BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hey everyone,

Im new here; infact, this is my first post.
So anyway this is my new northern blue tongue skink. I have never owned a blue tongue before so I thought I would inqure my questions here before I concidered a vet. In addition I am an experienced snake and insect owner.

Basically I prodded him quite a bit so that I could look into his mouth, he shows zero signs of black or darkened tissue inside his mouth. The only markings and discoloring are those strange marks on the sides of his mouth scales. He seems to be in zero pain as he easily let me rub his mouth with a wet Q-tip, which did not remove any markings. He does seem to have, what I would term as, a puffy lip on that side of his face. There doesn't seem to be any redness but that area does seem to be risen slightly.

Recent history: I have only had him for about a week, before that he came from a reputable breeder that I have 100% faith in. I found a bit of shed in his enclosure a few days ago but seems to have shed completely well. Im currently keeping him in a breeding rack with paper towel floor and a large amount of Timothy hay that he loves to burry into. His heat spot is around 100F and his humidity ranges from 30-40ish.

Any advise will be appreciated!

Does not appear to be mouth rot. They sometimes bite into things they shouldn't, some of mine clamp down pretty hard on their food dish before discovering the food is inside....possibly just an injured or food stained scale that will more than likely come off in a shed. A few of my babies had same, and disappeared.

splashy07 wrote:Does not appear to be mouth rot. They sometimes bite into things they shouldn't, some of mine clamp down pretty hard on their food dish before discovering the food is inside....possibly just an injured or food stained scale that will more than likely come off in a shed. A few of my babies had same, and disappeared.

Gotcha! Wasn't too sure as I have zero experience with skinks. Ill continue to watch him and if it worsens ill have to try out one of the exotic vets around. Thanks so much! I was pretty worried.

I would agree with splashy. It looks like a scale stain. As a matter of fact my BTS had an almost identical stain in the same spot. After his next shed it came right off. I would just monitor it. If it doesn't get worse then I'm sure your good to go.