BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hi my name's Gabi,

The other day I found a bluey inside my veranda and I found my dogs trying to attack him, there was a lot of blood on the ground.

I saved him as soon as I could, I'm actually a medical student so I'm trying to help the little guy as much as I can, I've treated his wounds and prevented infection.

The wounds he encountered were the following:
He was bitten on the side of his back legs, on the side of his tail and his face is split about 1.5cm in near his nasal system.
Adrian said he'd lost his tail before and I only just noticed a slight cut on the side of his neck but it looks like an old wound and is properly healed.

I was just wondering if you'd be able to help me with him as it would mean a lot to me as I'd really like to help him get better as I love animals and reptiles alike.

I was just wondering if you guys could answer a few questions as my local vet has no experience with reptiles.


He won't eat any solids he can move his mouth but he's rejecting anything solid(is he an omnivore? As online it says he is). He seems to enjoy liquids more,he can manage to lick the food more than swallow a piece of chicken more.

Ive given him a pinch of a multi vitamin(for healing) with egg, some vege soup and a bit of dog food mixed(I can't get the dog food through the syringe I'm feeding him with, do you have any ideas for the solids maybe idk a spoon or?)


Is it a good idea to open his mouth and say put a piece of meat there so he can try to swallow it.


When do they sleep? As he closes his extra eyelid all the time when he's with me, he can move around and atm I've got a UV light on him which is keeping him pretty warm, is infra red or halogen better? And what would be the best enclosure for him?

Also is there any medication to help with healing?

Also sorry about this question but where is his urinary system? Is it the pink opening near his tail? Also I haven't seen him actually go to the toilet at all?

How many times a day should I feed him? I've been able to get him to willing eat about say 8 or 15ml of my egg mix, is that enough to sustain him?

Is he similar to the American blue tongue skinks? Will he grow to 60cm too?

And is it normal for him not to be taking solids?

The wound he has on his face, I've noticed he makes a sneezing sound and liquid comes out splattered, is that normal or is it because the cut has damaged his nasal system?

Also is there any dedicated website for the care of an Australian Blue tongue lizard or are the American ones the same?

I'll send you a video of him, if you could help it would mean so much to me.

Thank you so much Scott for your time and consideration, I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Sincerely Gabi

Okay just take a deep breath. Because blue tongue skinks are a native australian animal, the best thing you can do is either contact your local wildlife rescue or you can actually take him straight to a vet and they will either treat him or take him to a rescue with a reptile vet and you won't be charged. This will give him the best chance of recieving proper medical attention and and hopefully be released back into the wild. I hope you didn't have any plans to keep him as a pet because it's actually illegal to take animals from the wild in australia unless you are part of a rescue organisation, and wild animals really don't make good pets.

G'day mate
First off, Aussie Blue tongues are usually larger than American ones. American importing from Australia was banned, so they have a limited stock. My Eastie is almost 2ft long, weighs about 700 grams. with her tail on my foot she comes up to my knee. Also has a POWERFUL bite.

Pictures would be super helpful so we can see the damage, if you haven't contacted a local rescue. Unfortunately, many rescues have the mindset of make sure it doesn't die then cast it out into the wild with one lot of treatment. That's what 3 rescues told me when I called up with a wild victim of a dog attack.

Eating wise, they are omnivores but when their jaws are sore they don't always eat like demons. I advise fine grating carrot, pumpkin and some berries into an egg, mixing it up then microwaving for 60 - 90 seconds. With this poached egg stuff, get a knife and go crazy in it until the pieces are all very, VERY fine. almost shredded. That way they can be licked up. That's how I do it with my girls when they refuse to eat their veggies.