check out the shoes on this guy

[cearbhal]

Hey guys! I just got my first skink. I've had some reptiles in the past, but this is the first one with legs.
I work at a pet supply store in the states, and we had a blue tongue at one of our shops for a little more than a year before I brought him home this last weekend. From what I've been reading here, I think he's a Merauke, but I'm not sure! I'm also not sure whether or not he's a male, but since I'm not planning to breed him I don't think it matters.

He's been living in less than ideal conditions-- they were never able to keep the humidity high enough for him to shed properly, so he's always looked terrible. He was beginning a shed when I got him; I've had him for three days and he already looks a lot happier. I gave him a soak tonight and gently rubbed off a lot of the remaining shed (both earplugs popped right out when I rubbed around them, it was really great), but his feet still look terrible! All that red around his mouth came off with his skin in the bath; I'm not sure what that was (I'm guessing mouth rot) but I'm putting thyme oil around his mouth to make sure he doesn't get any kind of infection.

I don't want to push him too hard, and I really don't want to pop his little toes off, so I'm planning to give him another soak tomorrow night to see if some of that old yellowy skin will come off on its own. I've got some Zilla brand Shed-Ease that I think helped in the soak, and I'm misting down the tank every morning. He's got a bunch of sphagnum moss in there on a lot of repti-bark, so hopefully that'll keep the humidity up enough for him to recover. He's a great little lizard and I want to make him comfortable, but he winces every time I go to touch his feet! I feel terrible for him. Is there anything else i can do to fix his lil feet?

(edit: fixed some spelling)

[freeloader]

Mate did your bosses expect you to pay money for this animal? As much as I admire you for taking this animal on, you could be biting off more than you can chew. But mate if you are up for it take a big bite and chew like hell.First up take it to the vet to get its health and overall condition assessed. It's feet look terrible. Shed after shed has been retained on its feet, in fact it's a wonder it still has toes. The mouth is worrying as well. After the vet consultation give the bill to your bosses and tell them you are doing a favor by taking off their hands for nothing. To sell an animal in that condition is an absolute disgrace. Was this animal on display to the public?

[NickBrahz]

I am honestly shocked that the reptile shop is still in business, it should have gone out of business or been shut down judging by the way this guy has been treated, i agree i would send the bill for the vet to the boss, i feel sorry for the guy he has been put through hell and it's surprising it was never able to get the right humidity because usually a big bowl of water gives is enough or you just spray a bit of water from a bottle to mist in some humidity.

All he would have had to do is put him into some water to soak in during a shed for 5 minutes and he wouldn't have those shedding issues.

Are all the animals there in bad condition like this one, because im sure there has to be some organizations up there that you can contact to get them to see the conditions and take action against it.

[Susann]

I would suggest we all leave the comments on what action the OP should take against the people and the company (s)he works for until (s)he asks for advice on that matter. For now let's stick to helping them with the issues they are asking for help with.

The pictures aren't great for ID'ing species but it sure looks Merauke.
It also looks like he has suffered for a while with a condition that I have taken to calling "mystery illness", which affects the eyes, mouth, and feet. There are two things we have found works to improve the condition:

1) air humidity
2) a combination of injections by your vet of:
--an antibiotic
--vitamin A
--calcium w/D3

My vet has done the shot combo several times now to numerous skinks and will, if necessary, explain to your vet exactly what products in what amounts; here is his info:
Martin G. Orr
Creekside Animal Hospital
12720 Pony Express Rd,
Draper, UT 84020
801-565-1263
Website: http://www.cahdraper.com

I just had the shot combo administered to one of my juveniles, here are some before and after pictures:

IMG_1869.JPG

IMG_1871.JPG

IMG_1909.JPG

IMG_1927.JPG

I also suggest you find a way to raise air humidity. Depending on where you live and what your environment is like, just putting a large bowl of water inside the tank will not be anywhere near enough. Even spraying down the substrate is not always enough, because, even though it raises the air humidity, it does it through soaking the area that the skink lays on all day, which is not ideal when you are dealing with several areas of inflames tissues on your skink.
I've gone the heavy duty route with a MistKing humidifier, but I am dealing with 10 all-enclosed tanks. There are some less expensive routes you can go; you can try a reptile fogger (like ReptiFogger), or a simple ultrasonic room humidifier from Walmart aimed at/inside the tank. Some people have reported great results just from fashioning their own cigar-humidifier by buying a suction cup sponge holder from Walmart and keeping a wet sponge at all times on the wall of the tank on the warm side.

There are several of us here who have dealt with this horrible condition, and it does no good condemning the previous owners/caretakers of the skink. Many very knowledgeable people here have devoted years of time and worry, and thousands of dollars, trying to figure out what to do for a skink suffering from this and were able to affect no lasting improvements until my fairly recent discovery of the shot combo along with humidity.

Where he looks to be in pretty poor shape I might suggest you discuss the shot combo with an exotic vet in your area. I would also continue soaking him at least once a day for a minimum of 20 minutes at a time. Either keep warming the water in your tub for him or put him in a tub with water and place a heating pad underneath.
I have never used thyme oil on a reptile so can not speak to its safety, but until you can get an antibiotic eye ointment from your vet I might suggest buying regular eye re-wetting gel (I use Systane brand) to use on his eyes and the outsides of his lips. (NOT redness removing drops!) I rub it in on the affected feet as well right after a soak and before applying emu oil.
If the feet are red, swollen, and/or bleeding at all I use the antibiotic eye ointment from the vet on the feet as well. After a good long soak I will take either a wet baby wipe or a wet non-terrycloth dish towel to gently rub the feet to try to work off any loose/dead skin, then apply the ointment, and after a while, the emu oil.
...although, it's hard to tell from these pictures what shape he's really in underneath all that shed; he may not be as bad as it looks right now...

Good luck with your cutie!
Let me know if there's anything else I can help you with, but please keep us updated with what you do and how he does. This unfortunately seems to be a bad winter as far as "mystery illness" goes; I've heard of lots of skinks with symptoms in the past 4 months or so.

[Dood]

Poor little guy

I imagine his feet are going to be sore for a while.

I've had snakes who had issues shedding and found covering them with a thin layer of coconut oil helped soften the skin after a water soak and they would shed out better each time.

[cearbhal]

Thank you for the help, guys! I've been keeping it pretty humid with a big hunk of soaked sphagnum moss in one corner near the water dish. I've been soaking him and rubbing off what skin I could, and tonight I got a lot of it off some of his toes. He's missing the tip of his right middle finger! But here, the left is the one I worked on tonight-- it started getting pink in some places so I stopped. I don't want to make him bleed!


There's still some dead skin on those toes, I think, but I can't really tell if it's shed or if the scales are just stuck kind of protruding because of how thick the shed was overtop them. Does anyone have any information on that? Can you point me to some photos of healthy skink feet? When I got him I thought skinks just had cute little fat toes, but this was clearly incorrect.

He's been very good natured about this whole affair, I'm really astonished at how non-aggressive he is! He isn't lethargic anymore, and he's even eaten now. I've been talking to my boss about his condition, so we'll see if that store gets to continue carrying reptiles. Only a couple of storefronts do now, mine not included. But I'm not bringing any kind of law into this, because I would get fired.

[MechHAN]

Ah...that looks much better...at least better than I thought...
I dont own any merauke so I think my photo wont help a lot,but since he's willing to corporate with you I guess you can keep trying to rub it's fingers gentally while soaking,if it still have some shed on it,you can fell it in 10 minutes...
Also,mine had a toe problem when I bought it,and loss that toe later,erythromycin eye ointment along helped a lot.

[Susann]

It looks like you've done a really good job on his feet, I might just leave them alone until the next shed. Some of the more "puffy" looking ones may be lost, just so you are prepared.
Meraukes tend to have finer, skinnier toes than many other species; here are a couple pictures of my biggest skink Milo (Merauke), he's almost 28 inches long:

IMG_3113 - Copy.JPG

Milo 6 - Copy.JPG

Not a whole lot of substance to them, so no wonder they get lost so quickly; it doesn't always take much.

[Dakota]

Wow. Talk about doing things right! That first shed photo is spectacular. THAT is how they are supposed to shed, in chunks like that. Not scale by scale like I'm sure he has been enduring. I'm sure he is on his way to recovery in no time. This "mystery illness" seems to only occur when humidity requirements are neglected, so having fixed that, expect to have a healthy, beautiful Merauke in no time. Thank you for taking him in. No animal should experience such neglect like that.

[Susann]

This "mystery illness" seems to only occur when humidity requirements are neglected

Be careful making comments like that; "m.i." does not only seem to happen when humidity requirements are neglected. Sometimes humidity is not the cause, nor the cure, for this; sometimes it happens when humidity is optimal, sometimes it doesn't happen when humidity is abysmal. The reason I started calling it MYSTERY illness is because, even though humidity seems to play a part, it is still a complete mystery why it happens and why it doesn't. --I put it that way because I have had skinks live right next to each other for years with the exact same conditions and one skink starts having symptoms and the rest are perfect.
I think it is more a case of some skinks, for some reason, are more SUSCEPTIBLE to this condition. We don't know what causes it, and we have yet to find more than the two remedies that seem to aid in longer periods of remission.

It is great if your skink sheds in big huge pieces, but you do not need to feel you have failed in some way when they shed scale by scale.

[cearbhal]

Thanks guys. I soaked him again and peeled off a few more mummy-wraps from around his toes; then I could see what was going on well enough to trim a few extra-long nails! I hope his toes aren't too deformed by their excessive size. I hope he doesn't lose any of these toes, but I'm glad to be aware of the possibility so I'm not just blindsided by it. He's eaten a few calcium-sprayed snails with lettuce and raspberries, and his appetite seems to be picking up. I keep offering him food but he only takes it occasionally.

I did talk to the shop workers today, and found out that one of the employees was trying very hard to take care of him. She made him little meals! They have turkey and carrot and possibly something else. She gave them to me in little frozen portions. Is turkey good for him? I haven't seen yea or nay on any of the food lists I've read. They were also applying an antibiotic ointment to his eyes and mouth, which they gave to me. It's Neomycin and Polymyxin B Sulfates, and Bacitracin Zinc Opthalmic Ointment USP. Does that ring a bell for anyone?

Thank you for the great photos Susann! Yours is just beautiful! He looks a lot like mine.

I hope his feet start to look better soon. They're not so clogged with old skin now, but there's still some there. I'd hate to make things worse by messing with him. Should I continue to soak him and peel his feet until they're all cleared off, or should I wait until he goes into shed again? It's about every six weeks, right?

[MechHAN]

Usually an adult blue tongue skink won't need more than two meal in a week,so dont worry if he only takes food occasionally.
I think the turkey's not too bad,I never used that though,chicken's more cheap here.and here's a food chart...
http://bluetongueskinks.net/foodchart.html
I think you dont need give him soaking too offen now if most of old skin come off

[SmaugTheBluey]

You've done such a great job taking care of the stuck shed! I personally use ground turkey as a staple in my guys diet and have had no issues. You've done a tremendous job !!!

[Susann]

Thank you for the great photos Susann! Yours is just beautiful! He looks a lot like mine.

I keep offering him food but he only takes it occasionally.

You may consider offering him food less often. If you frequently offer him stuff to eat, he can become more picky in what he chooses to take. It's better to let him become a bit more hungry by waiting a week or so without offering him anything and then give him a hearty portion of dog food with maybe some chopped up veggies. When he starts eating more of that in one sitting you can start adding in a bit more veggies and adding some good, dark greens. When he's good about eating that you can start adding fruits, or offering fruits as snacks between meals. Snails are an excellent protein source, good for healthy treats or adding to your staples, so are dubia roaches, and several types of worms.

They were also applying an antibiotic ointment to his eyes and mouth, which they gave to me. It's Neomycin and Polymyxin B Sulfates, and Bacitracin Zinc Opthalmic Ointment USP. Does that ring a bell for anyone?

Yup, that is the antibiotic eye ointment I mentioned, what I use for eyes, lips, and rub on his feet as well if they are red/swollen.

I hope his feet start to look better soon. They're not so clogged with old skin now, but there's still some there. I'd hate to make things worse by messing with him. Should I continue to soak him and peel his feet until they're all cleared off, or should I wait until he goes into shed again? It's about every six weeks, right?

I would call what you've done so far good for now. Wait until he starts shedding and then start soaking him again and gently rubbing what you can off his feet.
The rate of shedding can vary greatly in adult skinks, but every 6-8 weeks, give or take a week in either direction, is about normal.
You can continue soaking him to help his hydration, but I might leave his feet alone for now. Still rub ointment on them, no harm in that, but as far as trying to peel more stuff off I might give him a break.

You're doing a great job!

[cearbhal]

Hey guys! Thought you'd want to know how Burger is doing-- and the answer is a lot better.



While there's still a little swelling on the toes of one foot, and he did lose several nails, he's a lot more friendly and active than he was when I brought him home. He's shed four times since I got him! But it's been a bit longer between each time, so I think he's adjusting. His mouth is healed up, and while he definitely got spoiled on fatty cat food at the last store that had him, he's eating mustard greens and tegu/monitor canned protein (with some squash, fruits, and berries) now. As my garden grows I'll see what else he likes. He's got a 4' long tank all to himself now, and appears to like Star Trek more than most other shows. When I took him out to the front yard to run around in the grass he was very brave until a car drove by, when he ran directly back to me and crawled up my leg onto my shoulder. We've stuck to the backyard ever since, even if he tries to make a run for the fenceline sometimes. Thank you for all your help and advice! I'm glad I got him. He's got such personality now that he's not living in constant pain.

[Susann]

Amazing to hear!