Imone issue =(

**lauraleellbp** · 05-23-2011, 11:52 AM

Last week I noticed a small bump on the side of her snout. It was a day or two after she devoured some crickets so I suspect she may have gotten scratched or bitten while eating, though that's just a guess on my end.

Over the weekend all of a sudden the entire side of her mouth has swollen up, as well as another lump on her neck (I suspect that's where her lymph nodes are though I haven't researched it yet). I'm not sure she can open her mouth at this point, I haven't seen her lick her eyeballs all weekend. I'm doing my best to try and find the balance between not stressing her out too much and letting her rest, and giving her a few saunas a day to try and keep her hydrated...

Soonest I could get her in with the exotics vet is tomorrow afternoon, but we've got an appt for 3:30. *sigh* I was hoping I could get her in today, but the exotics vet only works 3 days a week.

Anyways, I'd appreciate ya'lls positive thoughts and prayers that my pretty little girl pulls through this OK. I'm kicking myself now for not taking her in as soon as I saw that little lump... next time I'll definitely call and snag the next available appointment to be on the safe side.

**BethInAK** · 05-23-2011, 12:33 PM

Oh dear. I'm sending all sorts of healthy thoughts to Imone. Keep us posted.

**StickyFeetReptiles** · 05-23-2011, 12:51 PM

I'll be keeping you and Imone in my thoughts!! Keep us posted!

**lauraleellbp** · 05-23-2011, 01:27 PM

Thanks, ya'll.

I just misted her a little after pulling her out of a sauna and did see her lick some water off her snout, so that does make me feel slightly less worried about her dehydrating.

She looks miserable, though, I hope the vet can help her feel better very soon!

**TaraLeighsCresties** · 05-23-2011, 01:30 PM

Oh NO! I hope Imonne's going to be OK! Please keep us posted.

**lauraleellbp** · 05-24-2011, 05:11 PM

So the official diagnosis is "mouth rot."

She got a Baytril injection today and I have 2 more to give her, every other day. Plus I have to swab her mouth with iodine a few times a day for the next week. She's not going to be a happy camper. I hope she doesn't drop her tail on me, but that's secondary I guess to getting this infection all cleared up.

He also recommended I remove her humid hide ("get all dirt out of the enclosure") and keep it as sterile as possible. So I just Chlorhexidined everything, replaced the paper towel substrate, and made her a new humid hide out of an overturned deli cup with a hole cut in the side and a damp paper towel inside. Guess I'll be repeating this cleaning process every 1 to 2 days. Water and CGD containers will be sterilized and replaced daily. Good thing my Chlorhexidine refill just arrived today from Pangea...

He said the issue shouldn't be airborne, but moving her enclosure away from the others (which I'd already done) was a good move. I'm also working with her last and washing my hands carefully between dealing with any of the geckos. Last thing I need is this stuff spreading.

**Grublet** · 05-24-2011, 06:00 PM

Poor girl! Hope she gets well for you very soon.

... If there any way you could get a picture without stressing her out too much? It might be helpful for other people who may have to deal with this problem in the future.

**TaraLeighsCresties** · 05-24-2011, 06:11 PM

Im glad you at least found out what the problem was! WoW, that took over fast didnt it? Did you say you had to give her 2 more shots?

**lauraleellbp** · 05-24-2011, 06:26 PM

Originally Posted by Grublet

If there any way you could get a picture without stressing her out too much? It might be helpful for other people who may have to deal with this problem in the future.

She's been spending the past few days curled up hiding, but I went over to check on her after you asked this and she was out hanging onto the front screen, so I could just lift the lid and get these. The first one shows how badly the little lump that started it all has swollen (poor thing looks like she has mumps), and you can see how swollen the lining inside her mouth is in the next two shots.

I guess the vet cleaned away more rotted mouth tissue than I'd realized, as before I took her in today there was not an opening between her lips, just swollen tissue.

I really hope she comes through this OK. I'm also concerned that my research is saying that mouthrot is usually a secondary issue to some other type of problem. I've running through possibilities out of what I've pulled up so far online, and internal parasites is the only thing I can't rule out... so I think I need to get a fecal done on her sooner rather than later. I'd thought about taking one in today, but she hasn't pooped but once since she had those crickets last week, and I hadn't noticed any issue at that point when I cleaned that up. I'm pretty sure she hasn't eaten any CGD since those crix.

She weighed 8.3g today for reference, I'm going to watch that pretty closely too.

Any other suggestions?

Here's a pic of her enclosure from before I just switched out the humid hide:

Inside were a humid hide (Gladware container filled with 50/50 Eco Earth and sifted organic potting soil), silk plants, glass water dish and tea light CGD holder (I run these through the dishwasher without chemicals about once a week), paper towel substrate (was changing once a week), a sleeping ledge made out of a plastic soap dish filled with silk plants, lots more silk plants, and a dried branch with more silk plants twined around it for climbing.

My "normal" cleaning routine for all my geckos is replace CGD and clean or replace that dish and water dish every other day, and replace the paper towel and damp towel wipe down the enclosure once a week. I've been chlorhexidine cleaning everything in the enclosure once a month. I've only had Imone for 3 weeks, so I'd only chlorhexidined her enclosure once during that time. I haven't noticed any funny smells or anything, her enclosure has seemed about the same as everyone else, and so far no one else has shown any symptoms of anything wrong.

I mist once a day, in the evening, usually pretty heaviliy to raise the humidity into the 80-90% range. Humidity is usually 50-30% when I mist again in the evening (depending on if it's rained... I may stop misting quite as heavily every day now that the rainy season is kicking in...). I've never noticed any mold in her enclosure.