# Mouth Rot in a Chinese Water Dragon.



## tallyjayne (Apr 29, 2013)

I have read other entries but I wondered if someone could help me with some advice. 

To start: I HAVE A VET APPOINTMENT. I am wanting to know if anyone has had their reptile treated by a vet and how much it cost? I'm a uni student and I don't have much money but I have booked him in with a vet at Leeds. I'm travelling over an hour away by car there and back to do this, but the earliest they could fit me in was Friday. I wanted to make sure it was a reputable vet that had experience with exotic animals which is why there's a delay in getting an appointment.

In the meantime I plan on trying to give him baths with iodine - though he only likes it when he goes in the bath voluntarily so this will be difficult. 

I don't have pictures of inside his mouth as I had to coax him to see (and it was mainly confined to one area that didn't look nice at the front), but these are of his viv and him:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/66884_10151645382652975_402016217_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/394956_10151423834537975_722483314_n.jpg

Any advice or information would be helpful!


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## joe1981 (Dec 14, 2012)

Hope you get him sorted mate. I'm sure CWD keepers will be able to help out plenty of them on here. Friday can't come soon enough i bet.


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## vgorst (Sep 27, 2011)

Well done for getting him a vet appointment. With mouth rot (if that's what it is) I would expect for you to pay consultation (£30-50 first consultation usually although it can be more) and probably some antibiotics/cream (don't usually cost a huge amount either). If it's just this then I would _expect_ to pay under £100 at a reasonably priced vets. If you're worried about cost you should talk to the vet about it prior to treatment.

Mouth rot usually occurs due to stress, this stress lowers the immune system allowing bacteria (often already present) to increase and get out of control. To be honest, it may be due to your setup which isn't really adequate for a (I assume) mature male. These animals feel far more secure high up and with plenty of cover, so a tall viv is required with plenty of branches and plants. Ensuring you have the correct husbandry (tank size, temperature, UVB, diet, supplementation and humidity) will help to ensure this won't happen again and will aid in his recovery.


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## tallyjayne (Apr 29, 2013)

That cost sounds fine. I have £300 left until my accounts cleared out and I'd have to beg/borrow/steal. 

As for his viv it's a 4.5 foot x 2 foot x 2 foot. I was told to not use a taller viv by the shop I bought him from as it is harder to adequately heat them throughout. He has a bath deep enough for him to submerge, a basking rock under his light, his UVA/B bulb is only 6 months old, and his temperature at the cool end is about 30 degrees. There's also a heat mat underneath his bath to add humidity and make sure the water is not too cold. He also has some foliage to the back behind his basking rock though he may benefit from more hides and foliage. 

If anyone wants to suggest anything to add then feel free. It's all about getting him better.


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## joe1981 (Dec 14, 2012)

tallyjayne said:


> That cost sounds fine. I have £300 left until my accounts cleared out and I'd have to beg/borrow/steal.
> 
> As for his viv it's a 4.5 foot x 2 foot x 2 foot. I was told to not use a taller viv by the shop I bought him from as it is harder to adequately heat them throughout. He has a bath deep enough for him to submerge, a basking rock under his light, his UVA/B bulb is only 6 months old, and his temperature at the cool end is about 30 degrees. There's also a heat mat underneath his bath to add humidity and make sure the water is not too cold. He also has some foliage to the back behind his basking rock though he may benefit from more hides and foliage.
> 
> If anyone wants to suggest anything to add then feel free. It's all about getting him better.


Well for a start the Pet store is wrong, you've not done anything wrong mate so don't take this as a dig at you. CWD's are Arboreal in they need height to climb, escape predators etc. Most recommend a 4 - 6ft high Viv one of the larger Vivexotic XL arboreal types - Water Dragon Setup | Northampton Reptile Centre

This is a rough idea of the starting point. I'll leave the pro's to show other options, lighting etc. Yet another example of shops not knowing anything about the reptiles they sell. 
I would imagine the setup is the root cause of the stress related health problems. Don't be put off by the costs you can pick up Viv's for far less than that i just use that as a reference


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## vgorst (Sep 27, 2011)

As above, the setup shouldn't have been recommended by a reptile shop. Yeah, a bigger setup will be more difficult and expensive to light and heat but that goes with the territory I'm afraid. 

That cool end isn't particularly cool, heat stress can be quite dangerous. I would look at altering the watt of the bulb and altering the height of the basking spot and fitting of the light so you can still get a good basking temperature and get a sufficient cool end at the same time. Which UV are you using? If it's anything other than Arcadia you should be looking at replacing it ASAP.

How do you measure your temperatures (digital/analogue thermometer)? And what is your basking temperature?


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## tallyjayne (Apr 29, 2013)

That's fine. I can get him a viv from L & D in mansfield- they sell them quite cheap compared to other places I have seen. 

I'm paranoid however as I know someone had to have their WD put down due to mouth rot, so I want to wait until friday when I have seen the vet to make sure what it is and that it's definitely treatable before I buy another one. That way I can bump each pet into a bigger viv.


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## vgorst (Sep 27, 2011)

If you keep the mouth clean and clear of further infections, and keep him in good conditions then there should be no reason why he would be PTS.

Forgot to mention earlier, you don't need to bathe him in iodine solution, just use some cotton wool with iodine solution (or tamodine may be less painful) and dab it on with that.


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## tremerz97 (Nov 30, 2012)

vgorst said:


> If you keep the mouth clean and clear of further infections, and keep him in good conditions then there should be no reason why he would be PTS.
> 
> Forgot to mention earlier, you don't need to bathe him in iodine solution, just use some cotton wool with iodine solution (or tamodine may be less painful) and dab it on with that.


Tamodine is great! My cwd had fungal infections on his mouth done what vgorst said and it went within a week. So highly recommended


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