Bone desease? It's jaw js "funny".

[holocaustto]

Hi there! Long time without posting here (also without writting in English, so sorry for that hehe).
I've had an adult male for several years, very colorful and active fellow...
I lost my female last year, but a few weeks ago a friend of mine gave me his adult female for a period so we try to fix em up. With other females (another 2 ones he has been with before) there were minimum aggression and the mated quit fast. This time they were both very aggressive, so much I finally decided to separate them, since they were hurting each other.

Here comes the tricky part. I fed him some roaches after I took the female out and noticed after he cought the first one, that he wasn't closing his mouth properly. After some minutes (the time took the roach to get swallowed) he looked normal again. It seems to me now, after a few days that he cant open his mouth properly. So Im really concerned. He drinks water normally, still pretty active and nicely colored and the appetite seems good as always..

I admit I havn't beeen able to feed him correctly lately (it's very hard to find crix and so over here sometimes, Im breeding Roaches now and it's working really good, so Im finally feeding him as much i want to).

So, I don't know what to think... maaaybe some indications of bone disease (since Im aware he wasn't eating the proper quantities in the last period) or maybe the female injured his jaw??

Im using calcium + D3 in the roaches every two times I feed.
The enclosure is 80x50x50cm, exoterra uv, heating (heat wave exoterra) on the side.

Thanks a lot !!

 

[acpart]

I would guess that if you can consistently get some calcium and D3 into him and/or use a UBV light you should see some improvement. Be sure the jaw looks normal at rest. I had a leopard gecko that actually ended up with a broken jaw though it has healed well.


Aliza

 

[holocaustto]

YEah, that's what Im expecting and workin on... He really looks fine most of the time, you can barely notice something is wrong when eating.

 

[Riverside Reptiles]

If they were being aggressive, it's likely that he's broken his jaw. Try increasing his food intake and giving him more calcium in his diet and hope that it heals up well. Tokay are as tough as nails. So it should heal up without too much trouble.

 

[Tamara]

We agree with Ethan, they are hard as a rock so with some extra calcium and some tender love and care it should heal pretty good.

On a side note, the Exo Terra UV bulbs aren't very good, if possible i would change it with one from ZooMed, or preferably, Arcadia.

 

[holocaustto]

Thanks guys, he is doing really good! Eating well, calling daily (several times) and pretty active.
Sadly I just can find the exoterra over here... I'll try to get the Zoomed online.

Thanks again!

 

[drillman]

Try Josh's Frogs or the Petguys. They both carry Exo-terra Fluorescent Bulbs, but not the Zoomed. I have ordered Fluorescent Bulbs from both of them before.

 

[billewicz]

I'm wondering how he's doing now. I too suspect a broken jaw, something that happens a lot with Tokay, especially wild caught ones. The jaw muscles are actually stronger than the lower mandible which can be very thin. Some can heal back to some extent. Most end up being put down.

I actually had an import come in with a broken jaw. My reptile vet spent about 3 hours trying to brace the jaw back. It took 4 months of meds, supplements, and Oxbow Critical Care before she was back on crickets again.