BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hi! This is my first post and I’m asking if anyone knows what’s up with my blueys mouth.

He’s had substrate in his mouth before between his gums and his teeth but I’m unsure if this is similar because it feels harder than that did and when I used a q-tip to try to look at it, it started to bleed a little.




(Sorry if it’s placed weird I’m on my phone and don’t know how to rotate any images)

I don’t want to mess with it too much since I’m still trying to earn his trust (I have had him for less than a year) but I also want him to be okay.

Thank you!

So the stuck substrate doesn't bother me too much nor does the tiny bit of blood. Tweezers should be able to remove it, although sometimes it does stick pretty well.
But your skink's bottom jaw does seem a bit swollen which is concerning and may warrant medication.

Thank you! I’ll try some tweezers here shortly
He has a bit of a crooked jaw anyway so it could make it look like swelling.
I’ll post my results after I try to remove the scab.

He’s very angry with me right now but I got it off
I’m not sure what it was but I’m going to watch it and make sure it says clean/dry.
I’m thinking about switching his substrate to see if that would help since it has loose fibres of substrate within the scab.

I feel bad for making him so upset ):

Some skinks tend to have a recurring problem with this. It generally will bother you more than the skink. I've pretty much given up on my one skink who seems to constantly accumulate gunk like this.

This is the second time he’s gotten something stuck in his lip since I’ve had him.
The first was a minor scab from when I got him from the breeder (I thought was stuck shed)

I was thinking about changing his substrate to some fine ecoearth or a similar material (he’s a cocochip block mixed with sphagnum moss right now), would that stop this type of problem or will it accumulate regardless of what substrate he’s on?

A substrate change wouldn't hurt to try. It didn't make much of a difference for my skink. A finer substrate will make it easier to clean from the face.

Thank you so much for your help!
He is still a bit grumpy with me but once I fed him his favourite treat he felt a little better!