My Chinese Water Dragon is sick, vet not an option...

[LostprophetFLCL]

So I thought my little water dragon might be constipated. He hadn't been pooping and wasn't eating much this past week.

I finally took him out (he doesn't like being held so I was avoiding taking him out while he seemed to not feel well) to give him a bath and do treatment for constipation when I noticed these little bugs (I have seen them a little bit before when changing out his tank and though they were baby crickets) came crawling out of his mouth which looks to be a bit black and bloody now (something I had NOT seen earlier).

I lack the funds currently to bring my little guy to the vet so I am wondering if anyone on here would happen to know of any sort of home remedy I could do to treat this. I am pretty sure he is not really eating because of his mouth being sore.

A little bit more info, when I first got him he used to rub his nose all over the glass as is what lots of Chinese Water Dragons do. I treated his face with Betadine (I think that's what it was) then and put plants around the glass and the problem stopped over time. I have not visibly seen him rubbing against the glass much but his cage is also in a room I am not in terribly often.

But yes if anyone had any ideas on what I could do I would be so thankful. I am extremely concerned about him and was ready to rush the vet but I literally cannot afford to pay up front and even though I will have plenty of money to afford this in the near future, none of the vets around me do payment plans and I fear my lizard friend wouldn't last that long...

[Zoo Nanny]

You could apply for care credit. It's a pretty good system giving you options of paying sooner to avoid interest. Many vets have the application right in office and can process it for you. Care credit can be used for physicians, pharmacies and vets. Good luck wish I could give you some guidance but have never seen this.

[Hannibalcanibal]

You are describing mites, mouth rot, and impaction.

Sounds like the vet may be your only real option right now..

In the meantime, what is your set up like? (size, hot side temp, basking temp, humidity, substrate, food, etc)

[snakeman879]

Money might be a problem but u really should take him ta c a vet it is the best thing for ur pet he is most likley in pain and needs to be treated. Sorry to sound harsh but its in the best intrest ov ur water dragon.

[Chris72]

You are describing mites, mouth rot, and impaction.

Sounds like the vet may be your only real option right now..

In the meantime, what is your set up like? (size, hot side temp, basking temp, humidity, substrate, food, etc)

^^ this

As it sounds like you have more than one issue this is possibly something that you will not fix by yourself. (So do your best to see a vet)

In the meantime:

- get some PAM or NIX a search on the forum for protocall on how to address mites.

- you prob would do well to raise all temp a few Deg as cold blooded animals need heat to digest properly. (Advise on current temps)

- for four days in a row take him out handle him a little, then put him in a warm tub (15 min) deep enough that he can support himself with his tail. Not so deep he will get exausted and not so shallow he will just stand there. You want him to move around.

- here is a link on mouth rot at PetMd. If his mouth is bleeding he should be treated by a vet or a keeper with experience:
Oral Inflammation (Mouth Rot) in Reptiles | petMD (http://www.petmd.com/reptile/conditions/mouth/c_rp_infectious_stomatitis#.UgZdu4y9KSM)


He is likely in allot of pain.


.

[Chris72]

Here are some short notes on mouth rot treatment. Your sounds serious so you are looking at antibiotics at a min, but you probably need the vet to do some minor surgery:

------
Treatment

Treatment of mild cases with no anorexia consists of improving the husbandry and nutrition and twice daily topical application of dilute iodine (Betadine) or chlorhexidine (Nolvasan) solution. Ask your veterinarian about the appropriate dilution for your particular pet. It is important that a solution and not a scrub is used. Scrubs contain soap and are irritating to the mouth. Hydrogen peroxide is also sometimes used as a topical medication.

In addition to the above, moderate cases of mouth rot usually require topical (applied to the mouth), parenteral (oral or injectable) antibiotics, or both. The bacteria that cause mouth infections in reptiles are often resistant to many antibiotics. Therefore, your veterinarian may need to change antibiotics once the culture results are available.

More serious cases require topical or surgical removal of the caseous debris, nutritional support (see anorexia in snakes), fluid therapy.

[LostprophetFLCL]

Thank you for the replies people.

Sorry I didn't get back on here sooner. Between trying to address my lizards health and work I have been busy.

Sad to say he passed away today. I had hoped he might pull through too.

I had started treating his mouth with betadine again as that had worked wonders before and I switched him to straight green veggies (this time it was organic kayle and organic spinach) and had put mineral water on the food and in his water.

I had also turned the heat up and rubbed his belly which did make him poop.

Whatever hit him hit him quite fast as he was looking perfectly healthy just last week. I am really sad I didn't have the money ( and I LITERALLY didn't have enough money for a vet visit) to rush him to the vet.

I do appreciate the responses here though! For now I will mourn the loss of my lizard pal. Looking to bury him and clean out his cage. Might get a new lizard after a while...

[smy_749]

Sorry to hear that. Not to be a **** and perhaps its bad timing, but this is one of the reasons you need to make sure before you acquire the animal that you will have a sufficient emergency fund to treat it. Along with food/husbandry/actual lizard expenses, you should calculate vet expenses initially as well, should the need arise.

Make sure if you acquire another animal that everything is thrown away or properly disinfected.

[LostprophetFLCL]

What did me in financially is that I just switched jobs and there ended up being an unexpected 2 weeks between said jobs. I thought orientation at the new job was going to start sooner than it did...

[smy_749]

What did me in financially is that I just switched jobs and there ended up being an unexpected 2 weeks between said jobs. I thought orientation at the new job was going to start sooner than it did...

It happens!

[LostprophetFLCL]

Yeah. What makes me really mad is I am seriously about to have a huge chunk of extra money as I am cashing my 401k out from my previous job. I have been trying for the last month to get that money but it won't let me yet...

If I had been able to cash that out like I have wanted to (which seriously it is MY money let me have it!) then I wouldn't have even posted on here and would have just rushed my lizard to the vet...