Passed Away

[Stanuki]

You might not want to read this post if you’re having a bad day. This will just serve as a testimony and an update.

It’s been over a year since juvenile Northern passed away (3/13/2021). The skink lived with me for about a year and I took it to the doctor once about six months in for an introduction to the vet I wanted to be its primary care. That vet was actually Dr. David Morris at VB Veterinary Hospital who is listed in the pinned Vet Guide on the site. He at that point gave my skink a clean bill of health. We went over my husbandry which he believed looked fine, and recommended that if anything because I don’t have a fully bioactive setup to do a substrate replacement biweekly. He was wonderful!

I made sure to take many pictures of the skink throughout its life along with taking its written weight/length. Other internet skink owners and the staff of the herp section of the local mom and pop store I frequented called Pet Paradise said it looked healthy. From what I could see it never showed signs of lethargy, behavioral/physical change, or disease at all until the morning it was really ill. I did not get an autopsy which I regret. Because it was off hours at the clinic I went to, the body would’ve needed to be same day shipped to a facility, increasing the cost (over 1500$), and they could not guarantee a cause of death. The whole thing made me really upset then. I’ve taken some time away from the hobby.

Last week I purchased another Northern from a breeder, this time an adult, and try again but with some alterations based on things I’ve read in threads here or in some updated internet husbandry guides from the time I was inactive (Reptile Mountain/Happy Dragons). Starting with not using untreated topsoil because I was told it could have been compromised even if organic, and removing living plants.

I just wanted to say thank you for reading and for the activity of experienced keepers whom are essentially giving their advice and time for free. Hopefully this time works out better I’ll do some updates soon.

One of the last pictures I took.