BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

So, I think I have marcies sickness under controll. I talked to my dad and he said she COULD be sick from the following:


1)Age,she could be older than we think(though she's still growing a bit)
2)Lack or bacteria in the imune sysytem, Being on anti bi-otics for SOO long might have killed off all the GOOD bacteria as well causing her to get sicker.

He advised that take her off anti bi-otics for awhile so that good bacteria can build up again and feed her high protein and vitamin rich foods. In doing this we seem to have her under controll. She is no longer ''weezing'' and sneezing now only as much as she used to.

you may NEVER stop an antibiotic treatment before its done. that is how you help create resistant bacterias worldwide - unknowledge is very dangerous in this case.

so, if you ever eat antibiotics yourself and feel better, always finish it completely. same with skinks.


i can explain this very simple to you. many think that all bacterias are gone when you are feeling so much better. thats not true.

there are thousands, millions bacterias left that has yet to be killed, and if you stop the treatment they will use the pause to become resistant to that treatment.

so, next time the skink get the same problems, antibiotics are ineffective and the skink dies. and since bacterias are spread, any other reptile getting the bacterias from this skink will also not be able to recieve treatment.

you think this resistance will stay with these bacterias that just go on skinks? dream on. the resistance can be transfered to bacterias that attack humans.


IF, and only if, the veterinarian that prescribed this treatment to you says it is COMPLETELY finished, that is when to stop.

it was?

Has she been to the vet again recently? I think it's time for another checkup.

IMO, don't trust someone's advice who is not very experienced(AKA a reptile specialist).

Have to agree with the Wandering Chai (ha ha I typed Chair at first). Is your dad a vet of some kind or have extensive practice and experience with skinks/lizards? When it comes to a sickness bad enough that I need to go to the vet, the vet is the only one to tell me what to do. I am not paying a family member...I am paying a expert/specialist.

Like Linnea said, do not stop using antibiotics until the prescription course is over. If you do, a few bacteria that survived the antibiotics would reproduce and create bacteria that are very hard to kill with antibiotics. Your skink would then be sick again, and the bacteria would be resistant to the antibiotic.

When using antibiotics the full course should be administered for reasons stated in other posts and it is correct that some antibiotics can destroy much of the micro flora in the gastrointestinal tract. It would significantly depend on whether the antibiotic is bactericidal or bacteriostatic.

Restoring balance to the digestive tract may be helped by using a probiotic after the course of antibiotics. Probiotics should be purposely compounded for each species to ensure only the beneficial bacteria necessary for that species are included. Introduction of foreign bacteria to the digestive tract can cause dysbiosis. I believe there are probiotics available which have been specifically formulated for reptiles.

El Lobo: Indeed their are. But they seem to contain the same species as human probiotics. Some people even reccomend giving sick reptiles yogurt! Now- I have done absolutely no research on this but I'd imagine that at the very least different bacterial strains and likely a entirely different flora would be required to work in a reptile with a 10-15 degree lower PBT not to mention heterothermy.

critterguy wrote:El Lobo: Indeed their are. But they seem to contain the same species as human probiotics. Some people even reccomend giving sick reptiles yogurt! Now- I have done absolutely no research on this but I'd imagine that at the very least different bacterial strains and likely a entirely different flora would be required to work in a reptile with a 10-15 degree lower PBT not to mention heterothermy.

The same suggestion of giving yoghurt is also made for rabbits. I have done some research into this and found it is not supported by knowledgable vets as yoghurt's main bacterial strains are Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Bifidobacterium and Streptococcus Thermophilus, none of which are naturally found in the gastrointestinal tract of an healthy rabbit.

I would question too the efficacy of yoghurt for reptiles as it is a dairy product. It may be argued that this could be suitable for an animal that has been suckled during infancy, but that of course would rule out a BTS.

Returning to the rabbit example: when they are weaned at around 3-4 weeks their stomach pH evolves from an alkaline 5.0-6.5 whilst being suckled, to an acidic 1.0-2.0 as a juvenile, then onto 0.9-1.0 as an adult. It is highly unlikely beneficial bacteria would survive long enough in such an acidic environment to be of any benefit in aiding re-population. I have no idea of the pH of a blueys digestive tract.

They have that pro-biotic stuff that they have for people. Activia I think it is called. It is in yogurt form but is strictly for adding bacteria (healthy ones) into the body for general healthy living. I wonder if that would be good for blues, rabbits, ect.?

they used to have a reptile equivelent of that pro biotic stuff,not sure if they still do,but cant see why they wouldnt

There is a product called Acidophiliz+ that is specifically designed for reptiles in need of a boost of healthy flora. I used this in conjunction with the Panacur when treating pinworms in my Merauke. She kept her appetite and also did not have any abnormal stools. Now I supplement her with this regularly as it contains aminos and other healthy vitamins. It is not expensive ($5-$8) and comes in a papaya flavored liquid that my skink will take readily. I would recommend it from my experience.

I hope El Lobo will comment but since Panacur is an antihelminthic it should not directly kill bacteria in the intestine. So it may have been a sugar pill effect as well.

http://www.livefoods.co.uk/product_info ... -100g-p-31

Here is a blurb in support of another product which contains Lactobacillus(species?) as well as Streptococcus faecium. They do admit little is known about the gut flora so supplementing is questionable.

I hear with prehensile tailed skinks the young consume adult feces to obtain gut flora.