Hey everyone!
I'm looking for opinions on if my little guy looks to have mouth rot. (See pics with/without flash).
About my dragon:
-He's about 8-9 years old
-His appetite is actually the best and most balanced it's been in months.
He does prefer his salad in baby food form (I blend collared greens/dandelion greens/butternut squash with water to form a thick babyfood), but crunches on bugs no problem.
- I believe he's well hydrated. I often mix water with his food and remind him of his water dish often (he drinks if I tap the surface). He drank lots of water in the bath yesterday.
-He's been much more social/active since spring started. He asks to come out of his tank daily so he can roam around and hops back into his tank when he's ready to warm up.
About my concern:
I've finally finished school this for the semester and have been able to actually spend all day with him lately, so all of this could be completely typical for him and maybe I'm just paranoid/noticing his less common habits again.
Yesterday I noticed that he was basking with his mouth open, which is uncommon for him but thought he had just reached the perfect basking temperature. He continued to do it off and on throughout the evening, even outside of his tank, so I became concerned about a respiratory infection, however his breathing sounds good, he's not black bearded, etc. I was checking his mouth yesterday and he drooled a little which was also surprising to me but he has not done so since.
This morning he was basking with his mouth open again so I snapped some pics. The ow inside his mouth is worrying me (though I can't say I've analyzed the inside of his mouth to this extent). I did swab it with a damp Q-tip and nothing moved/came off.
He's acting completely normal today, very alert and interactive with a high interest in food.
Should I be concerned about the state of his mouth? Or is a typical mouth?
I'm looking for opinions on if my little guy looks to have mouth rot. (See pics with/without flash).
About my dragon:
-He's about 8-9 years old
-His appetite is actually the best and most balanced it's been in months.
He does prefer his salad in baby food form (I blend collared greens/dandelion greens/butternut squash with water to form a thick babyfood), but crunches on bugs no problem.
- I believe he's well hydrated. I often mix water with his food and remind him of his water dish often (he drinks if I tap the surface). He drank lots of water in the bath yesterday.
-He's been much more social/active since spring started. He asks to come out of his tank daily so he can roam around and hops back into his tank when he's ready to warm up.
About my concern:
I've finally finished school this for the semester and have been able to actually spend all day with him lately, so all of this could be completely typical for him and maybe I'm just paranoid/noticing his less common habits again.
Yesterday I noticed that he was basking with his mouth open, which is uncommon for him but thought he had just reached the perfect basking temperature. He continued to do it off and on throughout the evening, even outside of his tank, so I became concerned about a respiratory infection, however his breathing sounds good, he's not black bearded, etc. I was checking his mouth yesterday and he drooled a little which was also surprising to me but he has not done so since.
This morning he was basking with his mouth open again so I snapped some pics. The ow inside his mouth is worrying me (though I can't say I've analyzed the inside of his mouth to this extent). I did swab it with a damp Q-tip and nothing moved/came off.
He's acting completely normal today, very alert and interactive with a high interest in food.
Should I be concerned about the state of his mouth? Or is a typical mouth?