One Thing After Another

[Srsnickers]

In September I bought a little BTS at a Reptile Show. This is my second and I've been looking for another one ever since the first, who was sick when I got him, passed away. This new little one was extremely social, ate EVERYTHING!, loved to hunt crickets, enjoyed under the chin rubbing and grew fast. I even trained him to urinate and defecate in the bathtub! In late December I was sure he contracted an RI and I took him to the vet. I was right. We started him on antibiotic shots every three days for 7 rounds. He stopped eating and drinking on his own so the vet tube fed and hydrated him 10 days ago. Since then he hasn't eaten anything though I saw him take a drink on his own three days ago. His mouth and eyes became very dry which I was told was due to the antibiotics.

I live in an arid area of Colorado. Humidity is around 12%. I'm pretty sure my BTS is a Merauke. I thought I was buying an Australian. I switched his Aspen bedding to cyprus mulch, created a humidity bowl under his heat light, I spray his viv several times a day, and lately I've been giving him a warm sauna twice a day. I bought a mister but it spews instead of sprays so I've ordered a MistKing. He has two daytime heat bulbs (it's winter and my home is 67 degrees), one night time red bulb and one UVB daytime bulb. I offer a full bowl of fresh food each morning and vary each day hoping to find something he really wants. Offerings include high end wet cat food, chard, kale (used to be his favorite), squash, gut loaded crickets, juvenile bearded dragon pellets, strawberries, melons, blueberries, bananas, etc. He walks over his food but doesn't eat a thing. I take him out and we cuddle anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes two to three times a day. He seems very comfortable with me whether he's sitting on a towel on my lap or laying on my chest.

Here's the problem. He's over his RI. He's due for a shed in about a week. He isn't eating. He isn't drinking regularly. His head is dehydrated. His tail has a white hue to it. His eyes are dried shut before each of his saunas and are open and moving after. When I have him out I rub his eyes and mouth with a warm wet paper towel. He seems to like it and sometimes rubs against me on his own. His mouth is red before the saunas and pink after. Sometimes I'm able to put a wet paper towel in his mouth and he bites down squeezing out a little water. Red is left on the towel and sometimes what I assume is a scab or dried crust. The vet says it's not mouth rot but gave me a cream to put on his mouth. I put it on, rub it in, twice a day--he does not like it! I have tried to insert a BD pellet or kale leaf in his mouth a couple times but he spits it out immediately. I think he's too young to brumate this year.

1. I need help getting him to open his mouth and eat. I did not like the vet tube feeding him and don't want to do that again. He's losing weight, lethargic, and becoming "boney".

2. I need help hydrating his face. It might be because he's not drinking but I'm afraid to go any higher than 80% humidity in his viv. I feel like if he could keep his eyes open and open his mouth without hurting it would improve his spirits.

Thoughts?

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[alichamp]

I'm certainly no expert and haven't experienced this myself but looks like mystery illness we have seen on this forum. Susann has treated some with this and has used a combined injection with her vet to help turn things around. More info in this thread: Sick skink please help!!

[Srsnickers]

So, today he did a complete shed! Wasn't expecting it till next week but who am I to schedule! I gave him a sauna first thing this morning and all kinds of shed came off his face. His beautiful brown eyes were once again looking at me! I let him do his thing all day and currently have him in his evening sauna to remove around his toes and tip of his tail. He moved around more today than he has in a week. He even sat on my head for awhile watching the world go by! Still wouldn't take any food but that's understandable during shed. I hope he's feeling up to something tomorrow.

The mystery illness photos I found were right on the money with what I'm seeing. My little guy has two toes that are oddly fatter than the others and pointing up. I'll be contacting my vet in the morning to see if he's willing to do a Vit A/Calcium shot suggested by Susann. He seems open to listening to me and researching things I come up with.

Thank you so much for pointing me in the right direction. I did all kinds of searches but had no idea about MI.

[alichamp]

Please keep us updated. Good luck.

I'm not sure what you mean by "sauna" but I wonder if handling him so much is putting extra stress on an already stressed and unhealthy animal...?

[Susann]

You've had good advise so far and I believe as well your skink is one who is susceptible to the M.I.
The main thing is keeping the humidity up in the tank, or giving him a humid hide right under/on top of the heat source. Don't worry so much about what number a hygrometer tells you; if your skink's eyes are crusted shut every day then the humidity is not high enough. Right after a shed is a great time to up the humidity in the tank to see if you can keep the M.I. symptoms at bay, which seem to return little by little until they shed again otherwise. The symptoms on the eyes and mouth and what you are describing on his feet sound spot on for M.I.
Sometimes the illness has progressed far enough that raising the humidity won't work, and in those cases it has been my experience that the shot combo is the only thing that gets them progressing in the right direction.

Please keep us updated. Winter is the peak time for M.I. symptoms to pop up, and sometimes it can be tough to keep it at bay during these months.

[Srsnickers]

Yesterday and today he met me in the morning bright eyed and bushy tailed! He now has a humid hide using the plastic container and wet moss (Susann's suggestion) under a large bowl with wet moss directly under the hot heat lamp. He spent quite a bit of time in the top bowl today. Yesterday he visibly drank twice and today he ate three bites, including some new dog food I got yesterday! I'm ecstatic! He's moving around a lot more and sleeping through the night. While I wait for the MistKing I purchased a small 9-hour personal humidifier (more of a fogger) that fits in his viv. It ran all night and I woke up to 80% humidity. I don't have to spray any more! This morning his face looked fine. No dryness and he hung out on that end of his viv. I put his cream on his mouth last night and again, no dryness or crusty stuff this morning.

I'm just so happy he's eating. I'm going to hold off on the shot. I'm gut loading some crickets tonight and will try that in the morning. If he hunts I'll know he's really feeling better.

Regarding the amount of handling, I have handled this little guy since the day I got him. I skipped two days early on and it took awhile for him to get used to me again. I want him to be comfortable hanging around the house and traveling with me as I move about. He basically sits on my shoulder 15-20 minutes a day while I walk around, make his breakfast, do household stuff. He's very alert and seems interested in what's around. His tongue is busy. He also spends 15-20 minutes daily sitting with me. This is when it's just me and him time. He curls up in my lap to keep warm and it's quiet time. He knows my voice and smell, has no problem with my approach, doesn't hiss or back away. He shows no signs of stress or discomfort. It was difficult when his eyes were crusted shut but he still took things in stride. I don't pull him out if he's in a hide or has buried himself. To be honest, he's out and fully visible most of the time anyway. Sometimes it's all I can do to get him back in his viv. He holds on tight to my hands or just sits in my hand without walking off. This is what I had intended from the beginning. Every time I walk past him I stop and talk to him if he's awake and visible. We have "conversations" as he follows my every move. When he got sick I truly feel he held on because of the frequent touch from me.

I didn't take on the responsibility of ownership to lock him away. He's front and center in our family. Now that I'm certain of his species and am making adjustments to fit his needs, I expect him to be with us for a very long time.

Thank you for helping me out. The MI thing was new to me. Hopefully we're passed the hurdles and will be fully recovered within the next few sheds.

[Susann]

Sounds to me like you're doing an amazing job! Carry on my friend

[Srsnickers]

This will be my last post. He didn't hunt or eat yesterday but today ate everything I offered. I'm still having to clean up his eyes and mouth each morning but he's staying hydrated throughout the day and roams around freely. He even burrowed a little last night. The little fogger I have in his tank is working great--keeping things 70-80% humid. I'm seeing his tongue a lot more often as well. His final tail shed came off today and I've noted he lost 2 toes throughout this ordeal. Maybe they'll grow back?

Thanks again!

[Susann]

he lost 2 toes throughout this ordeal. Maybe they'll grow back?

That would be miraculous indeed... but very unlikely.

[Srsnickers]

My beautiful healthy little guy! One more shed and behind his eyes should be back to normal. He loves his plastic enclosure humid hide suggested by Susann (Thank you!) and he basks on his humid bowl throughout the day. He's eating very well and even used the bathtub for me today.

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[Srsnickers]

I looked over literally right after I sent the last post and he had moved up to bask!

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[aaronhouts]

That is so good to see!

[Srsnickers]

Howdy! Indy has grown to just under 21 inches now and celebrated his first birthday in June. I moved him into a vision viv 36x18x12. His humid hide is now a 12x9 Rubbermaid container with lid and his basking bowl is now a 12x9 Rubbermaid container without lid - both with moss and water. His basking bowl gets about 6 oz of water poured in each day and is placed under the heat bulb. Some days he sleeps in his hide, others he digs under his basking bowl and sleeps there. He's doing great!

Here's my question to the group:
Because of his length, Indie's viv is rearranged every time he takes a step! His water bowl is always full of substrate and lately he's been pushing his hide into the side of the viv and he can't get to the entrance. He needs a new home!

I love the front access and the height of this viv is great for keeping temperatures and humidity perfect. To top it off, he loves looking out the window and staring into the backyard. In one of the previous pictures you can see the wall behind his viv. Recently I made the mistake of adding curtains to my windows and now I find him with his head in the corner because that's the only spot that lets him see outside!

The only 6' option I've found is an aquarium but it isn't front access and it's too tall. I've considered purchasing an identical vision viv, cut holes at the end of each viv, and set them next to each other. I think a tube of flexible pipe insulation might work where the two openings would come together. I could then have one side with his hides, food, and water and the other side a deeper digging area, toys, and a tile basking spot. Going back and forth through the opening could be an extra enrichment. I could use wood and black piping to build a sturdy stand. Indy is in my living room so I'm looking for something decorative as well as useful.

What I don't have is a large floor space and I want him up in front of the window.

Has anyone ever done anything like this? Any additional ideas?

[Janella]

I am so happy your skink has done so well. Amazing! Good job

[splashy07]

Would probably be easier just to purchase a 6' Vision enclosure? I see them quite often on craigslist at reduced prices, as they are quite expensive to buy new. API (Animal Plastics) makes a 48x24 enclosure that would be perfect for him. I have two of them and absolutely love them. I find them a bit more attractive than the Vision cages also. Check them out before you start a massive project. A six foot cage is great, but a four footer will serve just as well and conserve a bit of space.

[Srsnickers]

Oops! It's not a Vision, it's a 36x18x12 Exo Terra front opening terrarium. Indy would hate me if I took away his 360 degree view and used a Vision. It's the ET that I'm thinking about duplicating.