I rescue reptiles but am new to skinks, unsure what is wrong with rescue's eyes!

[Mocha]

Hello! I have been rehabilitating reptiles for a long time but I am new to skinks, I came across an ad on craigslist for very cheap crested geckos and contacted them. After I told them I rehab reptiles they offered a Halmahera Indonesian skink for $50 with a 60 gallon enclosure they intended to upgrade him to. The owner did not tell me the size or how the setup was before. All they told me was that he did not eat well, had missing toes due to "bad sheds" (she said she could not keep his enclosure humid enough, not sure why) and his eyes had a hard time shedding. After meeting in person she told me they bought him from LLC reptiles but "learned he was wild caught when they were told he was captive bred", I'm not sure how much of what they've told me is actually true and if they knew he was wild caught. Either way it is extremely sad to see how neglected this little guy was, stuck shed for so long your toes fall off? Yikes! The only treatment she said she did was give him soaks but didn't say how often. They were in a rush to 'get rid' of their reptile collection because they were moving. Anyways, that's his backstory! Since he has been in my care (for the past 14 hours or so) I have done quite a few things for him and have had some realizations. First I set up his 60 gallon tank with paper towel substrate for a quarantine setup, a large hide, large corner water dish, and a humidifier pouring fog into the water dish from the top of the enclosure. After setting everything up I noticed his breathing. I was heart broken. I've heard it before, the wheeze of a respiratory infection. I have given him a few soaks (with iodine for his toes) but he really isn't too happy being handled so I didn't want to stress him on day one. He had some nose crusties, one came off. I mostly need help understanding what's wrong with his eye? I'm wondering if I can give him some steamy soaks and gently rub it off with a q tip or cloth? I'm concerned its his eyelid and I'm going to hurt him because he does not want me near it. And another question, I have been doing research on skink respiratory infections and some sources say adding correct heat and humidity can make it go away. If he is wheezing is it already too severe to fix it this way? Do I 100% need antibiotics from a vet?
Current setup has 100w ceramic bulb, 100w basking bulb, and 18 watt uvb on one side. Humidifier is on about 12 hours a day making the enclosure mostly fogged.
Thank you!

[Janella]

Hello there and thank you for helping this skink. So this baby definitely needs some immediate attention and a vet visit. Once you can hear wheezing and if the vet hears crackles also the infection has set in and antibiotics are needed. I recommend bumping the basking temps up a bit to help fight the infection as well. Is the skink eating? As for the eye, it is hard to tell exactly what is going on from the two pictures you sent, but I would have the vet check that as well. If the skink was wild caught, it will need a fecal check for parasites as well. Good luck and keep us updated on how it goes.

[Mocha]

I have always wanted a skink, unfortunately my boyfriend and I cannot afford to take him to the vet at the moment so we will be surrendering him to a local reptile store. I was hoping we could help him but I feel like this is best. Thank you!

[Janella]

Awe, well I hope the reptile store will get him looked at and taken care of. Thank you for helping it.