Open Mouth (not in a regulating way).

[Sarcysod]

Hi, I hope everyone is well. I got Mad Sweeney about a month ago and he has started opening his mouth in a strange way. It is not a constant thing... he can open his mouth fully, eats normally (when he decides to eat) and thermoregulates in a 'normal' mouth position.

I've attached a picture of him doing it just as he's about to nod off. Any ideas on why??

I'm planning a trip to the vets with him for a general check up.... But this will only be in a fortnight, as I've only just got him insured and they don't cover anything in the first 14 days.

He's not eaten much since I've got him, but his weight hasn't dropped (he's about 540g), he started shedding on his leg last weekend, but nothing since, he's lively, seems hydrated enough (water through a syringe and skin pinch tested), poops fine and bright eyed. He can be a bit of a knob at times, but can't we all.

Also, if anyone gets a chance, could you please have a quick look at the setup and see if anything needs changing. Temps and UVB levels are good... I'm not too happy about the basking light being so close to the basking spot, but it's on a thermostat and doesn't seem to be bothering him.

Thanks for all your help in advance, I hope you and all your scaly puppies are doing well. I don't think I've wrote this much since I was at school!!

Jamie.

 

[KarrieRee]

Hi, I hope everyone is well. I got Mad Sweeney about a month ago and he has started opening his mouth in a strange way. It is not a constant thing... he can open his mouth fully, eats normally (when he decides to eat) and thermoregulates in a 'normal' mouth position.

I've attached a picture of him doing it just as he's about to nod off. Any ideas on why??

I'm planning a trip to the vets with him for a general check up.... But this will only be in a fortnight, as I've only just got him insured and they don't cover anything in the first 14 days.

He's not eaten much since I've got him, but his weight hasn't dropped (he's about 540g), he started shedding on his leg last weekend, but nothing since, he's lively, seems hydrated enough (water through a syringe and skin pinch tested), poops fine and bright eyed. He can be a bit of a knob at times, but can't we all.

Also, if anyone gets a chance, could you please have a quick look at the setup and see if anything needs changing. Temps and UVB levels are good... I'm not too happy about the basking light being so close to the basking spot, but it's on a thermostat and doesn't seem to be bothering him.

Thanks for all your help in advance, I hope you and all your scaly puppies are doing well. I don't think I've wrote this much since I was at school!!

Jamie.

Basking bulb should be no closer than 6" --- I would lower the surface basking temps to 95-100 F -- digital probe thermometers are the most accurate for getting those - the UVB should be directly above a piece of basking decor 12-15 inches --- the drooping mouth could be for lack of UVB -- but I am going to have someone else take a look
@AHBD

 

[AHBD]

That could be a sign of discomfort so maybe it's just the bulb too close as Karrie mentioned. Other than that I don't know.

 

[Sarcysod]

Thank you both for your replies, they are very much appreciated. I've measured the distance between the bulb and the basking spot and it 8.5 inches. I've dropped the temp down and it's currently at 102 (checked with an IR gun) so I'll drop that a bit tomorrow.

I've adjusted his cool end basking spot so he's getting 6 UVB when he's up there and it's at a level of 3 UVB on the vivarium floor (measured with a UVB meter).

The UVB lamp is only about 8 inches from where he 'cool' basks... is this an issue if I know the amount of UVB he's getting there???

When I came home tonight he had plenty of shed on his tail, so he's possibly been continuously shedding, but eating it before I noticed. I gave him a bath to ease it a bit... he showed no appreciation.
@KarrieRee @AHBD

 

[KarrieRee]

Thank you both for your replies, they are very much appreciated. I've measured the distance between the bulb and the basking spot and it 8.5 inches. I've dropped the temp down and it's currently at 102 (checked with an IR gun) so I'll drop that a bit tomorrow.

I've adjusted his cool end basking spot so he's getting 6 UVB when he's up there and it's at a level of 3 UVB on the vivarium floor (measured with a UVB meter).

The UVB lamp is only about 8 inches from where he 'cool' basks... is this an issue if I know the amount of UVB he's getting there???

When I came home tonight he had plenty of shed on his tail, so he's possibly been continuously shedding, but eating it before I noticed. I gave him a bath to ease it a bit... he showed no appreciation.
@KarrieRee @AHBD View attachment 80289

So he can sit at the uvb level of where he wants that is good- watch his behavior under the basking bulb -

 

[xp29]

If he is eating shed, he may be lacking in calcium or vitamins and minerals. What is your schedule for giving him those?

 

[Sarcysod]

So he can sit at the uvb level of where he wants that is good- watch his behavior under the basking bulb -

Ah that makes sense, thank you. I'll keep an eye on him. Hopefully, the trip to the vets will either (hopefully) put my mind at ease or let me know what we're dealing with and we can tackle it from there.

The problem now is finally finding a vet that looks at reptiles. From every one I've rang you'd think vet schools only teach about cats and dogs. It took me forever to find one that would look at my rats, as they're classed as exotic animals.

 

[KarrieRee]

Ah that makes sense, thank you. I'll keep an eye on him. Hopefully, the trip to the vets will either (hopefully) put my mind at ease or let me know what we're dealing with and we can tackle it from there.

The problem now is finally finding a vet that looks at reptiles. From every one I've rang you'd think vet schools only teach about cats and dogs. It took me forever to find one that would look at my rats, as they're classed as exotic animals.

www.arav.org if in a small town type in a bigger cities zip code closest to you

 

[Sarcysod]

If he is eating shed, he may be lacking in calcium or vitamins and minerals. What is your schedule for giving him those?

At the minute he's not getting supplemental dusting as he's barely eating. I do appreciate this is a vital part of their husbandry, but my plan was to get him eating regularly and then start dusting.

What are the best supplement brands to use?? It's a minefield when you start looking at the ones available.

 

[Sarcysod]

www.arav.org if in a small town type in a bigger cities zip code closest to you

That's great, cheers. It says there's one about half an hour from here.

 

[xp29]

As long as you stick with the named brands you should be fine. I personally use rep-cal.
You can get liquid calcium and mix a little in water and use an eyedropper to drip it on his snout. Taste test it though, I've gotten some the tasted horrible abd my guys refused to drink. As for the liquid vitamins i haven't found any that don't taste horrible so i still dust for that, calcium is the more critical of the two anyways (not saying vitamins aren't important just that calcium is more so).

 

[xp29]

Bah i forgot to attach the pic of the container lol they offer calcium and vitamins both.

 

[Sarcysod]

As long as you stick with the named brands you should be fine. I personally use rep-cal.
You can get liquid calcium and mix a little in water and use an eyedropper to drip it on his snout. Taste test it though, I've gotten some the tasted horrible abd my guys refused to drink. As for the liquid vitamins i haven't found any that don't taste horrible so i still dust for that, calcium is the more critical of the two anyways (not saying vitamins aren't important just that calcium is more so).

That's great, thank you. I'll see if Amazon can come to the rescue and I'll order some of the calcium tonight. I'll feel a lot more content when he starts eating regularly. The lad I got him from (a work colleague) said he'd been in brumation for a few months, but this seemed a bit strange as he was only 11 months old when I got him.

 

[Sarcysod]

Bah i forgot to attach the pic of the container lol they offer calcium and vitamins both.

 

[AHBD]

Hi Jamie, your set up looks very nice and well done ! The only thing to do is get the basking bulb up higher, at that close proximity it can easily burn him.

As for shed, they only shed patches over a length of time as adults so he likely JUST started shedding his tail and there WAS NO other shed , so he has not been eating it.