BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hello, I signed up on this forums a few weeks ago so I could look at some of the attached pictures of cutie skinks, this might get a bit wordy.

I've been having some problems with my bluey, Terra, and I'm not overly sure what to do. I got her almost a month ago now, I'm told she's about a year old. I got her shipped near the end of December after doing almost exhaustive research on blue tongue skinks after I made the decision I wanted one over a Beardie as I was told BTS were very hardy compared to Beardies and they sounded easier to take care of. I had everything setup, a warm/hot end with a 12x12 tile to work as a basking rock at around 100-105 directly under the heat lamp, with the surrounding tile ending up around 90-100 (UVB bulb is a reptisun 10, heat bulb is about a 65 watt), a hide large enough for her to fit in, some shaved aspen bedding and a food and water dish on the cooler end (Which due to room temperature and the house heating doing the work got it around 70 degrees. Humiditiy about 40-45)

The first week or so went okay, she was settling in, digging around, doing lots of hiding before slowly starting to come out of her hide more often and then slip off to her hide before the timed lamps turned off. Second week or so I started noticing something was wrong, her huffing sounded strange and there were some occasional bubbles in her eye and I didn't think too much of it as I've read it might just be normal and I constantly worried about it. I think start of third I decided to do something about it and got a local vet involved to check on the breathing, that Thursday I brought her in under the assumption of a respiratory infection was happening and the vet agreed with me and she got an injection of Baytril and he told me to come back on Saturday for another injection.

Both were done last week and I'm not entirely sure if she's improving or not, I ended up cleaning out the cage entirely and did some bare bones setup with paper towel bedding while I was waiting on replacement bedding. I got another appointment with the vet but it's not until next Tuesday and I really need to figure out what might have caused her to get sick and if there's anything I can do about it in the meantime. As I've noticed in threads here and elsewhere, I'll post some pictures of her and what I already have of the enclosure.

http://imgur.com/a/lquCv

So in summary I'm mainly worried about her, I'm not sure if there's anything else I can do for her until another vet visit or if this was somehow my fault and I messed up somewhere. I really hope she gets better or that the vet has some useful advice when i take her in on Tuesday. Honestly I was hoping to not have any problems but I want her to be okay so I can keep taking care of her and not have to worry about her.

Keep following up with the vet. Your blue tongue is a meruake. They need much higher humidity than 45%. Around 80% is what she needs. They can develop respiratory problems and shedding issues if the humidity is too low. A mix of top soil and cypress mulch will help. If it is a screen top I would suggest cover at least 50% of the top with foil to hold humidity in.

Well that seems to explain what may have caused the respiratory issue. I'll be getting the cypress mulch asap and replace it for the bedding, also covered half the top with foil, on the half away from the lamps. I got some of the Zoo Med Cypress mulch ordered and I'll see if the local pet shop has anything I can use in the meantime. Or check some stores for cypress mulch if that doesn't cause any issues? Maybe a spray bottle too just to be safe.

Yes, absolutely spray down her substrate to get it moist, and try to keep it slightly moistened at all times, especially on the warm end.
Good looking Merauke I think you are catching things in time, she looks good.

I managed to find some cypress mulch but not enough for the whole tank, covered with the repta-bark I could find and covered it over with the bag I was able to get. With help from spray bottle humidity is near 80%, looking at the digital temp/hydrometer I have it's currently reading 78-79% on the cool end. Managed to get that in during my lunch break. I come back from work and found her under her hide with her tail sticking out, she hadn't been in there all week or so. I suppose time will tell if she gets better and I'll try to feed her on my day off. I'm a little worried about one of her eyes since that's what drove me to get another appointment but anything I've really read about suggests it's related to her respiratory problems. Still going to bring it up with the vet either way when Tuesday rolls around. Here's hoping this is the start of recovery.

Edit: Whew, nearly startled me when I turned my head and suddenly she was in the corner by her food bowl, the eye looks a lot better, not perfect, but better.
Edit 2: Or not, admittedly frustrating but she's otherwise showing some improvement.
Edit 3: Spotted her on and off mouthbreathing, maybe I should ask the vet if there's anything we could do about possible nostril blockage.

Well. Just an update. i came home from work today, came downstairs to check on her, and she didn't respond to anything. After various attempts to get a reaction out of her, I've come to the conclusion that somewhere between my lunch break and now she passed away. I don't think there's really anything else I can do for her other other than give her some sort of proper burial.

I'm not sure if I really should try again. The cage is fully setup and just.. there.

Hi,

Im so sorry for your loss. If you would like to try again, I would recommend you wait until June when Northern babies become available. The northerns don't need high humidity just a water bowl does the trick so humidity shouldn't be a problem. Also, the indo species are almost always wild caught so they come in sick and often with parasites. The Northerns are only captive bred and healthy (if taken care of). Northerns cost is a bit higher but they are worth it. I have 3 and they are awesome!

I am so sorry..... No words are adequate. We are here if you need anything.

My deepest condolences, you tried what you could

I am so sorry.