BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hey. I have had a bts for 10 years and have rescued reptiles longer and I have never had a case more dire than this one. Adult female 18 inches, approx 1/3 of healthy weight. She is so dehydrated her scales and eyes are sunken. She is covered in scars from burns, she has severe mouth rot causing her entire upper lip to be much more swollen and overhang her bottom lips. She is showing signs of metabolic bone disorder. Her toe nails are so long they are curled almost into the bottoms of her feet. I am very concerned about her kidneys so was going to soak her overnight, but I am uncertain how warm the water should be, or how shallow it should be considering her condition. I also don't know if I should try to orally give her electrolytes. I have kitten food ready for her, as well as emergency supplements, and a vet appointment on Thursday but I need to get her to last that long. PLEASE help. I have seen some horrible things but I need guidance with her.

Moisture. Yeh soak in 32C (about 91F) water. The bluey will probably try to lap some up. If you add some good old cane sugar to the mix, this may help, if this will get it to injest some sugar. I would hold off on electrolytes, particularly if using human ones. But clean it up with clean water after the soak. It does sound dehydrated, so soaking is a good idea, but no more that 1/4 inch or so. It sounds a little counter intuitive to stress a stressed animal by keeping it warm, but it will probably succumb to infection if you don't.

I would soak her for at least 20 min, and do it twice a day. To keep the water warm I'd do it in a smaller tub if she stays somewhat still (and doesn't try to crawl out) with a heating pad underneath. If she's sick enough to just go to sleep, I'd keep the water a bit deeper but fold up a washcloth underneath her head so she doesn't have to spend energy holding her head up but the deeper water soaks her scales better.
If you are able, a few times during the day you can use a medicine dropper to put a small drop of water on her lips; if she licks it up, keep the drops coming as long as she keeps licking. I've actually done this with soft, diluted food as well; this way you're offering it to her in an easy way for her to eat it but you're not forcing it into her mouth or down her throat.

Please let us know how she does.