How to prevent RI

[lemon1]

Just curious ......... I have been reading posts about infections and was wondering how they can be prevented and where they get RI's from . Can skinks get viruses from humans ?

[Katrina]

Respiratory infection, toe loss, stomatitis, and other common health problems come from husbandry problems (in my experience). Obviously there are lots of factors involved, but you don't often see healthy, well cared for blueys developing problems like that - they aren't delicate creatures that can get sick easily. You seem to see it in cases of "I no longer have time for the pet" kind of sales - where people somewhat neglect them and then assume these problems are normal. All of the health problems that I have dealt with have been that kind of thing - usually Indonesian species, they are cheaper, available in pet stores and bought on an impulse. Owner gets bored of the pet and never properly researched it in the first place and so they end up on kijiji and are sick but have been sick for a while.

Skinks and humans can't really transmit any viruses / illnesses that I know of (other than salmonella, but I haven't heard of any cases of BTS passing on salmonella - there is a possibility though).

From what I have seen, if you provide adequate conditions (temps etc), keep the enclosure clean, provide a healthy diet and ensure shedding is complete then you should have a healthy BTS. Obviously there are exceptions to this... but for the most part, they are very easy to keep. The cases of RI we see (in North America) are typically rescues / new purchases. Even the sick blueys that I have taken in have bounced back incredibly well. They are very tough lizards - from my experience if you give them decent conditions they will do very well and for the most part take care of shedding, nail trimming etc on their own. BTS that my boyfriend is certain will die have recovered, so with a healthy, CBB northern I wouldn't be too worried about health problems. The problem is people who don't do their research, not those who read and participate on forums like this.