Crocodile Skink Rescue

[MissLissa]

So, Toothless still isn't eating. My vet decided to try 14 days of antibiotics, somewhat prophylactically as we're not sure what is wrong. She is so tiny that my vet is pretty sure nothing would show up even if we did take x-rays, and that if something is brewing in her system that the stress of being taped down (how they generally xray small lizards) would probably bring it to a head right quickly, and I agree. We did take a couple swabs that we sent out for C&S (culture and sensitivity) to see if they can find anything, but we are starting the Baytril right away in any case.

So she is on 0.04cc of Baytril (10mg/ml) once daily for 14 days. We may end up tube feeding her if she doesn't eat by the end of this week, or if she loses more weight than she already has. Giving oral medication to a tiny skink is not easy! Even the tiniest of insulin syringes (without needle) is too big! I'm terrified I'm going to cause her to aspirate. We decided against injections, as this vet has had a history of having the Baytril injections cause some serious tissue necrosis. Hopefully being handled daily for oral medication doesn't stress Toothless so much that she dies anyways!

She is still drinking and soaking lots, though, which is nice to see. I did give her 0.25cc of subcutaneous fluids tonight, as Baytril can be very hard on the kidneys, and we are considering continuing SQ fluid therapy for the duration of treatment. We could go up to 0.75cc, I think, but it seems so much to put in her tiny body! Plus it's very difficult to find a place to put SQ fluids on a reptile who is so, well, pokey!