[SilverSteno]

Got a photo of my geckos mouth. Does ANYONE have any ideas what is the matter with her?

Sometimes she seems to have her jaw almost properly closed but just now when I checked on her, her mouth was open and I took a photo.



(Click on thumb for larger image)

What is that black stuff? Is her jaw actually broken? Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[tombraider]

I had to lighten the photo to take a proper look but it does look broken to me. Looks like the lower jaw has been damaged. hope shes ok

 

[SilverSteno]

Yeah, I'm starting to think its a break

Thought she wasn't going to be here in the morning, last night she started having some real problems with her breathing. She was in a lot of distress last night Got a look at her mouth and her throat was all swollen but other than lots of saliva there are not really any of the other symptoms of mouth rot.

The bit of good news is that she is still drinking quite a bit so she is getting the Critical Care formula into her, and she has eaten as well.

She's reluctantly allowing me to dab her mouth with the betadine, this morning though she kept turning her head and trying to tuck it into her body she didn't actually run away to where I couldn't get her until I closed the door.

 

[Iliria]

Poor thing. *hugs to the little gecko* get well soon hun

 

[pebbles]

awwww hope shes ok

 

[SilverSteno]

She seems to be improving a bit. Her mouth was almost properly closed when I checked up on her after work and her colour has returned to normal. Her calcium sacs have also increased in size so she must be eating her food. She's still far from out of the woods yet though but I'm cautiously more hopeful than I was last night.

 

[Duck]

poor girl i hope she will be ok

 

[groovy chick]

Awww i hope she is going to be ok for you

 

[wohic]

HI,
Ok I am far from from an expert but it looks like floppy jaw that cresties suffer from, and other geckos, its a sign of MBD I would get some soluable calcium for its water, and perhaps a visit to a vet for a calcium injection to boost the calcium levels. A good person to speak to about this is Nerys, she kees a lot of different gecko species and would know a lot more about the condition.

 

[SilverSteno]

HI,
Ok I am far from from an expert but it looks like floppy jaw that cresties suffer from, and other geckos, its a sign of MBD I would get some soluable calcium for its water, and perhaps a visit to a vet for a calcium injection to boost the calcium levels. A good person to speak to about this is Nerys, she kees a lot of different gecko species and would know a lot more about the condition.

Hmmm, thanks for that. I think I said in the original post that one of my first thoughts was that it was something to do with her calcium levels (especially with her recently laying eggs) but her calcium sacs, though reduced, were still apparent (they hae now increased back to almost normal levels). With them laying eggs constantly I keep an eye on their calcium because they do seem prone to getting low after laying eggs and I didn't notice any problems with her levels prior to her laying her eggs. Can it take hold this seriously in a matter of days? She pretty much went from climbing and jumping all over the place to a wreak within days. The other gecko that she used to live with also has healthy calcium levels and their diet is the same.

As a more general update, she's fairly bright but is still very poorly. Her jaw has pretty much almost completely re-aligned but I'm still concerned that there may be other problems that I can't see. On her right it looks completely normal, but it is still a bit funny on her left though not as bad as it was. However, she can't seem to climb glass. Her back feet are sticking fine but her front feet don't seem to be sticking to the glass so I've tried giving them a bit of a wash in case there is any shed skin left on them. She's taking the betadine treatment a lot better now as well.

 

[Anthony]

HI,
Ok I am far from from an expert but it looks like floppy jaw that cresties suffer from, and other geckos, its a sign of MBD I would get some soluable calcium for its water, and perhaps a visit to a vet for a calcium injection to boost the calcium levels. A good person to speak to about this is Nerys, she kees a lot of different gecko species and would know a lot more about the condition.

Yes i was thinking the same thing as soon as i saw the pic.
Hope she recovers soon.

 

[SilverSteno]

Well she's still here and has improved. Her jaw is just about back to normal but she has two lumps about halfway along the lower jaw where it was hanging almost vertical. Her calcium sacs are a good, healthy size so the calcium is going to be cut down to normal from now on. She has a good bit of weight on her tail and her chest area looks normal. The only thing is the toes on her left hand have been seriously damaged so she might never be able to climb again. She is still on the Critical Care Formula and I'll keep her on that for a few more days and I'm also still cleaning her mouth with Betadine though I may cut that down to every two days from Thursday.

Skye (my other mourning gecko) will be moved out of semi-quarentine today because she is showing no signs of been ill and has been running around like a clockwork toy. She is also gravid and will be laying her eggs towards the end of this week.

Fingers crossed it all goes smoothly from now on...