BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hi everyone,

I hope this isn't too repetitive a question; I tried searching old topics about sneezing for more info, but none of them seemed to really touch on the specific concern I have. Maybe being a new skink parent, I'm just paranoid.

Anyway, first, let me introduce you to my new baby, Shifty. Several months old, about 11" long, cute as a button. Unsexed, but for simplicity's sake I'm going w/ female pronouns here for now.



I have only had Shifty for a couple of days now so I'm still kind of learning about her habits and such, but something just happened that kind of concerned me. Now, I know now that sneezing is a pretty common behavior for BTS, and she has definitely given me a few examples of that since I've had her with me. She sneezes maybe once or twice a night when I have her out for socialization. What happened to just now that threw me off though, was that when I put her in her tank, she immediately went to her water dish... and then proceeded to do this thing where she would 1. take a big drink 2. sit back up with her snout pointed up, 3. open her mouth a little 4. sneeze a few times, and then 5. go back to take another drink and repeat.

I managed to grab a video of part of this process with my phone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FWnsWeZ2vc

What threw me in particular (and what I unfortunately failed to get on video) is that at one point, after a sneeze, a little bit of clear fluid discharged from her nostrils. Now, I know discharge can be a sign of a RI, but given that I'd only seen it happen after she'd been drinking, I'm not sure if maybe she somehow got some water up in her nose while swallowing? She didn't seem to have her whole snout down in her dish, she was just lapping at it with her tongue like normal... so I'm not really sure what to think. Has anyone ever heard of a skink getting water up their nose? Is that even possible? Should I be getting her to a vet ASAP?

Input would be much appreciated to put my mind at ease. Let me know if I left out any pertinent information, I'd be happy to answer any questions to get this figured out.

Hi! I wouldn't hit the panic button

Just keep an eye on her and see how it goes. It is normal for them to do some weird things when drinking, the pose upwards and large open mouth is one of them. The sneezing I don't know about but without any other indications that alone is probably no reason for concern.

As you've only had her a few days I also strongly suggest you leave him be for a week or two to settle in to his new environment before you handle any more. Get him settled, make sure she is eating and pooping well, temps and humidity are right. Once she's eating properly you can offer yummy fruit treats and start handling for only 10 mins at a time.

My skink sneezes after drinking, but it always struck me as a "achoo, get that water that splashed into my nostrils, OUT", not any problem. If we get things in our nose, we sneeze too.

I'm not an expert but it seems to not be a red flag, unless other symptoms are present.

My Indonesian baby bts sammy did the exact same thing too a t a few weeks ago I have a question did the clear liquid return back inside her nose after and did anything come out of her mouth as that’s what happens to mines, I would add with me, after which he was diagnosed with repertory issues but he had a whole bunch of other symptoms so unless your skink has any other symptoms I believe there fine but maybe get it checked if your worries, it’s not on the end of expensive things to diagnose and cure and best to be safe as they can fully recover from it.