Adult skink suddenly can't walk

[Ivyna J. Spyder]

First - already been to a vet, just looking for more info from people who may have seen these symptoms before.

I've had my BTS, Link, for about 10 years now. I adopted him as an adult so I have no idea what his actual age is.

He's never had any real health problems. He's kept in a 4' x 4' enclosure with proper UVB light (tested regularly), and fed high quality canned dog food with fresh veggies/fruits mixed in, and live insects when he feels like it. (He can be picky)

Last Saturday when I went to feed him I immediately noticed something was wrong. He made no movement to eat the hornworm I offered. When I picked him up he didn't struggle or try to bite me, which he normally always tries to. He was almost totally limp, though he does have feeling in all his limbs and will pull them away if touched. He has developed an odd hunch in his back around the shoulders that looks unnatural. He almost seems to struggle to breathe and has to open his mouth to do so. He was acting normally (ie hissing up a storm and trying to bite me) the week before so this came on suddenly.

I took him to the emergency vet. They took x-rays, which showed nothing significant. Possible slight abnormalities with one or two vertebrae, but nothing like a tumor or extreme swelling. Maybe a slipped disk? There's nothing high up in his viv that he could have fallen from. Vet says it's unlikely to be MBD because of his age and his x-rays show good bone density. No sign of any respiratory infections either.

He's been getting injections of anti-inflammatory meds every three days. His movement is still limited and he mostly just lays in place with his front arms tucked back. He'll eat if I spoon feed him but he can't even lift his head. (that's the stuff around his nose in the photo)



So I am at a loss! I'm worried he's in pain and I have no idea what we can do if the medicine won't work (and it seems to only do a little). He can get around a little but it's obviously hard for him.

Any info is appreciated.

[Janella]

Golly, I am so sorry for your poor Link. How very sad and very frustrating not knowing exactly what is the cause of this. I don't unfortunately have any insight, but I am praying your baby feels better soon.

[kingofnobbys]

Maybe he's had a stoke or has an aneurism ?

[kayla990]

Awww so sorry to hear It's difficult to know what to add from the vets response.. I couldn't find any information about slipped discs in reptiles (but doesn't mean it can't happen).. really strange with his toes being clamped together too, was that just in the picture or is he holding it like that most of the time?

Most sources say that sudden lumps or bumps are mainly from tumors or from MBD - but as you say he's already had x-rays for this. Just as I can't see it mentioned, what is your calcium and calcium+D3 routine like? I mean realistically, since you've had him for over 10 years already, would be strange for things to suddenly affect him (unless his levels have crashed too far to start the problems)..

Was it a specialist reptile vet you saw?

Now this is only presumptuous - I'm not claiming to be an expert - but the swelling (or unusual shape) on his back could be compressing his nerves, making it either painful to walk/move or stopping his ability to. I really hope that he'll become able to move like normal once the issue on his spine is known. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed - wish I had something more useful to share..

[kingofnobbys]

Occurred to me that perhaps another possible cause is heat stroke …. I am inferring from your terminology that you are in summer ( and in the USA) and your skink may have spent too much time at very high temperatures above or in the critical thermal maximum temperature range for the species of BT you have
…. as a result your skink has lost it's locomotion abilities and it's ability to thermoregulate (temporarily ??) .
This is not something that will show up due to a medical cause necessarily in a vetinary examination , or even perhaps from blood work , so is not easy to track down , very likely not even on the vet's radar as possible cause …. but can you check the climate at about the date the problem was first seen …. was it very hot at the time or shortly before the problem was first noticed (I'm assuming you are not able to the home with skink all day everyday so you need to check the local met office's data and look for very high temperatures effecting your neighbourhood , I assume also your basking light / heatpad is simply left on all day and there is no provision to monitor tank temperatures and automatically turn these off if the room gets very hot ???

This happens frequently in warmer areas in summer and is rarely reported (simply put down to bad husbandry) , FEW keeper leave their aircons on all day even when not home , or bother closimg the loop to make sure the heat is turned off if it gets warmer than say 35 degC in the house.. In heatwave conditions it's perfectly OK to turn off the basking globe and heatpad entirely for the duration.

https://avianandexoticvets.com/dangers- ... xotic-pets


I know for bearded dragons this is a danger if the temperature is 43 degC to 46 degC . and 47 degC is lethal if the dragon can not move to a cooler place. I suspect similar temperature maximums apply to BTs too but you'll need to search the temperature responses for your species BTS in Google Scholarly searches to confirm this in a academic study / paper / thesis. I've been banging on about keeping temperatures more modest in beardie tanks at the Beardie board because some are advocating temperatures that IMO are dangerously high (especially in summer when it can become VERY HOT in middle of the day and during heatwaves).

[Angcious]

I was horrified when I first read this, poor baby! Especially when vets can't give you any real answers, ugh! But the responses you've gotten were very interesting and informative. My first thought was that I've heard of similar symptoms in beardeds with impaction but I'm assuming that would've already been detected by the vets. My heart goes out to you and him, I hope he can beat this and recover soon!

[splashy07]

I am so sorry for your pet's condition. Although I cannot offer any advice as I have never witnessed anything like it in my 40+ years of reptile keeping, King's suggestion makes sense. Many people do net realize that a reptile can overheat. If your temps are fine I am at a loss. All the best, hope he gets well. He also could be very old, and things are just, well, failing.

[Ivyna J. Spyder]

Thanks for the replies and well wishes.

As for temperature issues, none of my thermometers have shown any unusual spikes, and if it was something that effected the entire house it would have effected my other herps too.

Unless he decided to stick around under his heat lamp too long on purpose... But it's a huge enclosure so there are plenty of places for him to move away if he had needed to. Even with his limited mobility now, he can at least move toward or away from his basking spots.

I took him in for more rimadyl and they also gave him some narcotics, which did seem to help! He was able to move his head more.

He does still have a good appetite, which is heartening. I will see if we can keep him on a course of pain meds and maybe whatever this is can heal on its own.

I was thinking of replace his substrate with soft towels for now, they may be easier for him to move on.

[Janella]

Thanks for the update. Poor poor baby. The towels would probably definitely help. I am praying for your little one. Definitely keep the updates coming. Good luck!