Chinese Water Dragon help please!

Chinese Water Dragon help please!

Postby motorbreath » Mon Sep 27, 2010 10:30 pm

Hey guys, I bought a Chinese water dragon about 4 or 5 days ago.. She is probably roughly around 2 months old.

When I bought her I noticed the tip of her snout was a brown color. I didn't think much of it, just thought it was dirt or something.

I've come to read about a problem called mouth rot, and I'm beginning the think maybe thats what she has... I know I'm super paranoid sometimes about stuff like this, but I just hope she doesn't have a problem.

She sometimes just sits in her cage with her mouth open... sometimes wide open.. but most times just hanging there, kinda limp. She does this a lot when I take her out... I just thought it was because she was afraid, just still getting used to her new surroundings.

Twice I have taken her out of her cage she has jumped at the wall.... also my girlfriend had Jayde (the lizard's name :) in the bathtub today just to see if she could clean the snout a little bit. She was very gentle doing so. She found like a little flap of skin on Jayde's mouth. Like a little cut.

I am so worried about this.. I am going to book an appointment with a vet tomorrow.


This is the like to an album I made with some close up pics of Jayde's mouth. (if this doesn't work for you let me know, I'll try something else.)
http://yfrog.com/n9img1218xrjx

Thanks so much.. I would love for someone to give me some advice or help of any kind.. I want the best for Jayde. She is such a cutie.

Thanks everyone. :)
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Re: Chinese Water Dragon help please!

Postby Doug Anderson » Mon Sep 27, 2010 10:56 pm

Your water dragon doesn't look like it has mouth rot to me. Mouthrot can be treated in any event by applying betadine solution with an ear bud to the affected area.

The mouth opening is a bit concerning though - may a respiratory infection. what are her living conditions? Temp, humidity etc. Has she fed as yet with you?

Best get your vet to give her the once over :)

Keep us posted regarding progress.

Thanks
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Re: Chinese Water Dragon help please!

Postby Urucone » Mon Sep 27, 2010 11:02 pm

It can be that the dragon rubbed or (hurt) itself on the nose either through jumping or moving up and down in it's enclosure, don't think it's mouthrot though, It could be resparatory related aswell, If you can send us information on your'e enclosure, just to see if the basics is in place, we can start to work from there, I would suggest to get yourself F10 sc, mix it with water and applying it to the nose with a earbud, this will probably not heal it but it would help against any infections
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Re: Chinese Water Dragon help please!

Postby mailjvdb » Mon Sep 27, 2010 11:19 pm

I don't have experience with treating mouth rot, but I've seen snakes that was affected. The inside of the mouth turns gray and isn't the usual healthy pink color. There might also be some bleeding and/or puss and some pieces of flesh might become detached. I've heard of treating it with Hydrogen Peroxide, but I'm not sure about ratios. From the pics its hard to say, maybe some more experienced member might be able to give an exact diagnosis, but rather be sure of cause before treating it. The fact that her eyes is closed/droopy isn't a good indication though and shows she might very well be sick. I'm with Urucone thinking she might have rubbed up against the cage, seeing the bruising around the snout. Maybe she was kept under very stressful conditions at the petshop? Stress can cause animals to become ill or catch all sorts of things for no apparent reason. Hope she pulls through though.
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Re: Chinese Water Dragon help please!

Postby motorbreath » Tue Sep 28, 2010 9:02 pm

I fed her some crickets yesterday covered in calcium, and give her an extra 100 watt heating lamp (belong to our beardie) to her 100watt (she is in a very small tank, I will be building her a new tank this weekend, and watching her temps and humidity very closely.) but anywho... I then put some towels around her tank and on the top where the cage is... and left them on a little longer than usual. I turn her lights off in the night time. today my girlfriend had Jayde (the CWD) out and she didn't drop her jaw at all and her snout looks a little better. I just feed her some crickets covered in calcium and she ate them all up.. Then I let her rest for a while then took her out for a little bit and she was so awesome.... she didn't open her mouth to make big gasps like she has been, or just let her drop hang there... she fell asleep on my hand, it was so cute.. :)

I think she is doing much better... I will be keeping a close eye on her, and I have found a vet very close to me just incase. I'd like to thank you guys for your help... having a second opinion about the mouth rot was just what I needed, I am so paranoid...lol.

Thanks guys.. I'll keep you posted.
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Re: Chinese Water Dragon help please!

Postby Doug Anderson » Tue Sep 28, 2010 9:18 pm

get the dragon cleared by the vet of a respiratory infection as it can be fatal if left
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Re: Chinese Water Dragon help please!

Postby Nineve » Tue Sep 28, 2010 9:23 pm

One question though, you say that you take your dragon out in the sun? Do you have a UVB light? You also mention that you switch of the lights at night, is there any heat source? If you’re enclosure is small around 60 cm x 30 cm a 100w bulb is way too much, a 50 watt would be more appropriate, if I can make a suggestion, use a 5% UVB on a 12 hour cycle - around 8 AM to 8 PM with a infrared heat bulb or a heat emitter, it's expensive but with a water dragon it's a better route to follow. Heat emitter runs 24/7 with a 70% humidity level, this can be obtained through a large water dish underneath you’re heat source.

Keep in mind when you build the bigger enclosure try to fix a mesh top so that the humidity and stagnant air can escape. Remember that most enclosures should have a hot / cold side.

Heat source and lighting = R500.00 / R700.00

Post some pic’s when you’re done with the new setup
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