Hello all,
I first posted about this strange growth in Leo's mouth, right where his jaws meet, in his "Pneumonia" thread: http://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=148669&start=45, and it's now been over 4 months. I guess I've been lulled into comfort by it not growing at all for three months, in fact, after a while, it seemed to shrink a little and look narrower and shallower, with a healthier red color. But I just had a good look at his mouth for the first time in a month, and it definitely looks bigger than when we first saw it in July, and has that nasty yellow tint again. It seems to be pus-filled.
Leo seems to be doing fine for the time being, displays no signs of discomfort, his pneumonia completely gone, eats superworms on his own, and I still hand-feed him veggies, because he won't eat them on his own. Three things that do concern me: first, he won't lick water anymore when it's dropped on his nose, or even in the bath tub, but rather sucks it in - this started when he had pneumonia (or, maybe, it's related to this growth?). Second, he only poops in the tub once in three days, never outside. Wonder if there are specific foods I could give him to help his bowel movements. Third, he still won't come out to bask on his own, I take him out, and he goes back quickly after warming up. He does stay at the basking spot for a long time after being fed though. His temps seem fine - as I previously posted, I went quite far, getting a temp gun and a solarmeter, but still he's rather lethargic. Maybe it's just brumation time...
The local vet, whom we visited for pneumonia, prescribed Baytril-based ointment for stomatitis at the time of visit, but then when he actually saw these closeup pics, he didn't seem to know what it was. He just told us to watch it, because, according to him, it is dangerous to try and drain something in a reptile's mouth, because it may bleed to death. Has anyone here ever encountered anything like it? Does it look like a cyst or an abscess? And what IF it breaks - how do I stop the bleeding? I want to be prepared in case that happens. I am thinking of taking Leo to the vet again, but there are no real reptile specialists in this area, I'd have to drive 75-100 miles one way to find one... Pics, taken in July (now it looks bulgier and seems to go lower in his mouth, kinda vertically along the jaw line):
Direct links (images get resized here):
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm278/bx-me/growth1.jpg
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm278/bx-me/growth2.jpg
I first posted about this strange growth in Leo's mouth, right where his jaws meet, in his "Pneumonia" thread: http://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=148669&start=45, and it's now been over 4 months. I guess I've been lulled into comfort by it not growing at all for three months, in fact, after a while, it seemed to shrink a little and look narrower and shallower, with a healthier red color. But I just had a good look at his mouth for the first time in a month, and it definitely looks bigger than when we first saw it in July, and has that nasty yellow tint again. It seems to be pus-filled.
Leo seems to be doing fine for the time being, displays no signs of discomfort, his pneumonia completely gone, eats superworms on his own, and I still hand-feed him veggies, because he won't eat them on his own. Three things that do concern me: first, he won't lick water anymore when it's dropped on his nose, or even in the bath tub, but rather sucks it in - this started when he had pneumonia (or, maybe, it's related to this growth?). Second, he only poops in the tub once in three days, never outside. Wonder if there are specific foods I could give him to help his bowel movements. Third, he still won't come out to bask on his own, I take him out, and he goes back quickly after warming up. He does stay at the basking spot for a long time after being fed though. His temps seem fine - as I previously posted, I went quite far, getting a temp gun and a solarmeter, but still he's rather lethargic. Maybe it's just brumation time...
The local vet, whom we visited for pneumonia, prescribed Baytril-based ointment for stomatitis at the time of visit, but then when he actually saw these closeup pics, he didn't seem to know what it was. He just told us to watch it, because, according to him, it is dangerous to try and drain something in a reptile's mouth, because it may bleed to death. Has anyone here ever encountered anything like it? Does it look like a cyst or an abscess? And what IF it breaks - how do I stop the bleeding? I want to be prepared in case that happens. I am thinking of taking Leo to the vet again, but there are no real reptile specialists in this area, I'd have to drive 75-100 miles one way to find one... Pics, taken in July (now it looks bulgier and seems to go lower in his mouth, kinda vertically along the jaw line):
Direct links (images get resized here):
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm278/bx-me/growth1.jpg
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm278/bx-me/growth2.jpg