Rescued Savannah please help. Lockjaw?

[Grid]

I am a royal idiot, or maybe a new reptilian superhero I'm not sure which.

Going against reptile purchasing 101 I decided to purchase the little savannah monitor at my favourite petstore, they usually provide me with really good animals, but their monitors weren't so great, except one, or so it seemed. A beautiful little baby, not much more than a month old with brilliant yellow and orange markings, just overall the most adorable little velociraptor I've ever seen.
I brought him home and he seemed to be just fine, and he was doing wonderfully eating like a champ, basking, digging around, trying to eat my hand every time I changed his water. He seemed to be a perfectly healthy little monitor.
But recently he's acting odd, he tries to eat his food however it's like he can't open his jaws. He tries to snatch the insects, however he can only open his little mouth 20º at best. It's so heartbreaking to watch him try to eat and fail.
He's otherwise perfectly healthy, no stuck shed, perfectly round, and very active.

No vet requests please, I would have brought him there by now, but my herp vet of fifteen years moved away to Vancouver, and I'm in Trail BC and there's no where I can go within feasible distance that can treat him, so I'm on my own.

If however any of you do know anything about what's wrong with him I CAN get him to a vet if he's in real danger, it just means a huge chunk out of my budget.

Thanks in advance.

[infernalis]

Hello, before anyone here can advise you, we need to know the following.

How do you have this lizard housed?? is it in a fish tank?

What is the temperature of the basking platform? What is the temperature of the air on the coldest end of the cage?

What are you using for substrate??

Are you using a thermometer, temp gun and hygrometer to monitor the environment within the enclosure?

and lastly, are you handling this lizard?? and if so, how often are you picking it up?

Photographs of your setup and lizard would also be perfect for a better assessment of what is going on.

Infernalis' channel - YouTube

Savannahmonitor.net

[Grid]

Okay technically it's a fish tank, however only one side is still glass, the other sides were replaced with wood about a week after I got him, with the screen top now being a hand crafted fixture with a single hole for his basking light.
According to my temp gun the basking platform is around 130º, and the thermometers give a 90º on the hot side and 80º on the cool side. Is the cool side too hot do you think? I'd imagine it's cooler in his burrow.
Humidity is usually around 55%, but I bumped it up to around 70% just recently.

He has half topsoil and half play sand for substrate.

He only got handled when I helped with stuck shed when I first got him, and I would pet him during tong feeding, which he didn't seem to mind.
He has not been very aggressive unless you get too close during a delicate time, ex. trying to clean dirty water while he's soaking, or when he's basking. In which cases he gives a little hiss. However I have yet to see a tail whip or attempted bite.

I don't know what is the matter with him, the setup seems to be right, and he is acting like the little dinosaur he should be, aside from this feeding problem. From my limited monitor experience most problems stem from the setup, but it seems to be all in order.
I've heard of a similar "lockjaw" like problem with someone's Black Throat monitor by the name of Skittles I believe, however I can't remember for the life of me where I read the story.

PS. Possibly unrelated but his siblings at the petstore apparently died from mouth rot, is it possible he could have mouth road that developed at the store and has eluded my detection? Would he simply be refusing to open his mouth due to pain and/or discomfort?
Would it be a good idea to check inside his mouth, or would that stress him out too much?

I'll get pics as soon as possible, my cord to connect my phone is damaged (thank you girlfriend's cat) so it might be a while before I can get them.

[OctagonGecko729]

Stomatitis was my first thought, I'd bet he has it, especially since now you say that a sibling died from it. Could you upload a picture of his mouth for us?

[Grid]

Great. I know how hard mouth rot is to treat.

Any suggestions how I should open his mouth? He's very small, maybe only 10" long, I don't want to cause damage to his mouth.

btw he did manage to get six crickets down this morning, he's not giving up. I'll see about pictures later today.

Thanks btw.

[infernalis]

I wouldn't go jamming anything into that lizards mouth base on an internet post that is guessing at best.

[Grid]

So, what would be the best course of action? Aside from not opening his mouth, he seems perfectly normal, but since I can't see into his mouth I can't know that for sure.


He did eventually get down food, so he's not in any danger of starving. Although I fear he is not drinking, what should I do to get fluids into him if he is indeed not drinking?

[infernalis]

So, what would be the best course of action? Aside from not opening his mouth, he seems perfectly normal, but since I can't see into his mouth I can't know that for sure.


He did eventually get down food, so he's not in any danger of starving. Although I fear he is not drinking, what should I do to get fluids into him if he is indeed not drinking?

honestly, I cannot think of even one time that I saw my lizards take a drink...

When the proper conditions are met in the cage, drinking is not an issue.

The moisture content of their food supplies most if not all the water they need.

One of the reasons I push worms so much, worms are full of water. Rodents are also full of water.



Now, back on topic with your issue, Pictures please...... we can go from there.

[Grid]

Alright I'll borrow my buddies camera tomorrow and get some pictures of him and the enclosure.

Anyways, not to string some bad news he opened his mouth when I checked on him, I guess he was pissed at being disturbed, and gaped (well as much as he could) and I can see that the back of his throat is a dark purple, certainly not the pink that it should be. Looks like he has mouth rot after all.

I suppose a vet visit is in order, but I can't do that until my next pay check which is in a week. What should I do till then? And for that matter, is there anything I can do in the meantime (medication, changing temps/humidity) to keep him from getting worse?

[Grid]

I couldn't get the camera today, but I almost certainly can get it tomorrow.

Again is there anything I should do for now?