cause for alarm?

[Dan]

My Northern has bright clear eyes and a clean nose and seems to breathe normally, but I have noticed a very small amount of clear frothy spittle on the sides of his mouth when he is excited and flicking his tongue a lot. He doesn't act sick at all, just wondering. Is this something other keepers have experienced?

[Katrina]

Yeah, it is fairly common. If that is the only issue then it is no cause for concern.

[UroFreak13]

What exactly is it, saliva im guessing?

[Susann]

They have "saliva" in their mouths just like you and me, and it is quite normal for it to build up in the corners of their mouths when they are out exploring with their tongues going a mile a minute. It CAN be a sign of other problems IF there are other symptoms as well, but like Katrina said, if your skink is otherwise healthy and that is your only concern, then it's usually not a concern.

[UroFreak13]

Cool, I've never seen it but just curious thanks for the info

[Dakota]

Almost like when a bull-dog is running a long-time.. and hang their tongue out.. then you start seeing foam coming from the mouth..

[UroFreak13]

True

[UroFreak13]

But if your dogs tongue is blue there is a problem

[Dakota]

Isn't there a blue-tongued dog?

we are getting so OT..

[Dan]

Thanks for the reassurance. The skink looks healthy and I figured he was just working his saliva into a lather by flicking his tongue around, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing an early warning sign of something worse. I know that bubbles from the nose or eyes would be a totally different story, but what I've experienced is just in the corner of his mouth when he holds it slightly agape, and only when he's been excited for a few minutes.

And no, you're not getting too off topic--the dog is a good analogy. I believe it's the chows and some shar-peis that have bluish tongues, though nowhere near as pretty as the skinks'.