New Blue-tongue owner - shedding

[Tigerthebluey]

Hi, I'm a new blue tongue owner and I have a juvenile of about 1 month old. His scales are looking flaky and I don't know if it's him going into shed or not. It is mainly in front of his back legs and on his neck, but he keeps trying to lick/itch it - should I take him to the vets?

[kayla990]

Hey there - I would personally really recommend a vet check. While I don't have much experience with mites - it's looking like theres a lot of tell-tale signs here (raised scales, the speckled flakes and such).

Besides for the likely mites, the body shape is making me suspect other issues - such as near by the neck, there is indentation on the body along with off-looking legs (both slim and very bendy, even for this age), so I would also get checked for potential metabolic bone disease (MBD).

Overall, I'm suspecting you may have a wild caught Bluey (but also see you're in Aus - I didn't think it was allowed there anymore, unless I'm mistaken?) but would be a good idea to get checked for parasites.

Additionally, I don't suppose you can provide a picture of the head? Just for ID purposes, based on your location I would presume it's an Eastern.. but want to confirm by the black eye band (just in case you've got a wild caught Indo - though would be unlikely!).

[Suzle87]

Hiya, I agree with what Kayla said about mites.
I’m going through dealing with them myself at the moment and it was the base of his tail and neck that they seemed to focus on aswell (with raised scales) and that ash looking white blotches is the mite poo.
There’s quite a bit of advise on here about how to deal with mites. With mine, first thing I did was give him a shallow lukewarm bath which seemed to make him a bit more comfortable. And now I’m currently going through a treatment process with callington. Let us know how you get on. All the best, Suze

[Tigerthebluey]

Hey there - I would personally really recommend a vet check. While I don't have much experience with mites - it's looking like theres a lot of tell-tale signs here (raised scales, the speckled flakes and such).

Besides for the likely mites, the body shape is making me suspect other issues - such as near by the neck, there is indentation on the body along with off-looking legs (both slim and very bendy, even for this age), so I would also get checked for potential metabolic bone disease (MBD).

Overall, I'm suspecting you may have a wild caught Bluey (but also see you're in Aus - I didn't think it was allowed there anymore, unless I'm mistaken?) but would be a good idea to get checked for parasites.

Additionally, I don't suppose you can provide a picture of the head? Just for ID purposes, based on your location I would presume it's an Eastern.. but want to confirm by the black eye band (just in case you've got a wild caught Indo - though would be unlikely!).

Thanks, I bought the blue tongue from a man in north Melbourne who said the parents were healthy in North Melbourne and that they weren't wild caught. He is an Eastern Blue Tongue but I will send a picture of his head and take it to the vets.

[Tigerthebluey]

Here is the head

[kayla990]

Ah yep looks like an Eastern!

Ahh, it's still possible your Bluey was captive bred - but I know a lot of pet stores/sellers lie or accept false information without checking it >.< unless they have proof or paper work of lineage, it's pretty difficult to say for sure. I hope I'm wrong with the indentations being a sign of MDB (as it could also be looking strange purely from the raised scales), but glad you'll be going to the vets - definitely better to be safe than sorry for such a little guy, and I'm suspicious of the seller if they don't even have mites under control.

Keep us updated, and wishing you all the best!

[kingofnobbys]

Ah yep looks like an Eastern!

Ahh, it's still possible your Bluey was captive bred - but I know a lot of pet stores/sellers lie or accept false information without checking it >.< unless they have proof or paper work of lineage, it's pretty difficult to say for sure. I hope I'm wrong with the indentations being a sign of MDB (as it could also be looking strange purely from the raised scales), but glad you'll be going to the vets - definitely better to be safe than sorry for such a little guy, and I'm suspicious of the seller if they don't even have mites under control.

Keep us updated, and wishing you all the best!

Not sure about Victorian regs , but aren't you supposed to licenced to keep a bluetongue and required to exchange licence details when buying a lizard of any seller (shop, breeder, other keeper). Did this happen ?

[kayla990]

Not sure about Victorian regs , but aren't you supposed to licenced to keep a bluetongue and required to exchange licence details when buying a lizard of any seller (shop, breeder, other keeper).

That would be good if it is tightly regulated as you said I wonder how it works in say reptile expo's? Seems like anyone can sign up for a table and put just about anything up for purchase (as some shows we saw were selling Gila Monsters and juvenile caiman alligators - quite sure under normal circumstances that wouldn't be allowed for an average buyer O.o). I know when reading about European regulations it seemed pretty slack, which is pretty disappointing. Hopefully it's different for you guys!

(and if it's as kingofnobbys say, I wonder if it's possible to request more information from the seller to see if your Eastern is captive bred..).

[kingofnobbys]

Not sure about Victorian regs , but aren't you supposed to licenced to keep a bluetongue and required to exchange licence details when buying a lizard of any seller (shop, breeder, other keeper).

That would be good if it is tightly regulated as you said I wonder how it works in say reptile expo's? Seems like anyone can sign up for a table and put just about anything up for purchase (as some shows we saw were selling Gila Monsters and juvenile caiman alligators - quite sure under normal circumstances that wouldn't be allowed for an average buyer O.o). I know when reading about European regulations it seemed pretty slack, which is pretty disappointing. Hopefully it's different for you guys!

(and if it's as kingofnobbys say, I wonder if it's possible to request more information from the seller to see if your Eastern is captive bred..).

Works the same in reptile expos here too..... no permit to keep native reptiles (not even one !!) and you better not show up at the expo to show it or to offer it for sale .... very strick on this here in Australia.

The seller will have a record book which will indicate when and from whom their lizards were obtained , and detailing when new babies were born (skinks) or hatched (skinks or geckos or monitors) and the parents they mated to produce the little lizards. Taking from the wild (poaching) is strickly forbidden here (in Australia) and it's not possible to legally buy non-native reptiles here.
So it's a fair enough request to see (at least the pictures of) parents of his skink and to see licence numbers of the people they were bought off.

Just quickly checked : www.depi.vic.gov.au.

CAPTIVE-BRED reptiles THAT MAY BE HELD FOR PRIVATE PURPOSES WITHOUT A LICENCE in Victoria are


Blotched Blue-tongued Lizard = Tiliqua nigrolutea

Common Long-necked Tortoise = Chelodina longicollis

Cunningham's Skink = Egernia cunninghami

Eastern Blue-tongued Lizard = Tiliqua scincoides

Marbled Gecko = Christinus marmoratus

Murray Turtle = Emydura macquarii

White's Skink = Liopholis whitii

[kayla990]

Thanks for that kingofnobbys - very interesting to see the differences! So since Easterns don't require a licence, it's possible Tigerthebluey may not be able to get the history. So weird how they choose which species to licence, I would have expected all Bluey types to be categorized the same way..but surprised that Northerns are not in the list!

[kingofnobbys]

Seems so in VIctoria .... different story here in NSW .... you can keep one BTS if you have companion reptile pet permit, if you more than one reptile , you need a keeper's permit/licence. No exceptions.

[kingofnobbys]

Thanks for that kingofnobbys - very interesting to see the differences! So since Easterns don't require a licence, it's possible Tigerthebluey may not be able to get the history. So weird how they choose which species to licence, I would have expected all Bluey types to be categorized the same way..but surprised that Northerns are not in the list!

Should be able to contact the breeder to get the "pedigree" . No breeding history , no licence number from the seller , my advise is walk away ,it's likely been wild caught ( illegally taken ).

[Tigerthebluey]

Hi, thanks for your advice I couldn't afford to go to the vets recently so I have been reading up on mites and treating them myself (bathing in lukewarm water and bedadine regularly, cleaning the enclosure, using mite spray) but they don't seem to be going away - any suggestions? Also he has just gone into shed but isn't very active or eating much - is this normal? I have also been giving him calcium powder with his foods.
Kind regards

[kayla990]

Difficult to add onto the things you've already been doing. Have you also been cleaning/vacuuming the area outside the tank? I think the main thing is to keep on top of cleaning everything in the tank (presume you're already using paper towels instead of normal substrates?).

Also he has just gone into shed but isn't very active or eating much - is this normal?

I believe this is pretty normal. It could depend on how long he's not been active though. If it's been a day or two then arguably that's still in the normal range. But if it's been going on for longer I would be concerned.

I'll link a some recent posts on mites in case they help out:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=30930
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=30986

Does his scales look as puffed up as the first images you posted?

[Tigerthebluey]

Difficult to add onto the things you've already been doing. Have you also been cleaning/vacuuming the area outside the tank? I think the main thing is to keep on top of cleaning everything in the tank (presume you're already using paper towels instead of normal substrates?).

Also he has just gone into shed but isn't very active or eating much - is this normal?

I believe this is pretty normal. It could depend on how long he's not been active though. If it's been a day or two then arguably that's still in the normal range. But if it's been going on for longer I would be concerned.

I'll link a some recent posts on mites in case they help out:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=30930
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=30986

Does his scales look as puffed up as the first images you posted?

Hey thanks for your advice, I have been cleaning the area around the enclosure. Also I haven't been using paper towel but I have cleaned and am regularly spraying with mite spray. As for the scales they are a bit worse than in the photos but seem to get slightly better when I bath him. He just sleeps a lot and hasn't really eaten anything in the past few days.

[kayla990]

Ahh that's a shame there doesn't seem to be noticeable changes so far.. hope you'll see improvements soon, they are terrible things :/

Just something about the loss of appetite; keep a close watch on how long this lasts. While in this case it could be from normal behaviour from shedding - if it continues for longer then I would personally be concerned about internal parasites (with suspecting he's a wild caught too). We lost a very young fire skink this way, so I would be concerned based on your Bluey being a juvenile (as I'm aware juveniles are more likely to succumb to the parasites compared to an adult).

In general young Blueys tend to have a big appetite, so if you are aware they haven't eaten much since you first got him, could be another indicator for parasites. I believe some vets will ship out kits to do a stool sample to send back (although there is generally a small fee). But if it comes back positive, I don't think there are home remedies and will need professional treatment.

Hoping it's not needed for now and he'll just gain his appetite soon!

[Thee]

My new blue tongue skink is only 6 months old and at first I thought it has a few scars because it used to live together with other babies, but more started to appear, I checked all signs of mites or mouth tot but it doesn’t seem to be I’ll, i was wondering if mites can be easily confused with the beginning of shedding.

The skin looks a bit wrinkled, darker , almost like scars
Can anyone confirm how the first signs of shedding look like ?

Do they look anything like the photo I have attached?

Many thanks
Thee

[Thee]

Hi everyone,
Here is some more info regarding the previous comment, more pics as well


I have my 6 months old Blue tongue skink for two weeks now and as I have read , baby bts shed every few weeks, mine came with two scars and I assumed is due to the fact that all babies were kept together in the same tank, but other parts of the skin started to wrinkle.

I am not sure if the shedding starts or my bts has mites, I tried looking at the pictures on the internet but there are no specific details of how the skin looks right before it starts shedding. As it is seen in the pics, it’s darker on the head and face as well, wrinkled and with a scar aspect.

I’m feeding it every day, kept the ground temperature between 32 and 35 on the warm side, humidity above 45% as it is an Indonesian species that lives close to ecuator and normally experiences rain at least twice a day in Merauke. Normally I would assume it either came with a scar or mites, or started preparing for shedding before I bought it.

Could you please look at these pics and tell me if this is how the skin looks before shedding or should I contact a vet?

Many thanks