BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

There have been recent threads about this. Has anyone had any experience treating it or received any advise from a vet how to treat it. Specifically, what do they recommend for the treatment of the infected gums as well as any antibiotics given. My vet told me to use Baytril systemically and Betadine for the mouth. Over the last couple yrs I've had 2 skinks with this problem (both CB yearlings) and I can't figure out why they are getting it.

KL

Ive treated lots of reptiles over the last 10 years or so while running my small reptile rescue and the combination treatment you mentioned is pretty much the same I've always been recommended to by my reptile vets.

After a reptile has had mouth rot at least moderately once they'll sometimes continue to get scabs on the lips that aren't actually a recurring infection. I have a rescue merauke blue tongue right now actually that came to me with a pretty nasty case and even though is doing extremely well now and is healthy as can be still occasionally gets scabs on her lips. I've had my vet look at these scabs during a follow up visit and he said there is no active infection going on and they should clear on their own, which they have again.

For mild cases of mouth rot I've found that baytril can very often be unnecessary and cause more harm then good since it's such a stressful experience anyway for a reptile to be giving daily meds, not to mention baytril can be a pretty harsh drug on a reptiles system. The betabine or hydrogen peroxide treatment on a q tip has always been enough for me to clear up these more mild cases. I'm treating a recent Halmahera blue tongue rescue that just came in now with this treatment and it's working very well without the need for antibiotics. Of course though, if any cause for concern is present that the case is more then the more simple treatments can handle the vet advice isprobably best.

This has been my experience over the years. I've experienced what you mentioned to though, about having animals get it for no clear reason and am in the same boat as far as having no clue what why they got it, hopefully someone else will chime in with something to share on that part.

Kim I'm not sure I have any answer for you that at Vet can't provide but I've only had it a couple of times and generally after trauma to the animals resulting from fighting and generally young animals are more susceptible to getting an infection which may pose a lifetime problem. I believe that it was because the pathogen had infiltrated the bone - in a similar manner to osteomyelitis, hence the only form of treatment that might have gotten rid of it would be a similar course of treatment - which I'm not sure would be possible in reptiles, due to potential organ damage. I have no way of proving if but I believe that this is a route cause of a lot of intractable diseases in blueys, particularly imported animals, who have suffered extreme stress for prolonged periods and unsanitary conditions. As a rule now with my Alpine blotchies I remove them ASAP from the parents enclosure where they may be exposed to faeces etc, bath them and place them in a sterilized enclosure - pretty much the opposite to what you might do for a mammal receiving antibodies from a parent, maintain them on warmth until they are sub adults with effective immune systems.