Urgent mouth troubles

[mindgamer8907]

Recently I adopted a juvie leo from a chain store (I suck about that) and when I brought her home she was fine if a bit grumpy. Whatever was wrong with her eye after her shed (from Saturday to at least Monday) seems to have worked itself mostly out and she has her sight back to normal. She had taken to biting me, which I don't like, but it never hurt in the slightest so I let her nip away and didn't reward the bites with being put down (psych conditioning like pavlov, but with geckos). She had an unfortunate habit of taking my whole index finger into her mouth (nail and all) and now I'm afraid I've destroyed her health. On the upper left side of her mouth she has a brownish looking, slight inflammation and after using a harmless napkin rolled tight to probe it, I found it to be bloody. Not only that, but her lips seem to be a bit askew, as if her bite were shifted and several of her teeth must have fallen out when biting my fingernail because she's missing several and she has some more of the brown coloration around the tooth sockets. She was able to eat hunt and eat when I placed a moving mealie in front of her, but this color and bleeding are huge problems, she is clearly in discomfort and for every mealie she eats, she'll spit three out for seemingly no reason (other than perhaps her mouth pain). She still bites, but not as much of my finger and I never let her get the nail and with a much weaker bite strength. She still seems ready to eat and fight me, but I'm wondering if this will get better at all. I'll try to find a camera that can show the details and then I'll try to open her mouth.

 

[mindgamer8907]

I just remembered that her eye problem was also mostly on the left side. Could these two problems, because of the short distance, have anything to do with each other? If I wasn't clear enough before, the way she tried to swallow my finger may have forced my fingernail into the roof of her mouth where it made a cut etc. That's my thought now. I don't know if that's entirely true but it seems probable.

 

[sworntotheblack]

sounds like she might have cut her mouth open on your fingernail, maybe? not sure.. all i know is that sometimes eye problems can be caused by lack of vitamin A, or other nutrient deficiencies. i honestly don't know how to treat a mouth wound but im sure someone here has some information on that.

 

[Alusdra]

Sounds like it's time for a vet. It is possible that the problems are related and they sound pretty serious. She will probably require some sort of medication.

 

[Khrysty]

Does anyone know if this could be a contagious condition?

Check Guinny's mouth, love. I thought I saw some brown spots in her teeth as well. I think Belle is clean and healthy but maybe wash your hands between handling just in case?

 

[Khrysty]

Along with her mouth trouble (which we've concluded is most likely mouth rot--we'll be finding a vet in the area soon. There are three clinics nearby. We're going to call around and sort of quiz them on leopard gecko knowledge to find the right one tomorrow), she's got a pretty nasty mess going on with the last inch or two of her tail.

We think she got into a fight with his other girl several weeks ago, when they were still housed together (they've since moved to separate enclosures). It's nasty, blackening, whithering, and--what's worse--spreading.

His friend the pre-vet major who works at a clinic in the area, whom I think was mentioned in this thread or the other Joe posted, suggested the tail might need to be physically broken to encourage dropping and prevent the spread of infection. Is this a common practice? Should we let him do this, do it ourselves, or wait for a qualified vet's opinion?