BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hello all, long story short I was looking for a little lizard and I fell in love with a blue tongue skink about a month ago. I have been steadily working to get him home! What I know about Doug is this: he ~3 years old, rather skittish but friendly, ~2' long, and he has not been known to bite anyone. He's not been officially sexed (not something I wanted to do being inexperienced and when he's not exactly mine on paper), nor has he been bred.He has never been to a vet as far as I know; the lady in charge of his care at the shop is not often there when I am in for my weekly visit so I haven't had a chance to follow up on that. Regardless, working in a veterinary clinic myself means, after his 2 week settling period at home, he will be taken to the nearest and most knowledgeable exotics vet for a health exam. They've given me quite the story at the shop on his health so I am a little concerned. I am continuing to do research both at home online and from any books available at work to get a clear idea on what might have caused his thyroid? issues. He was surrendered to the pet store as his owners were unsure if they could continue treating him appropriately. He apparently had a goitre(treated by the shop using trace amounts of iodine in seaweed), which seemed to be from swelling of the thyroid causing him not to eat efficiently. His shed often doesn't come off on it's own so baths do have to happen on occasion and he apparently doesn't enjoy them much (tips on training blueys appreciated, he's learned to squirm and get put down before peeing already so he's smart enough!). He is missing the tips of some toes, due to improper shedding most likely. His goitre is unnoticeable, but I need to take in clippers to trim his nails next visit.
I have really been taking my time with Doug's enclosure/homecoming to ensure I have put in the research and he's coming to a good forever home. So I have purchased a 36"*18"*18" terrarium(the stand is built for bigger when I can build his custom terrarium), reptibark for substrate, UVB and heat light in a dual dome, heat emitting cable, sizeable water dish(he has a special feed dish that will be sent home), digital hygrometer/thermometer(need to purchase one more thermometer for opposite side of the tank), using an old piece of slate roughly his size for a basking spot, Calcium+D3 supplement, I still need to purchase a hide hut and a few other food items. If I am missing anything or should possibly change something please give me your opinion, I'm a noob to skinks after all! I am currently building the stand, however its been halted as the cold weather has made the garage a poor place to stain wood.
I might be insane but I guess we will find out in the next 2-3 weeks. I really want to make sure I'm going to be a good fit for him as our family does not believe in returning or re-homing companions. I have read the care sheet several times over and did my best to build a good rounded checklist.

What do you think his subspecies is? Irian Jaya blue-tongued skink or Australian blue-tongued skink(I'm leaning on the first due to a beautiful orange hue of the belly)

Thats a Merauke Blue Tongue. I want to take a moment to applaud you for taking the time to do your research before bringing the animal home. Not many new owners do that anymore, and if something is off, its the skink that suffers. The enclosure sounds good, and i definitely recommend the vet check. I have had no experience with thyroid issues in skinks, so i cant comment on that. Meraukes require relatively high humidity, so if your enclosure has a screen top, id suggest taping some of it off to reduce the airflow a bit. Other than that, congrats, hes a beautiful skink. Feel free to ask any questions that come up, ill do my best to check back often.

It seems most people I've spoken to think he's a Merauke(I'm in denial at the thought he could've been wild caught, I'm not sure it coincides with my morals but will remind myself he is here now regardless and needs a home as he's been domesticated and likely couldn't survive in the wild now anyways). Thanks for the screen top tip! I will cut up a plastic drop sheet and tape it up on the non lighted half after I run my heat/humidity test. If I've read correctly it should be around 80-100%, my house is very dry(the hygrometer showed it as sitting around 40% when I was testing it out). Would misting regularly be good enough or should I be looking into a fogger/humidifier?

Humidity of 60-80% should be enough for a Merauke. Just make sure that with humidity the enclosure and the things in it are not soggy wet. Here are some suggestions for humidity - a humid hide is a great start and substrate that will help hold humidity is also good. These things have come up in some recent threads so read through the list of topics in the general discussion forum for some information.

EDIT: I will also add that proper humidity husbandry will help with shedding issues so you if you provide this bathing may not be necessary.

How was the thyroid issue/goitre diagnosed if he's never been to a vet?
...what I fear is that the previous owner mistook the normal gigas "jowels" for a thyroid issue and started treating it with iodine, which, quite frankly, makes me more than a little angry...
I would advice that any thyroid treatments be stopped immediately, and that no further medications be given until the skink can be tested and properly diagnosed by a veterinarian.

Good pick up Susann. I don't think it's necessary to wait for the 'settling in' period before he sees a vet - given the history and uncertainty I think a vet visit sooner rather than later is in order.

Susann wrote:How was the thyroid issue/goitre diagnosed if he's never been to a vet?
...what I fear is that the previous owner mistook the normal gigas "jowels" for a thyroid issue and started treating it with iodine, which, quite frankly, makes me more than a little angry...
I would advice that any thyroid treatments be stopped immediately, and that no further medications be given until the skink can be tested and properly diagnosed by a veterinarian.

The goitre was apparently a lot larger in size when it arrived at the shop. They assumed it was diet based and came to the conclusion he had too much of one vitamin/mineral building up in his system and the red seaweed seemed to help due to the iodine content. As I said I'm not entirely sure how they figured it out and it was something I was going to follow up on.

alichamp wrote:Humidity of 60-80% should be enough for a Merauke. Just make sure that with humidity the enclosure and the things in it are not soggy wet. Here are some suggestions for humidity - a humid hide is a great start and substrate that will help hold humidity is also good. These things have come up in some recent threads so read through the list of topics in the general discussion forum for some information.

EDIT: I will also add that proper humidity husbandry will help with shedding issues so you if you provide this bathing may not be necessary.

I also came to the same conclusion and I looked into humid hides online and found a great way to make a nice one! I will just have to find a good moss which I believe I may have seen around a few shops here.