Criteria for Mouth Rot?

Hi, Everybody,

I was feeding my gecko (who has always had a bit of an overbite; this information will come in handy in a moment), when I noticed that he has some kind of crusty material clinging to the exposed portion of his upper jaw that is a result of the overbite (no teeth are exposed). He's had something similar before, but I was able to take it off; this time, however, it's lighter in color, almost like the flesh of a pear. I think this may be from him licking up some pear-flavored baby food that I mixed in with his CGD, the other day (he doesn't really seem to like it plain).

Being more experienced than I have been in the past, I suspected mouth rot; however, all the stomatitis pictures I've seen are more reddish-brown in color. Also, my gecko does not have any blood, pus, et cetera, in his mouth. Are there any other criteria I can use to make the diagnosis? If so, which substance(s) are the best for removing it? I have Betadine swabs, Listerine, and hydrogen peroxide at my disposal.

Thank you for your time and insight!

Mild stomatitis will present as swelling and sensitive gums, sometimes with bleeding gums if you mess with the teeth.

Here are two photos of one of my chameleons when she had persistent mouth rot (sorry, no gecko photos!) but it gives you an idea of swelling. Meller's chameleon mouths are naturally black, so don't be alarmed by the dark color.



You can see how her gums are extremely swollen, so much so that her teeth are nearly buried in them. The tooth color is also a side effect of the infection. In the case of poor Guinevere, her stomatitis included a heavy dose of cottage cheese-like build-up, which we had to wipe away every morning with astringent-soaked gauze. That's what is on the corners of her mouth and around her lips.

That's how we treated it, with an astringent to clean and dry out the mouth, anti-inflamatory medicine, and antibiotics, like Baytril. It took a good 6 months, since chameleons take a looooooong time to heal from anything but we got it.

Thanks for the information and pictures! Your chameleon is beautiful; I'm glad she got better. As far as I can tell, Guilo has no gum swelling (he refuses to open his mouth all the way), and his teeth are distinctly visible when he eats (they are also the normal color). I'm not sure if this picture will appear correctly, but here it is. When I took this picture, today, the jaw material in question looked darker than I made it sound, but he's also shedding.


...And, for comparison, here is a picture of how his overbite normally looks:


Did you have to go to a vet to get any of those antibiotics, or were they over-the-counter, like Baytril?

Thanks again!

Thanks! She looks much nicer now that she's healthy and happy. She came from a pretty terrible case of neglect.

But I digress! I have a hard time seeing the gunk you're talking about because the photos are very blurry but I think for now I would wipe it off, make sure it's not just left-over food that's formed a crust, and try to get a good look in his mouth at some point. Although I know it can be tricky!

I did have to go to the vet, yes, because it was SO persistent and she came with other issues. I had to get cultures done too, because two rounds of Baytril didn't do anything so we had to try a few different things.

I have tried to wipe it off a couple times, now, but it seems pretty stuck. I may try with a damp Q-tip.

As for the pictures, I do agree that my phone needs some improvement! In the first picture, if you look almost exactly one centimeter below the center of his eye, it's the tan-colored strip. The second picture is when the gunk is absent. It's just to show his overbite, so it would be alarming if you did see something in that one!

It may be stuck shed. I might try putting him in a "gecko sauna" for a few nights. I use 95 degree water that comes up to the geckos belly in a sealed tupperware (sealed to keep the humidity as high as possible) I put a gecko in there for 10-15 minutes and then I might try gently wiping it again. If it doesn't come off after a 2-3 of these soaks I'd probably take him to the vet do let someone with experience with reptile medical issues take a good look at it.

Thank you for the advice, everybody! It fell off after he shed--as you guys had mentioned, it was dead skin. Sorry for the false alarm!