Blue tongue skink

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Originally Posted by gunkle

Yeah that's what I was thinking by comparing pictures. I put a hide in with some moss, misted allot and covered half the screen with a damp towel. Gonna pick up some materials to start his new forever home tomorrow. Gonna take a bit longer now that I need high humidity I need to seal it up good. But I have most stuff to improve this cage coming on Tuesday except UVB bulb and fixture will take s few extra days.

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Yes! That would be a Halmahera BTS you have. Poor little fella, I am glad he is in good hands now! The topic of using UVB can get very debatable.. Some people say BTS dont need while others say they do need. They actually dont need UVB but it would be wise to supplement with D3 and calcium. If you decide to use UVB then that is ok too. There are tons to chose from but personally I use Arcadia's Pro T5 shade dweller which gives off 7% UVB. It is just enough for my girl and Arcardia's products are excellent. Remember to reseach as it saves you alot of headaches in the future..

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Fbwf2DahCWQKpUHz6 here is a video of a wired whistling sound and an odd behavior with it's front legs. Any ideas? Do we need to see a very for possible RI and MBD

I had never seen that before, even in sick blueys. MBD can be checked by bloodwork and xrays. Is it doing that only when soaking? The tremors of MBD are constant. It could be that its toes or lack thereof is not used to the water. It could mean many things. I personally would take it to the vet for a complete exam as you had no medical history to begin with. Make sure you go to a vet that knows lizards, specifically BTS. If you live in the South FL area, I highly recommend going straight to Dr. Mader in Marathon. He is one of the worlds leading veterinarian and expert in reptile medicine.

In the meantime, it would not hurt to get an opinion or two from the blue tongue skink forum members. They are nice people and will offer some insight. But a vet visit will confirm your concerns.

Thanks. I have posted in the forum I think your taking about. Waiting for a response. They have been helpful overall so far.

The action happens sporadically anytime not just in the water. It was just a good chance to get the video. Any thoughts on the whistling sound? I'm in CT and there is a good Vet in the next town over that we have used before for other reptiles. Will be contacting them on Monday to make an appointment .

Just caught up with your adventure rescuing a BTS...I have no experience with them, but it sounds like you're learning fast...I'm happy to see him finally get the
caring home he deserves. I think these are cool lizards...hope your vet can help you figure out the rest now.

So the vet appointment is Tomorrow (Tuesday) morning at 1130. My wife will be taking him in. I will be writing everything down that I have learned to share with the vet. Will update when I get home from work tomorrow with the findings

Good luck. These guys are tough as nails so whatever it has, don't give up. It can be disheartening and frustrating to take on a sick animal - sick because of a misinformed or neglectful owner. Because it could have been an import, I would bring in a fresh fecal sample as well to check for parasites.

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Originally Posted by Cheesenugget

Good luck. These guys are tough as nails so whatever it has, don't give up. It can be disheartening and frustrating to take on a sick animal - sick because of a misinformed or neglectful owner. Because it could have been an import, I would bring in a fresh fecal sample as well to check for parasites.

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Told her to check for some poop before going so we can but who knows if it will cooperate.

So the Vet visit went well. Tootsie (my daughters named it since it was missing toes :) ) is a bit under weight, might be just starting an RI and has weak bones. As soon as my wife put Tootsie in the prepared tote for transport he pooped, I forgot to ask her if the Vet checked it so I will have to when she gets home from work. The Vet said its bones were weak and may have some issues due to that and gave us some Calcium Gluconate 167mg and we are to give 0.2ml orally once a day. She said that Skinks have very flexible joints and the fact that it raises its leg like it does isn't concerning in itself but the twitchy part is but feels the calcium and recomended UVB bulb will help with that. She doesn't think it will ever be 100% but should be able to live a good life and with proper care going forward should show less signs of issues. As far as the RI goes we now have Enrafloxacin Suspension 0.1ml orally once a day for 14 days. I wrote down everything we were doing and about its current cage and the one I'm building and was told we were doing a good job of rehabilitaing Tootsie. The only thing she questioned was the dog food and gave some suggestions for proper veggies which we already had on our feeding list. We were also told to feed every other day for a while to get its weight up to since it is underweight a bit but not too bad. My wife came home and cut up some butternut squash and collard greens and covered it in some wet dog food with some vitamins mixed in and Tootsie went nuts and ate great. On a slightly sadder note Tootsie will most likely be loosing a couple more toes that we were a bit too late to save, the damage was already done but the Vet said we did get all the stuck shed off of the toes. So it looks like paper towels for a bit longer till they fall off and heal. Well I think I got all the info I have. I will check with the wife when she gets home to see if I missed something and will update if needed. Thank you all for your info, help and concern.

That's great news! Sounds like you've got him on track to being as healthy as he can be after a bit of a rough start.

Bummer about losing the extra toes, but it is what it is. Certainly nothing you caused.

I'm going to guess that the vet is in the "dog food is not part of a good diet for skinks" camp or doesn't know details about why some people support it for skinks. Vets don't always know a lot of detail on specific species if they don't work with them often and may focus on medical issues and fixing them rather than husbandry details. Especially for a vet specializing in "reptiles" due to the sheer variety of them and how different all their needs are.

As long as it is a good dog food and not treated as a complete diet like Crested Gecko Diet for cresties, it should be fine. Reptile Mountain TV does a good job explaining what to look for on that and it can't hurt if it is what gets Tootsie excited about eating to help put on some weight.

Keeping my fingers crossed there aren't any serious issues to crop up and that the RI responds well to the medication. Good work!

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