nothing to do with her mouth, but why do you have a red light on her? If its for basking, a regular house bulb will work just fine.

 

[DierdreDreamwalker]

There is definetly something wrong.
If possible, can you take a photo of her from the side, so we can see her legs?

i am concerned it might be the beginning of mouth rot.
I would think about a vet visit... JMO.

Nothing to do with her mouth, but why do you have a red light on her? If its for basking, a regular house bulb will work just fine.

Yeah, it's for basking. I didn't know if she would be warm enough with a regualr bulb. (lol) I'm taking a pic of her now to post. Thank you for the help btw. And I'm thinking a vet visit is in order too. I'm kinda having a freak out right now over this. (lol)

 

[camimom]

Yeah, it's for basking. I didn't know if she would be warm enough with a regualr bulb. (lol) I'm taking a pic of her now to post. Thank you for the help btw. And I'm thinking a vet visit is in order too. I'm kinda having a freak out right now over this. (lol)

Yea, you can use a regular house bulb (which btw is soooo much cheaper)
just experiement with different wattages till you find one that keeps her temps right.
I think a vet visit is the way to go, cuz no matter what it is, it cant be treated at home. and dont freak out, even if it is mouth rot, you have probably caught it early enough. (ESP since you havent seen an discoloration in the mouth)

 

[DierdreDreamwalker]

There is definetly something wrong.
If possible, can you take a photo of her from the side, so we can see her legs?

i am concerned it might be the beginning of mouth rot.
I would think about a vet visit... JMO.

Nothing to do with her mouth, but why do you have a red light on her? If its for basking, a regular house bulb will work just fine.

Here's a pick of her from the side:

And here's one of her mouth so you can see where it's swollen. The pink tissue on the very inside of the right side of her mouth is enlarged. (Her right, not ours. lol)

 

[camimom]

Well the inside of her motuh looks clean, allbeit swollen some.
Although, I am worried about that left front arm. It appears a bit... bowed to me.
Could just be how she was holding it...
I would go to the vet, have them check her mouth..
But I would also recommend some xrays or blood work to see if she has the beginning stages of MBD.
I dont want to freak you out.. and like i said, that arm could just be the angle shes at sitting on your hand.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

I agree that her legs look bowed.

 

[camimom]

I agree that her legs look bowed.

Glad to know my eyes arent playing tricks on me! I think some xrays or blood work is in order to check for mbd. do you agree?

 

[summoner12]

She has MBD

You didn't list a UVB lamp in your cage setup. You need to buy one. I would reccommend the ZooMed Reptisun 10.0 in a linear lamp, not the screw in style. And for the heat lamp, use a PAR20 5ow Flood. You can find them at Home Depot for about 6 bucks. Do not point the heat lamp straight down on top of the cage, it needs to be pointed at an angle towards the basking area.

You should also be using calcium with D3, If you use the Sticky Tongues brand, with the yellow lid, use it every day on her food and make them look like little ghosts. otherwise you need to go to the vet and get calcium injections and have the mouth looked at.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

we are gutloading our crickets with fresh fruits and veggies...She has a exo-therma uv light and heat light

Which ones? That can make a big difference. Not sure what exo-therma is...maybe you meant exo-terra? If it is a reptiglo UVB bulb then that is good. But if it doesn't specifically say UVB on it then that is bad. If you don't still have the box the type is printed directly on the bulb where it screws into the socket. Check there and let us know what it says.

 

[DierdreDreamwalker]

Well the inside of her motuh looks clean, allbeit swollen some.
Although, I am worried about that left front arm. It appears a bit... bowed to me.
Could just be how she was holding it...
I would go to the vet, have them check her mouth..
But I would also recommend some xrays or blood work to see if she has the beginning stages of MBD.
I dont want to freak you out.. and like i said, that arm could just be the angle shes at sitting on your hand.

I'm about to call and make her an appt. OMG MBD? Did we cause that?!

So I need to tell them to check her mouth and x-rays? Do we need to go ahead and have her checked for parasites just in case since it hasn't been done yet? I just want to make sure that everything is checked and covered.