Penny - Mouth Rot

[lettergram]

8 months old, 16 inch, female bearded dragon. She has white plaque on her teeth and on the tip/corners of her mouth she seems to have little orange/bloody spots (She did get alot of hard shelled large crickets lately, at least I am hearing snaps of their skeletons). I intend to bring her to the vet as soon as possible, however I have a very minimal amount of cash and it's $90 for a visit (not including ANYTHING else). If anyone has any suggestions on how to handle this please let me know..


Details:

Age: 8 months old
Size: 16 inches
Weight: unknown (pretty heavy)
Sex: Female
Cage: 40 gallon
Heat: 115-95 degrees (ranging so she can choose)
Light: Reptisun UVB 10.0 18 bar light, 18 inches from the ground, 12 from favored basking spot
Diet: Collard greens, Escrole, Rep-cal, 30-50 crickets a day (lightly powdered 4-7 days a week)
Bowls: Daily
Current State: Eating like normal, slightly tired, which is usual for her.

I felt she may have had something before, but had even less money then. I wouldn't be surprised if she has been fighting this for a while, she is showing slight signs of MBD, but I don't have much to go on (talking about both cost and information). I have grown worried this time and have about $200 to spend if she needs it... but is there any better way to check for sure or that might help without the vet?

 

[Coliosis]

8 months old, 16 inch, female bearded dragon. She has white plaque on her teeth and on the tip/corners of her mouth she seems to have little orange/bloody spots (She did get alot of hard shelled large crickets lately, at least I am hearing snaps of their skeletons). I intend to bring her to the vet as soon as possible, however I have a very minimal amount of cash and it's $90 for a visit (not including ANYTHING else). If anyone has any suggestions on how to handle this please let me know..


Details:

Age: 8 months old
Size: 16 inches
Weight: unknown (pretty heavy)
Sex: Female
Cage: 40 gallon
Heat: 115-95 degrees (ranging so she can choose)
Light: Reptisun UVB 10.0 18 bar light, 18 inches from the ground, 12 from favored basking spot
Diet: Collard greens, Escrole, Rep-cal, 30-50 crickets a day (lightly powdered 4-7 days a week)
Bowls: Daily
Current State: Eating like normal, slightly tired, which is usual for her.

I felt she may have had something before, but had even less money then. I wouldn't be surprised if she has been fighting this for a while, she is showing slight signs of MBD, but I don't have much to go on (talking about both cost and information). I have grown worried this time and have about $200 to spend if she needs it... but is there any better way to check for sure or that might help without the vet?

Pictures will definitely help!!
I think 12" is a little far from the UVB light, 6-10" is recommended. Do you have anything between her and the light?

 

[lettergram]

There's nothing between her and the light and she also receives loads of natural sunlight in her cage.

She will not open her mouth for me at all...

Here's a link to some pictures: http://lettergram.org/bearded-dragon/

 

[Coliosis]

Okay that's good that there's nothing between her and the light. Glass filters out the UVB rays though, so if she's in a glass tank and if you are talking about light coming through a window, she won't be getting any UVB.
Are you able to get a close-up of the "orange/bloody spots"?
How old is your reptisun?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

As instructed, the distance of 6-8 inches for the Reptisun 10 tube bulb is recommended for the strongest UVB exposure. Is it mounted directly overhead of her? Does she sit under the light quite often?
What type of calcium do you use, repcal calcium powder?
The white plaque in the mouth may not be mouth rot though, sometimes they can just get build up. How long has she had the build up?
She is a pretty girl, too.

Tracie

 

[AHBD]

She is a pretty girl ! I just wanted to ask if the temps. you mentioned , between 95 and 115, are through the entire cage ? 115 is too high, and if the coolest area is 95, that's off by 15 degrees. There must be a cooler end of 78 - 83F tops. The hot basking spot should be closer to 100-105. If she is lethargic, that may be part of the problem, it's too hot, aside from her mouth problems.

 

[lettergram]

@Coliosis: The UVB is about 3 months old, and from what I have read that should be fine. I also could not manage to get her to open her mouth, she basically is never startled and doesn't puff up and open, even if I just tap her on the nose and try to annoy her.. So I couldn't get a picture, I only saw them last night because she yawned to break the skin around her mouth for a shed.

@Drache613: The pictures I linked has one of my cage set up, yes her basking spot is right under it. She does have a tendency to run around her cage quite a bit and doesn't really sit under the basking spot for more than 5 hours a day.. I use Flucker's Calcium with Vitamin D3 4-7 times a week, feeding her 30-50 crickets a day with rep-cal Juvenile bearded dragon food, escrole, and collard greens (and occasional winter squash). I noticed the plaque maybe two weeks ago but assumed it would go away, it has gotten a bit worse, but as I've stated previously in the post I cant really get her to open her mouth =p.

@AHBD: The cool side of her cage is 73 degrees all day/night, her cage has two nice basking spots: 1 - 115 degrees, 6inch from UVB, 2 - 95 degrees, 8 inches from UVB.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

You might want to decrease the D3 use to 4 days a week, as 7 might be too much. The bulb being 3 months old, is fine for now. The bulb should be replaced every 5-6 months to maintain UVB exposure.
The basking temperatures should run around 95-110 with a cooler end of around 78-82. Do you use a digital probe or a temp gun to measure the temperatures?
How is she doing today, has she eaten?
Mouth rot looks like an infection in the mouth, kind of like pus build up type of substance.

Let us know how she is doing.

Tracie

 

[lettergram]

She's still eating fine, she'll eat to a point then avoid it when she can. I'll reduce the calcium/d3 to 4 days a week, and I have a digital probe and temp gun so I check it with both just to make sure, everything is how I stated.

Yes, she has blood spots on the corner of her mouth and on the tip, a orange hugh on the inside of her teeth, and white everywhere else, she also has a large amount of saliva. I do not know if it is mouth rot for sure, but from what I read it seems like it.. I'll try to get a picture today again..

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Thanks. Try to get the inside of the mouth, if possible.
How is her eating now?
The temperatures are fine if you are measuring right where she basks & it is in the 95-110 range. Does she bask quite a bit then?
The blood looking spots, are they possibly specks from the cricket parts stuck on her gums?
You can try using a q-tip or a small soft toothbrush to use in the mouth to swipe at the teeth & gums.

How is she doing today?

Tracie

 

[lettergram]

She's alright, she opened her mouth a bit today and I still see specs of blood.. I'll try to get in there, but she just hates to open her mouth for anything. She's eating alright, I don't does mouth rot progress fast in any way? Because she seems fine for the most part (eating, basking, and such).