BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Oh no, so I took out my new baby today and I noticed his mouth doesn't look right! It looks like he banged up his lips. On the weekend I fed him some bugs using some tongs, he was a bit aggressive and I think he bit the metal a couple times. This is the only thing I can thing of that may have caused this to happen. Can someone please offer their insight? I've barely had him a week and he's already hurt =( Is it maybe just swollen? Will it go away? Does he need the vet?

Only other behavior changed i've noticed is he hasn't been basking his whole body, just laying his head on his slate, but i've also been away most of the day, so it's possible he is basking fully. Other than that he's eating, pooping, drinking and sleeping. Oh, I just tried, he closes his eyes if I touch the spots, like it hurts. Please help =( The only other cause I can think is that maybe the prey items I fed him hurt him? I gave him a few mealworms and 1 darkling beetle (just for fun, since they run away) he ate all of them happily. Everything he eats it dusted with reptivite (live food and his bluey chow). Or could it be the egg I gave him? I cracked it open, but he did bite into the shell, could he have hurt himself this way?

This sides not as back as the other side


The worst side


You can see how it kind of bulges out


From above, you can see how both sides are not normal looking


Husbandry info: Currently in a 25 gallon, cold side reaches about 75F during the day, 65F at night, how side is about 80 ambient with a 100 basking temp. He has a water dish he can submerse himself in 24/7, a humid hide (with moist paper towel), a regular hide that he sleeps in (with paper towel), large rocks and branches to climb in and fake plants to hid under. He only gets fed when I take him out and he's on paper towel till his quarantine is done.

Please help =( I feel like an awful parent right now

This happens occasionally here too. I assume they're doing something foolish like chewing on their wood or something. Anyways, after a couple sheds it's gone. My thoughts: just keep an eye on it to 1) make sure it doesn't seem infected, and 2) make sure food/gunk doesn't stick there.

I have an eastern with a mouth that kinda looks like that. I panicked when I noticed it. I figured it was an abcessed tooth, or mouth rot, or something. After looking closer though, there isn't anything wrong with the inside of the mouth. I think its from biting the spoon that I was using to fill his bowl. It looks better each week. Keep an eye on it, but don't worry to much

I held him under a bright light (much to his dislike) and gently rolled the parts that look injured down so I could get a look inside. Nothing looks wrong on the inside, so this leads me to assume it's just swollen. The one side, the scale looks a bit banged up, the other side looks ok (other than being swollen). You know, the first day I put him in the tank I watched him walk straight up to a piece of his decor and bite it, maybe he just did than again to the wood or large rocks in his tank? Or maybe the metal of the tongs got him if he missed a bite? I'll keep a close eye on it. Thank you guys, I feel so bad he got hurt but I feel better knowing chances are it's not that serious. I did email the breeder with the photos as well, so hopefully he also comes back with the same answer.

(btw, super off topic but Valley Reptiles, those two northerns in your avatar are gorgeous, just wanted to let you know )

Thank you very much. And good luck with the new baby. I'm sure he will be just fine

happens abit with scincoides,usually clears up pretty quick

About three months in my Bluey got one of these. It turned out to be an infected tooth (Either from chewing on his food bowl or getting cypress mulch in his mouth). It wasn't terribly hard to treat and inexpensive.

You may want to gently stroke him along his chin or on the sides of his mouth to get him to open his jaws. It's what my girlfriend and I did to check, Parker. If anything Parker seemed to enjoy the relief he got from getting his jaw stimulated.