BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

So for the past two weeks Azul has been a whole lot more active than normal. She's moving around a lot more than usual (she usually digs around in her tunnels a lot, but now she is staying topside, walking around really fast, and trying to climb out of her tank). She's also been a lot more food aggresive than normal. This last feeding she was eating like she hadn't had food in weeks (even though I had fed her four days earlier than that, and I have never seen her that enthusiastic about veggies). Her second to most recent feeding she completely refused all veggies (even squash which she loves), and she has never refused food before, even when she was full. I don't know why she is acting like this or whether it's worrying or not. Opinions for why this happened and such would be appreciated.

Now onto her health. For about the past four or so days, Azul's right nostril has been almost completely clogged with some crust developed around it. Her sneezes which are usually loud and clear are now a soft high pitched whistle. A allowed a few days to pass to see if it would clear up, but it seems to be getting worse. Last night her left nostril also developed the same problems as her right and her sneezes are very muffled and barely come out. She's gotten pretty tired over the last day, and she's breathing deeper than normal (normally her breaths are so shallow that I don't even notice them). I can distinctly hear her breathing (which sounds a little bit wheezy). I'm most likely will take her to the vet today or tomorrow, but I would like you guys' advice first just to make sure I'm not over reacting and that it will actually clear up.

I asked one of my biology teachers and he said that the aspen I'm keeping her on is bad for her and that's why. Idk if it's true or not since some of you guys keep yours on aspen. He also said tgat aspen would kill her and tgat I should keep her on newspaper (but then she wouldn't be able to burrow and ink stains).

What type of aspen is she on? as long as its not dusty and doesn't have pine or cedar oils I think you can eliminate the substrate. What is the enclosure made out of ; sometimes the enclosure/ substrate can cause respiratory issues but I unfortunately do not no much about RIs so i don't want to give any false info on that, good luck and I hope he gets better

I took her to a reptile vet, amd he said she just had a bacterial infection. I was given 7 doses of Amikan, and I'm supposed to inject her with .1 cc every 72 hours. On the bright side, he said she was at a perfect weight! However, she did regurgitate during the car ride back home. Not sure if it's do to stress, the medicine, sickness, or a combo of all three.

SmaugTheBluey wrote:What type of aspen is she on? as long as its not dusty and doesn't have pine or cedar oils I think you can eliminate the substrate. What is the enclosure made out of ; sometimes the enclosure/ substrate can cause respiratory issues but I unfortunately do not no much about RIs so i don't want to give any false info on that, good luck and I hope he gets better

I'm using an aspen by a brand called Grreat Choice that I got from petsmart. It's made for rodents, but I bought it in bulk for a cheap price. It doesn't mention cedar or pine, and I don't know what they smell like, but this does have a stronger scent to it than the normal reptile aspen that I used to get. I think I might just switch to care choice since the bedding doesn't seem as messy.

I haven't noticed any wet or damp aspen laying around, so I don't think she got infection from that. I have a new crested gecko and a ball python, so it's possible she caught something from them, but I am really careful about making sure their stuff doesn't touch each others stuff so germs don't spread. Any ideas about what could have caused the infection? Also, should I stick with aspen or try something else out?

I would say switch to reptile bark, because it holds moisture better and since u have an Iran Jaya he might like that a bit better. A lot of wood products for rodents are unfortunately made with pine so I would switch to something reptile based if you are gonna stick with aspen to prevent an RI from occurring. unfortunately bacteria is like superglue so their is a chance it was caused by another animal, also what are you feeding him? Its also a chance it could be from food, theres so many things that could've caused a bacterial infection so theres almost no way to find out unless you get a sample of the bacteria and run lots of tests. I'm glad he's ok, keep us updated

SmaugTheBluey wrote:I would say switch to reptile bark, because it holds moisture better and since u have an Iran Jaya he might like that a bit better. A lot of wood products for rodents are unfortunately made with pine so I would switch to something reptile based if you are gonna stick with aspen to prevent an RI from occurring. unfortunately bacteria is like superglue so their is a chance it was caused by another animal, also what are you feeding him? Its also a chance it could be from food, theres so many things that could've caused a bacterial infection so theres almost no way to find out unless you get a sample of the bacteria and run lots of tests. I'm glad he's ok, keep us updated

I actually just bought reptibark before I read your post! I usually feed her acorn or butternut squash, collared greens or kale, blue buffalo, earthworms, carrots, and the occasional mealworm. Bananas, pinky mice, grapes, and eggs are occasinally given as treats.

Krisym wrote:I took her to a reptile vet, amd he said she just had a bacterial infection. I was given 7 doses of Amikan, and I'm supposed to inject her with .1 cc every 72 hours.

I'm guessing the abx is Amikacin. If so, did the vet advise to keep the skink very well hydrated? Amikacin is highly nephrotoxic.

El Lobo wrote:

Krisym wrote:I took her to a reptile vet, amd he said she just had a bacterial infection. I was given 7 doses of Amikan, and I'm supposed to inject her with .1 cc every 72 hours.

I'm guessing the abx is Amikacin. If so, did the vet advise to keep the skink very well hydrated? Amikacin is highly nephrotoxic.

He didn't mention hydration, but if that's the case, then I'll make sure to do that. What would be the best way? She has a large water bowl in the corner of her cool end. Would I need to mist or provide humid hide? (Sorry if they seem like stupid questions)

My shingleback Solomon is also on that antibiotic. One way to get a bluey to drink water is to add a dash of pure fruit juice - I've added a little apple juice to my shingle's water (vet said ok) and he will drink. This morning no apple juice just plain fresh water and he is drinking well. Always have fresh water on hand though.