Could it be MOLD?
Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 10:39 am
Hello again, it's been a while. My skink is Joey and I've been posting under Sick Little Guy, desperate for help.
Joey has been suffering from some kind of systemic infection that causes the area around his eyes and feet to inflame and swell. He has lost most of his digits and outer eyelids.
I will post some pictures here that were taken when he was at his very worst (end of Sept -09). I caution as it can be very painful to look at these.
I caught this picture during a blink, you can see how all of his outer lids are gone.
The digits eventually turn black and die and fall off.
After trying every treatment by the veterinarian, who here in Utah is considered the "guru" for exotics, and nothing making any difference, I fashioned a "sterile" living environment for him. Put him in a smaller tank, to force him staying on the warm side, and used towels (that I washed and boiled often) for substrate and burrowing. Nothing but a smooth glass dish for water so he had nothing rough to rub his eyes against.
I did eventually add a cardboard box for a hide.
After just days in his "sterile" tank I saw a huge improvement!
After 3 mos, and only very mild flare-ups, he was eating well again, so I decided to put him back in his big tank.
After he had been in his big tank for only a week, we found mold in the storage room that his tank is right outside of.
I whisked him out of there right away, but too late. His eyes started getting inflamed, and now his feet are starting to swell.
The mold-remediator says the mold is Penicillium.
The vet never contributed the sterile environment as the cause for Joey's improvement. Joey had recently had one of several vitamin injections, and the vet believed very strongly that that was why he got better. Now, the vet does not believe that the mold is what is causing the inflammation. (To be fair; this is another vet, not the specialist. It's $300 to see the exotic specialist, and right now, with thousands of dollars of mold-remediation coming... I have to start with my home-town vet.) After using his contacts and extensive studying, he seems to think that it is a nutritional deficiency that causes the flare-ups.
After closely scrutinizing what I fed Joey it was pronounced superior before, I hadn't supplemented with vitamins. I DO now. But the flare-up is already going strong.
Does ANYONE have any thoughts, knowledge, suggestions on mold and BTS? Or anything else that might be helpfull? I do know, and everyone should be aware, that anything written here should never be used in stead of professional advice. But as my vet is studying up on BTS and consulting other specialists, I will gather anybody's 5 cents and add to the pot for mine, and my vet's consideration.
It is killing me to see Joey go through this again.
Joey has been suffering from some kind of systemic infection that causes the area around his eyes and feet to inflame and swell. He has lost most of his digits and outer eyelids.
I will post some pictures here that were taken when he was at his very worst (end of Sept -09). I caution as it can be very painful to look at these.
I caught this picture during a blink, you can see how all of his outer lids are gone.
The digits eventually turn black and die and fall off.
After trying every treatment by the veterinarian, who here in Utah is considered the "guru" for exotics, and nothing making any difference, I fashioned a "sterile" living environment for him. Put him in a smaller tank, to force him staying on the warm side, and used towels (that I washed and boiled often) for substrate and burrowing. Nothing but a smooth glass dish for water so he had nothing rough to rub his eyes against.
I did eventually add a cardboard box for a hide.
After just days in his "sterile" tank I saw a huge improvement!
After 3 mos, and only very mild flare-ups, he was eating well again, so I decided to put him back in his big tank.
After he had been in his big tank for only a week, we found mold in the storage room that his tank is right outside of.
I whisked him out of there right away, but too late. His eyes started getting inflamed, and now his feet are starting to swell.
The mold-remediator says the mold is Penicillium.
The vet never contributed the sterile environment as the cause for Joey's improvement. Joey had recently had one of several vitamin injections, and the vet believed very strongly that that was why he got better. Now, the vet does not believe that the mold is what is causing the inflammation. (To be fair; this is another vet, not the specialist. It's $300 to see the exotic specialist, and right now, with thousands of dollars of mold-remediation coming... I have to start with my home-town vet.) After using his contacts and extensive studying, he seems to think that it is a nutritional deficiency that causes the flare-ups.
After closely scrutinizing what I fed Joey it was pronounced superior before, I hadn't supplemented with vitamins. I DO now. But the flare-up is already going strong.
Does ANYONE have any thoughts, knowledge, suggestions on mold and BTS? Or anything else that might be helpfull? I do know, and everyone should be aware, that anything written here should never be used in stead of professional advice. But as my vet is studying up on BTS and consulting other specialists, I will gather anybody's 5 cents and add to the pot for mine, and my vet's consideration.
It is killing me to see Joey go through this again.