A Clean Bill of Health!

Since moving to DC, Citrus has been battling a bacterial infection that has led to mouth rot. Poor, poor boy. He never seems to catch a break! But the good news is that the vet finally gave him a clean bill today! To celebrate, I returned some objects that were taken from his tank to make his environs less cluttered, including The Tube!

(lolcat-style)

Gecko has never been this alert and energetic.

Mouth rot is the symptom of an infection. In leopard geckos, it first becomes visible to the human owner when the lips of the mouth do not align perfectly when the gecko has his mouth closed or when lesions appear. If you want to see pictures, google it, as I did. Those photographs of advanced mouth rot gave me nightmares about Citrus for a few days. And in the early stages, the gecko hasn't necessarily lost his appetite, so it really is just a visual cue.

At first, the vet prescribed gentamicin, a veterinary antibiotic that does not need to be refrigerated, but that unfortunately causes renal damage with long-term use. A drop was applied twice a day on the infected area. Though during the first two episodes the gentamicin seemed to help, subsequent episodes lasted longer and longer.

By the late winter, the vet suggested a three-step treatment: first, swabbing the lips with diluted iodine antiseptic (this couldn't have tasted good); second, applying the gentamicin; and third, sealing the gecko's lips with some vaseline. The infection would also return every couple of months, making it frustrating not only for Citrus, but us humans, too. Citrus would struggle as soon as he was lifted out of the cage -- he probably thought we were torturing him for sport -- so we swaddled him in a small facial towel. Sometimes, he would be so angry and scared that he would make clicking noises, wiggle free, or pee into the towel. It was truly miserable, but we persisted with this on and off until June, when it finally became clear that the treatment wasn't working.

At this point, the vet collected a sample from the roof of Citrus' mouth and sent a culture to the labs. The results indicated that two types of bacteria were causing this problem. Thankfully, they both responded to Enrofloxacin, an antibiotic that can cause loss of vision (you can't win with these things). We administered it with a tiny syringe and had to keep it refrigerated, but giving it to the gecko proved to be very easy. One of us swaddled him in the cloth, and the other gave him 0.03ml, which amounts to two drops of antibiotic. Since it was apple-flavored, Citrus was perplexed enough by the taste to lick at it multiple times. Et voilà !

After two weeks of treatment and about $800 in vet bills, my scaled baby is germ-free.