Early mouth infection...

[d_virginiana]

About two days ago, I fed my new baby Sithis some worm. He had a little bit of worm dirt on his face (from inside the worm, not from the worm container) but I didn't think much about it. Yesterday, I noticed he hadn't wiped it off like he usually does, so I helped him get it off and saw that the sides of his cheeks had puffed out a little bit. I was hoping it was just a little irritation because of the dirt so I didn't do anything. Today I noticed that the swelling was still there, right under the eyes, and may be a bit worse. I also noticed he was 'clicking' a little as he breathed. I put betadine on the mouth like I was recommended when Harley had a mouth infection about a year ago.
He is active and tongue-flicking despite acting like he has a little congestion.

Just wondering, is there anything else I should do? His temps are already pretty high; around 80 ambient temp in the reptile room. I'm thinking I will keep feeding, but probably wash off any worm chunks for a little while so there's no grit to get in his mouth. Is there a maximum number of times a day I can use betadine? I would usually go with about three...
Also, if this doesn't clear up, at what point would you guys recommend getting a vet? I didn't have this option when Harley had a mouth infection but I'm living in an area where I could find a good exotics vet now. Mostly I'm just curious.

Hoping I caught this early enough that it won't really be a problem! The clicking noise has me a little worried though...

[guidofatherof5]

Any chance to a couple of photos?
I use this stuffs. Works pretty well.
Amazon.com: Hibiclens 4oz Liquid Antimicrobial Antiseptic Skin Cleanser: Beauty

[d_virginiana]

I will go by CVS and pick up some hibiclens tomorrow. I just went to check on him and get some pics, and he's definitely breathing hard. Still tongue flicking and moving around when you touch him, but I can tell he doesn't feel well. I do a check over of all my reptiles every day, so I know this hasn't been going on any longer than a day or so. The fact that it's happened so quickly really has me worried.

These were the best pics I could get. His color just seems to reflect the flash, and he was pretty unhappy about being photographed.

Sithis001.jpgSithis002.jpg

[guidofatherof5]

Is there any chance there is some retained shed in those areas? Retained shed will pull the lip up like that.

[d_virginiana]

I thought about that, but it's been a while since he shed, and his eyes just went blue a couple days ago. I haven't seen anything that looks like retained shed, and from what I could tell his last one looked complete.
I forgot to mention that when I first picked him up to get the pictures, he was breathing with his mouth open for a few seconds...

[d_virginiana]

When I went in to check on the reptiles this morning, Sithis had shed. I checked it over and it was complete. He still seems a little congested, but the swelling has gone down some and he seems to feel much better than he did last night.
I think now it was probably unfortunate timing and his mouth got irritated from the dirt right when he was about to shed, and just made everything worse. I'm still going to pick up some hibiclens though, since that just seems like it would be good to have on hand when I need it.

[ConcinusMan]

Any chance to a couple of photos?
I use this stuffs. Works pretty well.
Amazon.com: Hibiclens 4oz Liquid Antimicrobial Antiseptic Skin Cleanser: Beauty

Indeed it does. Less toxic than iodine and longer lasting antimicrobial effect. Do dilute it though for use in the mouth.

[CrazyHedgehog]

Any chance to a couple of photos?
I use this stuffs. Works pretty well.
Amazon.com: Hibiclens 4oz Liquid Antimicrobial Antiseptic Skin Cleanser: Beauty

OMG!! just got a UK quote for this ( just in case) in the Us it is.. $4.73 (which is £2.94) thats cool!!
its £18 in the UK ($29) for the same size!!

[ConcinusMan]

Holy crap. It doesn't have to be that particular brand you know. Any antimicrobial skin cleanser with a few percent chlorhexidine gluconate and/or chlorhexidine acetate or calcium gluconate will do just fine. Just don't use shampoo type cleansers that foam up. Make sure it's for skin cleansing/surgery prep.

This may, or may not help the problem, depending on what's causing the swelling. Heck, it might not even be swelling. Could be foreign matter causing this. I've seen northwesterns get like this from dirt and stuff. Even seen some that were permenently like the picture but there was no infection.

[d_virginiana]

This may, or may not help the problem, depending on what's causing the swelling. Heck, it might not even be swelling. Could be foreign matter causing this. I've seen northwesterns get like this from dirt and stuff. Even seen some that were permenently like the picture but there was no infection.

Harley's mouth is permanently like that. Of course, it was kind of a magnet for stuff to get stuck in her mouth until I put her on newspaper. She had a pretty bad infection last year, but idk if that caused her mouth to stay like that or if that caused the infection since the person watching her while I was at school didn't clean the stuff out when it got stuck on her mouth.