Is This Mouth Rot? How to Clean Eyelash Crested Gecko's Teeth?

[ryan]

This photo is of my Eyelash Crested Gecko named Kronos. Recently, I have noticed some swelling on the bottom part of his jaw, both sides towards the back, and while he is feeding I can see dark bits stuck in his teeth – possibly coconut fiber as that is his substrate.

Two months ago, I noticed a similar dark substance in his mouth with no swelling and took him to the vet because I thought it was mouth rot, but it was just coconut fiber substrate.

Could the swelling of his bottom jaw be from coconut fiber, or is it actually mouth rot this time? Does anyone know how to clean an Eyelash Crested Gecko’s teeth so that this does not happen again? The veterinarian cleaned his teeth but I didn’t see how he did it? I can’t get Kronos to stay still or open his mouth to even get a good look inside.

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[Zoodulcis]

Greetings,

I didn’t see any responses to your inquiry. Somehow this posting got buried and I wanted to follow up and see if Kronos is doing any better.

[BM22]

I dont remember seeing this post, must have missed it. Glad Zoo commented and brought it back up. It looks like mouth rot to me. Normally their jaws are more straight, that ive seen anyway. But im no vet.

[BM22]

I re-read what you typed again. And If i were you, id clean his teeth and place slate over the bedding and/or no longer feed him near it. If that fixes it, the bedding was your issue.

You can open their mouths by placing your fingers on either side of the corners of the jaw and apply a little pressure. He’ll open up. And use a mini dog tooth brush, q-tip or buy a water flosser to spray his mouth out (probably easiest option, low setting). But, given how his jaw looks, it may actually be mouth rot. Id call the vet again. And if you ask, they may show you how to clean his mouth at home.

[ryan]

Thank you for your replies! We ended up taking Kronos to the veterinarian and he did have mouth rot. He was prescribed a medication and oral cleansing gel, we took all substrate out of his tank, and now he is doing much better. There’s no more mouth rot and he is still happy and active.

For some reason, Kronos loves to eat dirt which gets stuck in his teeth – we think it could be from a lack of calcium. But we took all dirt out and haven’t had a problem since. Thank you all for your help!

[BM22]

I appreciate you letting us know! And glad to hear he is ok. Maybe add a little calcium powder to his food, my understanding is that Cresties are supposed to have calcium and vitamin/mineral supplements. Hope that helps.

[Julia Reyes]

Thank you! We have been leaving the calcium out of his gecko food, which he eats five times a week, but dusting with Calcium and D3 his insects – he has four crickets once a week and six black soldier fly larvae once a week. They say that his gecko food has the right amount of calcium in it, but do you think we should also be mixing the calcium powder into his gecko food?

[Zoodulcis]

I agree with AB. Although removal of the substrate was plainly an excellent idea, adding calcium to his food should help him to have stronger jaw bones and more resistant to decay teeth. And indeed, thanks for letting us know!

[Julia Reyes]

Thank you! Of course, I am glad that he is doing much better now. The vet said we caught it early and Kronos healed very quickly. I still brush his teeth with the oral cleansing gel twice a week.

We have been leaving the calcium out of his gecko food, which he eats five times a week, but dusting his insects with Calcium and D3 – he has four crickets once a week and six black soldier fly larvae once a week. He also gets a fruit – mango, blueberry, melon, or banana – in the mornings on Saturdays and Wednesdays as a treat, which is also dusted. They say that his gecko food has the right amount of calcium in it, but do you think we should also be mixing the calcium powder into his gecko food as well?

[Zoodulcis]

My opinion is that for a male, his CGD does not need additional supplementation. If you do decide to augment it with calcium, please use a product with no D3. It sounds like he is getting enough already and more might put him at risk of toxicity. All bugs fed should be dusted religiously, especially crickets. One way to save a bit of money and add some confidence in the nutritional content of the bugs fed would be to collect any leftover CGD from the food dish and give it to the feeder insects. A great way to recycle the food!

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