Is this normal breathing or an RTI?

[Versiris]

I just got an adult male northern about a month ago and he's been doing great so far. Active, alert, eats well etc.

Just recently I noticed when I take him out he has a sort of popping noise coming out of his nose, but it only seems to happen sometimes, like when he's huffy or I'm petting him, rather than when he's resting. I had him out to crawl around on my bed and I got a video of him making the noises, you'll have to crank the volume to hear. It sounds like he might just be sniffing his surroundings at first but then he makes the popping noises near the end of the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pcn1zUYmVRo

I've had his lamp down a bit on some days over the past couple weeks because it's been rather warm in my room and because I rarely saw him basking so I was worried his lamp was too hot, but today I've turned it back up full blast for upper 90's to make sure he's not too cold. Other than that he has no other signs of an infection, his eyes and mouth look fine, he's still got his strength to fight me on picking him up.

So does he do that audible breathing / popping because he's worked up or is he sick? While it's very possible I'm just paranoid about this I just wanted to make sure he's okay. Thanks!

[Susann]

I don't hear any popping noises.... And I've got the sound up loud enough that I can hear the sound of his tongue coming out. Maybe I'm just not paying attention to the right thing, but the fact that I don't hear anything means that there very likely isn't anything to be worried about.
You're just paranoid.

[NickBrahz]

Likewise the only sound i can hear is the tongue flick sound.

[Versiris]

Apologies it is hard to hear here's an mp3 I made after increasing the volume a lot so it's audible. Lots of noise from the recording but you can still hear the popping: https://www.dropbox.com/s/oesmq4qshdd8b ... h.mp3?dl=0

EDIT: also here's a picture I just took today:


He was sleeping in his hide with his mouth ajar slightly. When I approached him and listened in his tank I could hear him making the noise still. Getting more worried He seems to be eating a bit less too, he usually eats 1.5-2tbsps of food but the past week or so he only eats about 1.

[Susann]

Could you take another video where his sides are visible, so we can see his breaths as we listen to the sounds? I hear now what it is you're talking about ...I thought those sounds were coming from something else... and I'm not entirely sure they're sounds from him exhaling...
But most important is this: if you are worried about him and think you're seeing changes in his behavior, then you really need to take him in to see a vet. It is extremely hard for us to try to diagnose your skink based on what you've posted so far
Skink breathing can be very erratic and sometimes have all kinds of sounds that are very normal, but without listening to him with a stethoscope to see whether the sounds are from his lungs or respiratory ducts, or coming from the throat musculature, it's really impossible for us to say.

[Versiris]

Thanks for the response Susann! I actually went ahead and took him to the vet shortly after making the previous post. He didn't make the sound for the vet unfortunately (he was making it in the waiting room but stopped when the vet was there...) but the vet did check him with the stethoscope and say he heard a little bit of abnormal breathing, so he got put on antibiotics. His sides did seem to move a lot, I actually put my hand on his upper back when he was making that noise and I could feel the pops in his chest...

He just finished his antibiotic treatment but I'll have to check for the breathing again, though I haven't heard it the few times I popped in to feed him / clean the tank. I've been leaving him alone the past couple weeks because I'm afraid I'm stressing him out, but I gotta make sure the breathing is normal too... I took him out once the other day very briefly to give him the last of his meds and I didn't hear the noise so he may be recovered already. I'll keep an eye on him.

[Versiris]

Hi there, I came to check back on my topic but it seems my last post was deleted or something? Did I break a rule? I would still like input from other users regarding my situation and my last post contained important information. Can someone explain?

[alichamp]

I think we lost a few posts from the site by accident, it's possible yours was one of them. Without having seen your posts, I wouldn't assume it was deleted on purpose, usually a mod would message you and let you know if this be the case.

Please can you re-post? Sorry about that.

Glad you took him to the vet to get checked out. We really are here to help, so I hope you re-post your last info and keep us updated.

[Versiris]

Oh no worries I'm glad it was just an accident! I basically just said that I had a suspicion everything was totally fine with my skink and the vet I took him to didn't know what he was doing...

Now it's been a few weeks since then and I turned out to be right. My boy is active and curious as ever and eating great. Looks healthy as ever. He still makes that strange throat/nose popping noise here and there when he's irritated with me, so I think it's just his way of expressing annoyance. He doesn't do it when he's content at all, so I think case closed.

[alichamp]

That's great! Hope to see some more pics and updates from you around the forum.