Lump on tail

[kojiinari]

Hey there, my Merauke Rick has 2 lumps on his tail that I did not notice when I picked him up originally. I'm trying to get a better look at them, but he's flighty because he's so new and won't let my hand near him, and I don't want to stress him out by forcibly picking him up just yet.

There is one little lump about half the size of a pea near the tip of his tail. It doesn't seem to cause any pain that I can tell. The other one is farther up the tail near his back, just a little bump, smaller than the other one. They look like they are under the scales, and are almost not noticable unless you're really looking. Is this something I should be concerned about?

He's eating normally, pooping normally, and all together besides being agitated if my hand is in the cage seems fine. He almost ate a piece of pineapple out of my hand today(he just licked it for a good five minutes before running away to his hide), so progress! I have not yet taken him to see a vet because I'm trying to find a vet that actually knows something about reptiles first.

[Scincoides]

Try to post some photos if you can. Any info you get here will be a best guess educated opinion, if at any point you start to think that it may be getting worse, a vet trip may be in order.

[kojiinari]

Well he's not too happy but i took his hide out to take pictures of his tail.

Here'st he two bumps I can find. He wouldn't sit still, so sorry if they are a little blurry.

[Lea]

Hi there, thanks for posting the pictures.
It is hard to tell from photos, but the bigger lump looks like a localised infection, maybe a cyst. It's distorting the tail scales and looks like there may be some pressure building up which might compromise the blood flow to the surrounding tissue.

If I were you, I'd take your skink to the vet for further investigation. Just be sure he holds your skink by the body when doing the examination, as they can "pull" away when held by the tail and he may lose it. I'm sure your vet will know this, but always worth reminding, just in case you have a doozy!

[kojiinari]

Thank you! I've made an appointment with a local vet who specializes in exotics, including reptiles. We'll have it all checked out next monday (soonest I could get in with my schedule). I wanted to get him checked for parasites and an overall general checkup anyways, so hopefully this is something fairly easy to take care of.

On a side note, when I came home this morning, he had a scale that was half lifted up on his head, and he was hissing up a storm. He's refused to eat, and actually tried to bite me when I put my hand in the cage, something he's not done before. I found some shed skin on the ground, only like 2-3 scales worth. I think he might be in shed. Poor guy must be totally freaked out to get a new home and then immediately shed afterwards.