BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

So first of all hello, I am new to this forum but not new to reptile keeping Im also a vet tech specializing in reptiles.
Aand here comes my question.
I bought a 2 year old T.gigas on Monday, since I live in Europe it is quite cold here, he was transported in a pillow sheet under my winter jacket via train (where it was 20 degrees Celsius ) , while in the train I only had his head out so he would not panic, I had my scarf over him so people wont notice him - he sneezed 2x , I thought it was nothing maybe just my scarf irritated his nostrils. I also noticed that slight physical movement makes his breathing heavy and during exhalation i hear a tiny bit of whistling but not always, I do not hear any clicking or rustling noise from his lungs , I also noticed a slightly stuffed left nostril and removed some what looked like discharge from his right eye. He does not do this when hes calm and undisturbed. All of these symptoms are only shown during handling hence he is still in excessive stress from everything and pees everywhere because of that. And I own quite a lot of reptiles that could be contaminated from him and that is what worries me, I live in a tiny apt so having a quarantine room is impossible. I bought some liquid ascorbic acid which I have given him.
Is it even possible for him to show all these symptoms in such a short period of time or was I sold a sick animal?

Hello - a question first:

So he was in a pillow sheet under your winter jacket.. were you wearing the jacket at the time (so was the skink receiving body heat from you?); while I wouldn't say it's a good method of transport.. in this case if there was no consistent heat source I'm pretty skeptical that there was a 20C ambient temperature (from living in Europe too). It's possible it would be much colder than expected. How long was the train ride/walking to a heat source?

I'm sure you're aware since your a vet tech, but it'd be better going for a carrier with a heat travel pack (as they can give 40+ hours of heat) with blanket on top; in case you need to travel again in a similar way.

The heavy breathing is likely from stress, as you mentioned. Again, going for the carrier route would be less stressful, as you can make it dark inside (less stimulus).

Sneezing can be quite common, it's possible it was from the scarf like you said. So this alone wouldn't be much concern for the moment, but the eye discharge seems a little off.

The whistling may be possibly from investigative noises - I believe not all skinks do it, but know ours also whistles when shes exploring something new (otherwise doesn't make these sounds). As always, keep a close check if it happens too frequently.

Can't comment too much for the quarantine issues, I'm assuming you already washing your hands (maybe use disposable gloves?) between handling/cleaning out your skink and your other reptiles.

While I would presume it generally needs more time for symptoms (such as discharge in the eye), can't say for sure. I would keep a close watch regardless, if they seem lethargic then seek out professional advice. It's possible when exposed to cold temperatures for a long time they can develop pneumonia.

Bianca6 wrote:I bought some liquid ascorbic acid

That's a new one for me - is it the one intended for people? I'd be cautious if so, as the quantities/concentration can be pretty high vs. a little skink.

And just in case you're not sure on the breeder/expo, feel free to share an image for ID confirmation of him being a T.gigas

Hello sorry for the late reply I have been very busy with school.
So the BT health worsened. But he is very active always eating, very curious.
He started sneezing more often, whistling during breathing and during night time he would keep his mouth open and tongue out to breathe,
Cancelled the ascorbic acid treatment when I saw it wasnt getting any better, also liquid ascorbic acid is safe to use when a reptile has a "Cold" that has not yet mutated into a RI, a cold ( kept in inadequate temps for too long) can be cured like in humans with ascorbic acid to aid immunity, raising the temps and time, if it doesnt dissapear in 5 days a vet visit is needed. in this case I used one drop for 250ml of water, 5ml of this liquid ascorbic acid was 200mg.

So my boyfriend took the big baby to the vet today and I requested blood tests, RTG, and some discharge samples. Everything done, RTG showed pneumonia on his right lung 1/3 is contaminated, Which means I bought a sick animal, Blood and discharge samples will come back tomorrow probably. He is given Baytril (enrofloxacin) every 2 days for a week.

Also transport lasted up to 2 hours but he was only outside for max 20mins. the train had heating, and the car I went with also had heating, He was under my winter coat so yes he was receiving body heat from me,

I will probably make a presentation about his treatment for my school, since not many people have blue tongues in my school, especially T.Gigas are pretty rare, also yes he is a Gigas probably even imported from Indonesia.

Bianca6 wrote:So first of all hello, I am new to this forum but not new to reptile keeping Im also a vet tech specializing in reptiles.
Aand here comes my question.
I bought a 2 year old T.gigas on Monday, since I live in Europe it is quite cold here, he was transported in a pillow sheet under my winter jacket via train (where it was 20 degrees Celsius ) , while in the train I only had his head out so he would not panic, I had my scarf over him so people wont notice him - he sneezed 2x , I thought it was nothing maybe just my scarf irritated his nostrils. I also noticed that slight physical movement makes his breathing heavy and during exhalation i hear a tiny bit of whistling but not always, I do not hear any clicking or rustling noise from his lungs , I also noticed a slightly stuffed left nostril and removed some what looked like discharge from his right eye. He does not do this when hes calm and undisturbed. All of these symptoms are only shown during handling hence he is still in excessive stress from everything and pees everywhere because of that. And I own quite a lot of reptiles that could be contaminated from him and that is what worries me, I live in a tiny apt so having a quarantine room is impossible. I bought some liquid ascorbic acid which I have given him.
Is it even possible for him to show all these symptoms in such a short period of time or was I sold a sick animal?

1: sneezing completely normal, they do it all the time.

2: That's huffing, their way of letting you know they're a littlw uncomfortable

3: Maybe it was subsatrate suck in the eye?

3Blue wrote:

Bianca6 wrote:So first of all hello, I am new to this forum but not new to reptile keeping Im also a vet tech specializing in reptiles.
Aand here comes my question.
I bought a 2 year old T.gigas on Monday, since I live in Europe it is quite cold here, he was transported in a pillow sheet under my winter jacket via train (where it was 20 degrees Celsius ) , while in the train I only had his head out so he would not panic, I had my scarf over him so people wont notice him - he sneezed 2x , I thought it was nothing maybe just my scarf irritated his nostrils. I also noticed that slight physical movement makes his breathing heavy and during exhalation i hear a tiny bit of whistling but not always, I do not hear any clicking or rustling noise from his lungs , I also noticed a slightly stuffed left nostril and removed some what looked like discharge from his right eye. He does not do this when hes calm and undisturbed. All of these symptoms are only shown during handling hence he is still in excessive stress from everything and pees everywhere because of that. And I own quite a lot of reptiles that could be contaminated from him and that is what worries me, I live in a tiny apt so having a quarantine room is impossible. I bought some liquid ascorbic acid which I have given him.
Is it even possible for him to show all these symptoms in such a short period of time or was I sold a sick animal?

1: sneezing completely normal, they do it all the time.

2: That's huffing, their way of letting you know they're a littlw uncomfortable

3: Maybe it was subsatrate suck in the eye?

Hello thank you for your answer, the skink was examined by the vet, done RTG and blood samples, they found pneumonia and a pseudomonas bacteria, he was given enrofloxacin for 2 months without any results, We stopped giving him injections and will be doing more exams on him regarding his pneumonia.

Your poor skink. I pray you can get the pneumonia under control. How's it doing now?

Have you tried giving him his meds via nebulization?
.... can be very hit and miss giving meds orally and by injection ,and very inefficient way to get the active ingredients to the mucus membranes and into the lungs.
The trick is getting the meds deeply into the lungs where the bacteria and viruses are , people have used nebulization of the meds and combined nebulization of the meds (chosen to be most effective) with F10 to good effect here , but it's a very new procedure for American vets so may not have been considered as a treatment by your vet.

This might be helpful : https://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/vi ... 5&t=232783