BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

I fed Inari (my Indo) yesterday and something didn't seem right. She hasn't been acting like herself lately. She never seems to eat much and usually that's not a big deal except that I noticed she's been waiting a while to eat lately. At least I thought she was. I think she's just been knocking the food over and it just dried up in the cypress in the tank. I'm now thinking that she may have had a respiratory infection. She seemed to be drinking well before recently. All of a sudden today she looked different. Her eyes are now sunken. It was nearly time for the vet to close so I've made an appointment for the morning. I'm not thinking it's going to go well. The fact that she let me pick her up easily without snapping back so that I could clean up the tank is not a good sign. Now she appears to have sunken eyes. I would post pictures but I'm having some sort of problem with the computer that I'm on recognizing USB devices. I'll have to wait until I can get to another computer. Unless my memory is off or my scale is malfunctioning she appears to have lost about 115 grams. I'll post more after the vet appointment if she even makes it that long.

Justin

Info that might be important or might not:

I had a respiratory infection back from October to December. I don't know if humans can pass respiratory infections to skinks or not. I was very careful and neither the other skink nor the tortoise are having any problems. Both are eating fine.
There is a rabbit nearby the tank. Timothy hay was knocked onto Inari's tank either by a person feeding the rabbit or the rabbit itself. Again I have no idea if this will have any bearing on anything. Her tank has been moved away from the rabbit's cage.
I have removed EVERYTHING from the tank and cleaned it top to bottom. I only have paper towels and a disposable bowl of water in there. There is heat on the tank day and night.

Check for similar symptoms in this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=20085&hilit=eye+toe+ri

Good for you for going to the vet, as RI's can be fatal, and FAST. I dont believe humans can pass on our RI's to our reptiles, but it is VERY contagious among any other reptiles you do have.

It's more likely we get ill because of them then otherwise.
Unless you had a RI like Chlamydia or fungus?
But the contact would have to be very very very directly to go from human to animal

Good luck with your BTS.

There are a few anthroponotic diseases, I think tuberculosis may be one.

I hope all goes well and it's not as bad as you think.

El Lobo wrote:There are a few anthroponotic diseases, I think tuberculosis may be one.

Shame on me! Indeed. I was thinking purely of RI , but Mycobacterium could give this too...

We did everything we could but couldn't save her. The vet had only given her a 20% chance of survival. This is the 2nd animal I lost within 24 hours (the other being a seemingly healthy bunny that suddenly died). The vet said that the 2 deaths weren't related---just horrible timing. I had just set out food for Inari a couple days before this. She was active and I didn't do a close-up exam of her because of that. Within a couple of days she was severely dehydrated and had lost two fifths of her body weight. I wish I had checked her out more closely. She keeps to herself and never really took to handling so I only take her out to clean her cage, to examine her, or to clip nails, etc. As soon as I realized she was sick I called the vet and got the earliest appointment I could.

Justin

Oh no! I'm so sorry for your loss. Reptiles can hide disease/illness VERY well, and as a result, one can hit extremely hard and fast. You did the best you could, try not to beat yourself up. Its hard not to do, but you did the responsible thing for her.

I am so sorry for your loss You gave her the best care, try to find some comfort in that!

I know your pain.

I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. Especially 2 in one day, one is hard enough.

I'm sorry you lost both pets and so close together.

Have you thought of having a necropsy performed on either or both to determine the cause?

If you wish to post some details of the rabbit I may be able to offer some information by way of explanation.

Sorry for your loss.
I would do a necropsy as Norm suggests.

I think with a little bit of story, we could help you.

So sorry

Oh my gosh I am so sorry after reading this I got really sad took a shower now my nose is bleeding NOW IM DOUBLE SAD... I AM SOOOO SORRY!!