Vets visit...need some guidance

[Lala0]

So I went to the vets today thinking my Cham has a respiratory infection, turns out he did, a lower respiratory infection. They have prescribed baytril for 14 days.

While I was there they looked into my chams mouth and said it was greenish in colour which is bad. What can I do about this?

 

[camimom]

we would have to see the mouth to see if it really is a problem.

chams mouths are different colors.

my male veileds mouth is pink, my panthers is yellow.

it just varies.

 

[Lala0]

Getting a pic would be very difficult as I can't open him mouth.

Anyone else got any ideas what's wrong?

 

[Alexl]

Why don't you ask your vet? Would be the easiest option to phone and ask what he meant or not. We don't know what he has seen inside your chameleon's mouth .

 

[camimom]

Ive found if you poke their nose they tend to gape at you.

 

[Kate]

So I went to the vets today thinking my Cham has a respiratory infection, turns out he did, a lower respiratory infection. They have prescribed baytril for 14 days.

While I was there they looked into my chams mouth and said it was greenish in colour which is bad. What can I do about this?

You might get a chance when you give him his baytril. Have a friend take pic while you administer!

 

[Lala0]

I'm not using a syringe to administer the baytril, I'm dripping the tiny amount on a cricket, this way was recommended to me by the vet.

I will ask the vet. Thanks anyway

 

[Solid Snake]

Yes, please do ask your vet why they think this is bad.

Also if the whole mouth was discolored, or only a small portion.

 

[carol5208]

I'm not using a syringe to administer the baytril, I'm dripping the tiny amount on a cricket, this way was recommended to me by the vet.

I will ask the vet. Thanks anyway

baytril does not taste very good. If you have a syringe and can inject it inside a feeder like a silkworm that would be a better way to go.

 

[pssh]

If his whole mouth is green, it could be normal. If you gentle hold him around his shoulder area just behind his head, he might open up for a picture. If you cover their nostrils they tend to open up as well.

He's a panther, correct?

 

[daktari]

Here's my two cents:

You didn't mention much about your vet. Hopefully (and I'll assume so), your vet is experienced with chams, preferably board certified in reptiles too, but minimally has solid experience & knowledge with/about chams. If not, ask him/her to refer you elsewhere or check the sticky on the forum about vet references. If that's not possible, your vet can always contact a cham/herp vet in consultation on your behalf, and I would make sure they do at least that, for the sake of your cham. Lower resp. infections can be very serious in any reptile leading to inevitable demise, sometimes very rapidly. They're not something to fool around with or waste time on. The sooner they're on proper treatment, the better their prognosis, usually...depending. Several factors such as bacterial species, how extensive, age/condition of cham, environmental factors like heat/humidity/stress, etc. contribute important roles to the outcome.

Also, with oral baytril you may see significant appetite loss, even complete anorexia, though if you do, it could also be due to the infection or a combo of both meds and infection. You may want to ask about different administration options of baytril: e.g. IM injection or IN via nebulizer, IW = intra-worm . If he's really sick or been sick a long time, the best and safest thing would be to do a C & S (culture & sensitivity, assuming it's bacterial and not viral or fungal) in the event baytril isn't the right antibiotic (baytril is broad-spectrum and usually works wonders, but not always). C & S is rather pricey, but there's far less loss in time since it determines which antibiotic is right (treat with baytril in the meantime until C & S results come in). Time can be a big problem all too easily in such an infection.

In the meantime, maximize heat and hydration, and minimize stress...all this round the clock until he's well. If he's eating, to aid hydration feed foods high in moisture content like worms (horn, silk, butters, wax, whichever ones he'll take)...which you can also inject the baytril into, but only if he'll eat them before they die, if not, then no point in using this method of baytril admin (unless you can force feed the worm without stressing him).

The best thing for your sick cham is a qualified vet who can examine him to see "what's wrong" as well as monitor his progress...in person; answer all your questions; prescribe the best treatment; and tell you what to do for him at home (e.g. give diluted electrolytes, reptaid, cricket slurry etc). Your vet is your best guide. If your cham is really very sick, he may need to stay at the vet's for closer monitoring. I've seen reptiles with LRI's suddenly choke on mucus plugs they can't completely cough up, or take an abrupt turn for the worse and need immediate oxygen +/- other emergency tx/rx during their otherwise regular treatment protocol.

Without knowing the details of your cham's situation in person, it's just always better to be safe than sorry. Anyway, that's a quick rundown for you...hope it helps. Everything said by others here so far is very helpful too

Just my thoughts...

 

[Lala0]

Thanks for the help. The vets is qualified with reptiles and from the large amount of knowledge she showed when I took my Cham she must have had previous experience with chams.

My Cham is a 9 month old, male panther. I will get some worms and start injecting the baytril when my Cham starts refusing to eat locusts with baytril on, he at his first one yesterday and he wasn't too sure about his second today :S

The LRI isnt to advanced as I caught it early so the vet thought the baytril should clear it up fairly quickly, I'm more concerned about the green mouth thing she said.

Having said that, he opened his mouth this morning and I took a look and from what I could see it was yellow, not sure if i was looking at the wrong place maybe?

Anyway thanks again

 

[Kate]

The inside of my panthers mouth is yellow

 

[camimom]

panther mouths come in various colors.

my male panthers mouth went from being white inside.. to all yellow.

so it seems his mouth is normal.;

 

[HolyToledo]

Like Carol said, the Baytril flavor will not go over well! I'm afraid that if you just drip the med on the feeders, he won't eat them and the med will be wasted.

If you can inject the feeders with the med, it goes over much better. And then you know for sure how much of the dose goes in your critter.