Stomatitis

Question
I have a beardie I rescued 2 years ago. She has always been a little not right. She suffers from chronic ocular discharge. Recently I noted some swelling of the right mandible . An oral exam has resulted in me suspecting stomatitis. She had bilateral changes in jaw color to a yellowish tan color. She is still eating and drinking. She is not currently dehydrated. I was going to start her on 5 mg/kg dose of enrofloxicin, and considering using metronidazole as an adjunct therapy. I am not real familiar with oral lovage in cases like this. I also do not want to overtax her GI tract. I have taken my reptiles to all of the local vets that see them and really have not been impressed. Do you have any recommendation for treating with these meds on sub q vs oral route? Also I was wondering about brushing and conjunction. I have access to any meds I need, but I have only ever treated monitor lizards for this issue. Any help would be great

Answer
Hello Marty,


Wow, that is terrible for her, how did that happen, was she bitten before you got her?
Sure, do you have any pictures of that affected area?  
The Enroflaxin or Baytril is a broad spectrum, so that should be effective in treating the mouth rot, if that is what it is.  The Metronidazole, are you using that as an appetite stimulant or for treating flagelletes or other parasites?  
You can use diluted betadine & dip a swab into the solution to clean out the mouth.
If you are located out of the US, there is a product called Novadent (sp) that is also used for help with cleaning out the mouth in cases such as this.
If it is advanced, I would highly recommend using both oral medication as well as oral cleaning, too.  
I have been lucky & not had any mouth rot cases, but as far as I know, Enroflaxin should be effective.  Ceftz could also be used too as it is a broad spectrum antibiotic.
Also, I would recommend keeping her warm overnight in her tank to help boost her immune system.  Usually around 80 is a good temperature.
Let me know how she is doing.

Tracie