BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hi there! I recently got a new skink and he has a very weird thing going on with his mouth. On one corner of his mouth he has some really weird black stuff and I almost think it is a fungal growth or something. I was considering it may be mouth rot but there is no redness and no other symptoms of MR. Here is a picture of the outside, but on the inside of his mouth on his lip, it is pitch black. (Ignore the food chuck, he just had breakfast)

In my opinion this skink needs to see a vet for proper diagnosis. There does appear to be something happening to the scales around the mouth. Blackening of tissue is often indicative of necrosis.

I've moved this to where it will be seen by more.

I've seen this on the mouth of pet store skinks, I'd be interested to know what it is but I would get it checked by a vet

perhaps try removing it,sometimes they get gunk build up on the lip ,northerns being the worst for it for me,if it comes off and theres nothing underneath its probably just gunk buildup from food,substrate ect ect if it bleeds or shows inflammation after removal then you will need to look more into it and like norm said a vet is probably the best way to get to the bottom of it

keep us posted on any findings

London had an issue with the substrate build-up in the corners of her mouth, but she is now in carefresh, and it is just about gone.

I don't think her problem got as bad as this, though.

As you can see the swollen/redness is completely gone, but left a slight scar.. from this being so far in term, whether it is mouth rot or substrate, I would definitely go see a vet.

tili has some of the same that London had going on...i think tili just has excessive saliva..bc some days she'll have a dried up tan crust in the corners of her mouth and i just brush it off with a wet paper towel and she's fine but when we do have the chance to get the reptiles into a vet i do plan on taking her in and just asking about it...

but the above pic does look like MR to me...i've heard diluted betadine on a q-tip a few times a day can help if you dont have the finances available at the moment to get to the vet.

I've seen something like this on a pet store IJ, I think it was just a saliva buildup and dust from substrate.

awilcocks wrote:i've heard diluted betadine on a q-tip a few times a day can help if you dont have the finances available at the moment to get to the vet.

Sorry, but I have to disagree with the above. If you don't have the money for a vet visit then you are failing in your responsibilities towards the pet. Simply applying topical treatment to an undiagnosed condition can do more harm than good. The OP stated "on the inside of his mouth on his lip, it is pitch black", suggesting this is much more that excess saliva and/or stuck substrate.

I was talking about the above picture, the op picture seems much more serious, it resembles mouth rot

El Lobo wrote:

awilcocks wrote:i've heard diluted betadine on a q-tip a few times a day can help if you dont have the finances available at the moment to get to the vet.

Sorry, but I have to disagree with the above. If you don't have the money for a vet visit then you are failing in your responsibilities towards the pet. Simply applying topical treatment to an undiagnosed condition can do more harm than good. The OP stated "on the inside of his mouth on his lip, it is pitch black", suggesting this is much more that excess saliva and/or stuck substrate.

true...i'm guilty of not reading all posts word for word and i probably missed that part of it being on the inside...my bad..

Hello! We ended up treating it with a little bit of iodine and some sort of cream (recommended by specialist) the substance came off and it didn't seem to effect him. The scales that looked deformed (in the picture) were simply from the last shed and came off with a bit of rubbing. He still has something left over, it looks almost like some scare tissue or something alike that. We are going to treat him the same way for about a week then leave it alone and we will see what happens.

My Northern had a very similar issue when I first got him. It was solved by thoroughly cleaning the edges of his mouth with Q-tips soaked in warm water. This removed built up food, substrate, and shed scales. They were irritated for a while, so I treated with very dilute Novalsan. Years later, I still have to regularly clean the corners of his mouth; stuff just tends to lodge there.

Edit: Added a few pics for comparison.
Lilo's mouth buildup - 2009
Lilo's scales - 2013

glad that he's okay post more pics?

Here is a up-to-date picture of Mr. Skink! His mouth issue is almost completely gone! (it is on another post as I have a new issue 0_0)

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=23705&p=432863#p432863