Swollen/crusted lips

[Lillyjane]

Hi there,
Lucky is a little over a year old. He has had issues with his mouth since he was a few months old. He has been treated for mouth rot and it did not seem to make a difference and I’ve taken him to the vet more times than I want to think about. He eats his veggies and bugs and his temps and enclosure specs are all perfect. He doesn’t seem to be uncomfortable but I just want this to heal and I cannot find any answers online or with my vet and I’m feeling a bit hopeless. Has anyone had this issue or seen it online before? Please let me know. Thank you.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

So sorry Lucky is having trouble with his skin. Does he have trouble shedding those areas?
What did you previously do when you were treating for mouth rot?
Just for review, what are his temperatures in his tank & how do you measure them?
Let's try using some raw unpasteurized honey on the mouth daily. I am not sure it's an infection or
not & if it hasn't spread then it probably isn't fungal.
Is it like a discharge & then it dries? The inside of his mouth is fine, correct?

Tracie

 

[Lillyjane]

Hello,

So sorry Lucky is having trouble with his skin. Does he have trouble shedding those areas?
What did you previously do when you were treating for mouth rot?
Just for review, what are his temperatures in his tank & how do you measure them?
Let's try using some raw unpasteurized honey on the mouth daily. I am not sure it's an infection or
not & if it hasn't spread then it probably isn't fungal.
Is it like a discharge & then it dries? The inside of his mouth is fine, correct?

Tracie

Hi Tracie,
Thank you for your response!
Sometimes he has trouble shedding around his mouth, but it is usually is fine.
He has had two courses of intravenous antibiotics and I swabbed his mouth with diluted chlorhexidine daily at that time and applied Silver Sulfadiazine on his lips. I continued to apply that to his lips until recently. The vet told me to stop and see how his lips do. They haven’t changed.
His daytime temps are 100-105f on his basking spot and around 75-80f on the cool side. I use a thermometer gun.
There’s no discharge from his mouth that I’ve been able to see. When it first started over a year ago, he had noticeable discharge from his nose and mouth but that went away with the antibiotics. His mouth is crusty but I can’t figure out why.
I will try the honey and see how that goes. Did you think of that as an anti inflammatory/ to keep in moisture?
Thank you so much for your suggestion and response,
Lilly

 

[Lillyjane]

Hi Tracie,
Thank you for your response!
Sometimes he has trouble shedding around his mouth, but it is usually is fine.
He has had two courses of intravenous antibiotics and I swabbed his mouth with diluted chlorhexidine daily at that time and applied Silver Sulfadiazine on his lips. I continued to apply that to his lips until recently. The vet told me to stop and see how his lips do. They haven’t changed.
His daytime temps are 100-105f on his basking spot and around 75-80f on the cool side. I use a thermometer gun.
There’s no discharge from his mouth that I’ve been able to see. When it first started over a year ago, he had noticeable discharge from his nose and mouth but that went away with the antibiotics. His mouth is crusty but I can’t figure out why.
I will try the honey and see how that goes. Did you think of that as an anti inflammatory/ to keep in moisture?
Thank you so much for your suggestion and response,
Lilly

Also, yes the inside of his mouth is normal. My vet said it looked like mouth rot on the inside of his mouth at the beginning, but that also went away with the antibiotics.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I'm glad to hear that the inside of the mouth cleared up & there doesn't seem to be any issues with that
right now.
It doesn't sound like he has a respiratory infection then. It is likely going to be skin/scale related. Maybe
some type of bacteria has been trapped in between the scales somehow that hasn't cleared up for some
reason.
The raw or manuka honey is a great antibacterial & antimicrobial agent so definitely give that a try. It could
keep in some moisture as well.
How is his appetite?

Tracie