BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

As some of you may remember a few years ago Susann took in a beautiful skink that she named Cinnamon. Well Cinnamon went to another owner for a while but that owner was no longer able to care for him. A few text messages later Susann and I were picking up Nubbs, formerly known as Cinnamon, and another reptile (who belongs in the off topic section and will be getting a post of their own).

Poor Nubbins was not in a very... stimulating... environment. The footprint of his cage was about the size of a 20 gallon long. So he's been upgraded to a 36x18 (40 breeder) and it's set up with a Mist King and more than 1 place to hide.



Here is the handsome Nubbers posing



He is still having trouble with his "mystery illness" and has a lot of buildup on his mouth and eyes. There are absolutely no toes either.



His left eye last night. Today he got a bath and some gentle rubbing of the build up. As well as some antibiotic ointment for the eye. After that I let him have some playtime and he wandered into a blanket on the couch and seemed to have some fun burrowing in it. After a little bit of that I went to take him out and put him back in his cage. When I picked him up from the blanket he had something hanging off of his left eye. When I went to inspect it, it fell off.



You can see on the side that some of it is shed from his scales. Although, I'm not sure what the rest is. Maybe he had stuck shed that got filled with goop and dirt and the bath loosened it and it rubbed off in the blanket?

He's going to get a lot of attention though and will hopefully live a long, healthy life.

Cinnamon/Nubbs is the biggest sweetheart ever; I don't think I've heard him huff more than a handful of times, and some of the treatments I put him through back in the day, boy, it almost broke your heart that he wasn't putting up more of a fight!
This boy has not had an easy life, that's for sure! The guy that I got him from had taken the skink as a "payment" on a debt that someone was unable to pay back, so he knew nothing about skinks nor Nubbs' past. The fact that the guy just gave away the skink without any care instructions what so ever to the new owner tells you how much he truly had cared about its welfare to begin with... And the new owner just wanted to get it sold so he'd get some money for the debt he was owed.

Nubbs was in bad shape but a trooper, and like I said, the biggest sweetheart ever; he snuggled his way into my heart without any trouble at all. But. He turned out to be a boy, and even though I'm fairly certain he's a Merauke, I'm not as certain as I'd need to be in order to breed him, so I ended up giving him away to a family I thought would give him a sweet forever home. Things don't always turn out the way we think, and Nubbs was once again looking for someone who would love him.
I sold one of my babies to Mitchell this summer and as I'd quickly developed a trust and respect in him, I reached out hoping he might have some room to add one or two more reptiles to his collection... I knew Mitch has the kind of heart that Nubbs would find a way into rather quickly
I'm so happy skinny little Nubbins is with someone who will absolutely look out for his best interest, and also make sure he is happy and well cared for. I still remember that pitiful little creature trying to open his crusty eyes to peer up at me from his little container when I got him.

Congrats Mr. Nubbs, you've got a fantastic new owner!

Awww, what a happy ending. Great job Mitchell, the new enclosure looks great. Nubs is also a great looking skink! Looks a bit of a metallic sheen to him in that third photo - is that the colouring you see in real life?

He's pretty shiny I guess, he just shed yesterday though so now his colors are popping! I'll take him outside tonight and take a few pictures so you can really see his colors.

Thank God it was a happy ending, my eyes were filling up...and I don't cry at work! Glad the rest of this guys life will be better than the previous! Best of luck with him, he is adorable!

Vera's eyes looked exactly like that. Just two days on bacterial respiratory infection antibiotics, they stopped crusting over, peeling, and watering. It was amazing! It is a shame he has not healed, yet. I wish a speedy recovery.

Since he shed he's looking a lot better. The plan now is preventative care to keep him looking sleek and handsome!

He looks like a wonderful guy, so glad things are working out better for him now!
Kind of off topic but I have to tell you...I totally copied off your tile/pvc hide. I'm still toying with how to set it up for now but I put my Tequilo's water dish on the top, thinking this might be some way to try to keep the water from constantly getting filled up with substrate. Then I decided to put all of his moss underneath but he didn't like that idea, he immediately and frantically pushed every bit of it out...he told me, lol! This idea works out really well for one like him because for some reason, I think because he's nosy and is so worried he'll miss a food opportunity, he doesn't seem to like hides that are more closed. Now he has a hide where he can poke his head out at different angles and still see what's going on. Anyway, thanks for the idea!

Nubbs actually came with it! With my other skink I have slate rocks for a basking spot. I think Susann may have given it to his previous owners when they took him in. I know she uses the tile on the PVC