Discussion On Deformities.

[pedrosito]

Hi All,

I'm a beginning breeder of Intermedias. I have small breeding group. 1 male and 3 females. One female (we call her Kurva) was purchased without tail (you can see on photos that the tail is visibly regenerated -> is shorter than usual). My question relates to Kurva.

Going to my question. After brumation I released Kurva for mating (it was 1st mating of Kurva, she is 2 years old). Kurva had 2 successfull mating runs with male and further mating (I tried it 2 more times) she aggressively refused. So I stopped with it. After about 2 weeks it appeared on Kurva's back (in area of back legs) visible swelling. Swelling remains till now (now it is 55 days after last successful mating run) and in addition she has now visible swelling in the middle of her dorsum. You can see it on attached photo.

My question is whether it could be due to pregnancy or whether it could be sign of some disease

I kindly ask more experienced breeders for their opinions.

Thank you

Petr

[Edward]

It is almost without a doubt NOT a sign of being gravid. It could very well be metabolic bone disease. Or ... have you seen her try to climb up on the walls of her enclosure? Sometimes, their backs will get similar humps from doing so.

[Susann]

Pedrosito, if this swelling in the middle of Kurva's back is a new development since mating and if it is due to her being gravid, I would definitely have a veterinarian take X-rays to check her bone density before ever letting her mate again. Yes, lots of skinks develop humps and bumps for different reasons, but you need to be very careful about breeding those skinks, especially if they are female, as growing and developing fetuses can cause fatal stress on a weakened female's body.

[pedrosito]

Hello Susann, Edward,
thank you very much for your responses and opinions.

Susann,
did I understand correctly that you recommend to go now to vet to do X-rays examination ? If Kurva is gravid wouldn't it be fatal for babies and in the end for Kurva, couldn't it initiate premature birth (of course in case Kurva is gravid) ? Kurva, besides these humps looks/behaves normally, she eats and regularly increases her weight. The fact is that Kurva quite regularly climb up on the walls of her enclosure, so maybe it could be the reason. For the moment, maybe, I will observe her closely and if she will behave normally, will eat normally, I will wait until end of gestation period (2nd half of June). At that time it will be clear whether she is gravid or not. And after that period I will take her to vet for X-ray examination.

What would you do in my situation ?

Pedrosito

[Susann]

Susann,
did I understand correctly that you recommend to go now to vet to do X-rays examination ?

No. Not necessarily. Because she has already mated, it is too late to do anything about it if she is already gravid. And even if you were to find out that she, for example, has MBD, there will be nothing you can do now to lessen the burden of developing fetuses on her body.
What I would do is assume she has MBD, which would be the worst case scenario, and adjust her diet accordingly to support her as much as possible.

If Kurva is gravid wouldn't it be fatal for babies and in the end for Kurva, couldn't it initiate premature birth (of course in case Kurva is gravid) ?

The risk would be minimal IF it was done by a professional veterinarian with knowledge of how to adjust the amount of radiation in accordance with developing reptile fetuses. There is always a risk, but you have to weigh the benefits to the risks, and in this case, in my opinion, the benefits of the radiation would not outweigh the risks at this point.

For the moment, maybe, I will observe her closely and if she will behave normally, will eat normally, I will wait until end of gestation period (2nd half of June). At that time it will be clear whether she is gravid or not. And after that period I will take her to vet for X-ray examination.

[pedrosito]

Susann,
thank you very much for valuable advices.
Have a nice day
Pedrosito