# Mouth rot or what?



## i0r (Oct 19, 2009)

Hiya guys! Long time no see!
My 2 guys woke up just a few weeks ago. And I haven't had much time to be online 

Anyway I think there's a problem with my little guy Junior.
The thing is I don't know what can have caused it.

I have him in a good controlled enclosure that keeps good temps and humidity.
For substrate I use peat. I know cypress mulch is recommended, but it doesn't exist here in Argentina. Closest I can get is a eucalyptus mulch, but it tends to mold. So I've had him on peat for 8 months now.

The thing is that I noticed just last week that he seemed to have dirt around his mouth...kinda stuck in the "gums". So I tried to get it off using towels and q tips....but it doesnt seem to come off.
Could you take a look at the pictures and tell me if it's some kind of mouth rot or something....and if so....what can have caused it and how can I cure it??
Or is it just peat that got stuck there?? It's not easy to try and get something out of a tegus mouth 


Additional info: I went on vacations 6 weeks ago for a total of 4 weeks, and since Junior was born February this year and is still tiny(14 inches) I thought to leave him with a professional herper to care of him while I was away. The guy supposedly had him in a tank with plain dirt or maybe wood chips(will investigate further if necessary).....don't know if humidity and temp was optimal but he looked good when I got him. Don't remember though if he had this before or after I got him back.

He eats and poops on regular basis and seems to be in good condition.

Any opinions??


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## Crusher08 (Oct 19, 2009)

You know what. My tegu had that on his lips for a little while. I think it might have been dried up food, or bark debris clinging to his lips because it's gone. It like shed off as soon as he came out of being dormant. I'm not sure though.


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## herper9 (Oct 19, 2009)

I'd worry if it stays there for a while. I'm not sure if that is mouth rot or not. Though it does look like necrotizing tissue. Does is stink?


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## whoru (Oct 19, 2009)

it looks bad to me


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## i0r (Oct 20, 2009)

Ok so I've just come back to life after fighting swine flue for 2 weeks. So today I got the chance to look closer at Junior.....So I took him out for a free roam and I noticed that he also had problems walking. I then immediately divided Juanchas outdoor enclosure and put Junior there so he can get some real sun light and will now feed him liver with plenty of calcium. Don't know whats going on with him.....if it's MDB or parasites.....

I'm so mad you guys have no idea.
I hate to think I'm responsible for his terrible condition since I tend to give all my animals the best care possible.

So could this have been provoked because of bad husbandry 6 weeks ago when I left him to that supposed professional herper to look after him while I was away??
He was in top shape when I left him.......can 4 weeks of bad condition make him this bad?????

Will see how he does after a few days of outside sunlight.
Will try to get my vet to come over and have a look at him as well.....thing is he's not too experienced with reptiles. Will try to find an expert....


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## Crusher08 (Oct 20, 2009)

I would change the bedding to something with no dust that can cling to the saliva on his lips. I soaked mine alot when this happened, and it like, peeled off like a scab almost.


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## Meg90 (Oct 20, 2009)

Have you not had it under UVB? No supplementation?


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## i0r (Oct 22, 2009)

Crusher: I've looked everywhere for an alternative substrate. Though since reptiles are not a popular pet here it's almost impossible, and most reptile owners here got their animals on peat, newspaper, artificial lawn or eucalyptus mulch(which molds very easily indoors).

Meg: UVB tube 11 inches away and repti cal without D3.
Don't know if he got any of that the 4 weeks I was away though. The guys said he gave him all the necessary supplements. But who knows.

Anyhow.....he had his first shed since waking up from hibernation and his mouth is now fine again.
Still think he's slower than usual and don't know if it's because he woke up recently.
Will keep him outside though and up his calcium a bit.
Finally got a hold of a reptile vet and he'll be here on tuesday.

Don't mind the mess in the outdoor enclosure...it's still in winter mode. Will get it in summer mode next week


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## Crusher08 (Oct 22, 2009)

Well, I am very pleased to hear his mouth cleared up! I would love to know what the vet says about it! My bf and I both really love your out door enclosure, it's awesome!


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## txrepgirl (Oct 23, 2009)

Hi Chris.Welcome back  .It's nice to hear from you again.I'm sorry to hear about Junio  .It's good to hear his mouth is doing better.I looked at the 2nd and 3rd picture a few times and it looks like his mouth is closed but the sides look like they are still a bit open.That looks like a sign off MBD.Do me a favor please and gently squeeze the sides off his mouth and see if it's soft of firm.If it's soft it's MBD.It's normal for them to be a bit slow when they are in hibernation for a long time because the muscles haven't been used for a while.But if he can't walk on all fors and drags his back legs and/or they twitch than that is another signe for MBD.You are doing the right thing with having him out in the natural sun light.Also please make sure you give him lots off fresh water.I also recommend to feed him frozen/ thawed rodents like mice.This is the best way for him to get lots off calcium in him.It's better than giving him the powder.I know you are very busy but do you think you could post a video off him so we can see how he is acting/ walking.Thank you.I wish you the best.Oh, it does sound like that the herper didn't had any UVB light for Junior.I would ask him about it.Please keep us posted and PLEASE give Juancha a big hug from me.Thank you.I'm glad you are feeling better.


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## Crusher08 (Oct 28, 2009)

Hey, so how did the visit to the vet go?


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## i0r (Oct 28, 2009)

Sorry guys for not writing......Haven't had time to be in my PC since last week....someone wanna trade responsibilities with me?? 

Anyway the vet was here yesterday and his conclusion was that I'm simply too over protective.
He said that the mouth thing was because of Junior not shedding while being active during the winter. Since he grew a little it just got a little too tight for him.
The slow part was because he wasn't fully awake.

I have to admit that it made perfect sense to me and maybe I over reacted a bit. But the moment you know somethings not right you simply can't just sit and wait for things to fix themselves....so I preferred to assume the worst from the beginning.
All fine now though. Got him in his outside enclosure and he's eating and running around like crazy.

Thanks guys for your concerns! 

Sam: Long time no see  Hope you, Leonidas, Zeus, shatzi and spatzi are doing fine.
Nice to finally see you over here.
I'm not around too much, but when my guys are active I'm here more often 
Will try to get up a video of Junior so you can see him in action.
Don't know the sex yet...but it seems to be male because of it's attitude.
Take care and I'll see you around.
EDIT: Was checking you out on youtube and saw VENUS....congratulations!! She's beautiful!!!


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