BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hey guys!
I just have a quick question, I've noticed twice now some bubbles around Gideon's mouth. The first time I noticed he had just woken up and had eaten a cricket i'd left him the night before (it had died from handling so my gecko refused to eat it, figured no reason for it to go to waste when I have a disposal skink lol) the second time was tonight, he was asleep but he woke up when I was changing out his water so I took him out for a second. He was very feisty and unhappy about being woken up and then pulled out. I made him sit with me until the bubble went away.
Both his nostrils are clean. I noticed a little bit of damage to a scale on his lower lip but nothing black or red or anything, just a couple marks. His belly is a little rough, because the humidity has been a bit lower lately (since it's now summer here it's been warmer).
The only things that have changed since I started noticing this:
- It's warmer outside now, so some changes to basking temp, I haven't observed it at the peak but could excessive heat possibly be the problem?
- Because it's warmer the humidity has dropped a bit, I put in a deeper, larger water dish and filled half of it with rocks (so it wouldn't be too deep) and will start spraying the ground a little bit to help bump humidity a bit.
- he pooped in his water bowl last night I think, but I was not home and didn't notice until tonight (thus why I woke him up to change the water) could he possibly have drank some of the water and gotten himself sick? This wouldn't explain why he had the bubbles a few days ago though.

Other than that he's alert, eating like a pig, growing still and has had no real shed issues
Any ideas what might be up? The bubbles seemed to occur from his breathing, but there is no other discharge or discoloration.
Sometimes I put his food in while it's frozen (if he's asleep) so it can warm up quickly on his basking spot, but sometimes he will run out and grab it while it's cold (I usually just pull it out then, since the extreme cold can't be good) is it possible an exposure to the cold food has caused him to get a cold or something?
I noticed the bubbles after he ate the dead cricket, was this a bad thing to leave out for him?? I assumed it would be fine but perhaps it wasn't...
Finally, is there anything I can do to try to help him get over what ever it is? He's still pooping and eating well and seems healthy so i'd like to avoid a vet visit if possible.

Thanks guys.

Generally a bubble or two at the corners of the mouth isn't anything to worry about, as long as there aren't any other signs, which it sounds like there aren't. I would advise you to keep a closer eye on him for the next little bit, make sure there is no discharge from the nostrils (or evidence of dried discharge around the nostrils) and listen to make sure you're not hearing any sounds with his breathing.

I doubt eating one already dead cricket could possibly have made him sick...
And even though we don't recommend you feed cold (or frozen) food, I can't see that eating a cold meal from time to time would cause him to get sick either.

I don't think there's any reason for a vet visit quite yet, and I'm sure you're already planning on keeping an eye on him as you seem plenty worried. Just if you start seeing (or hearing) anything else out of the ordinary, make sure you know where to take him as quick declines are known to happen if it's a respiratory illness, and these things to have a funny tendency to happen during weekends when vets are harder to get a hold of.

Thanks Susann, I've kept a close eye on him and haven't noticed any more bubbles. I think maybe he was just associating the door opening to food and perhaps was salivating and then when I went to pick him up he got huffy so it formed bubbles? Aha I don't know, but it hasn't re-occured, so yay! No abnormal noises either or discharge.

Was he drinking anything before you opened the enclosure? Skinks don't have the strongest throat muscles and I've seen Coomassie "bubble" a bit after he drinks if I pick him up right away. It is possible that he just spit some water back up or something because he couldn't keep it down.

To my knowledge he wasn't drinking before hand, but he may have done. it was right when I woke up and I woke up after his lights had been on, so he may have gone for some water. It's not happening anymore so I assume what ever it was has gone away. Like I said no discharge or noises, so yay!