Is my blue tongue going to die? Please help

[Allisynner]

Okay SO, about 2 months ago I noticed my bts had some build up of dirt on the side of her mouth, I cleaned the area and it was slightly raw. I just let her go about her day since it wasn’t bad at all. A few weeks later I was noticing it getting slightly worse so I kept it clean regularly. THEN , later it was very noticeable it was getting worse, and she had also starting collecting this dirt in her nose. I cleaned that out as well. I called the vet and I got her an appointment for a week and a half later (the special vet is only there on Friday, I live in rural Virginia so there are like NO vets for reptiles here) He told me to not keep her in coconut bedding anymore and he had the same problem with his skink, gave me antibiotics and sent me on my way. I was very relieved to hear she was gonna be fine. Turns out - she’s not fine. I’ve kept her in like a “quarantine” tank to make sure she didn’t bump her face or get any dirt on her anymore. (Filled it with repticarpet and some bunny/ guinea pig soft paper bedding) I gave her antibiotics like I was told, and everyday it kept getting worse. I check up on her a lot and today when I got home from work I noticed her spine is INCREDIBLY crooked. I do not think this is mbd because I always gave her calcium regularly and mbd doesn’t just appear in a day.
Her face is incredibly red and it looks like rot but I am still very unsure. She stopped eating about 3 days ago - I can’t even get her to eat by being force fed, she will only drink water. I plan on taking her to the vet again but I really want to know what I’m in for before I get the chance to take her in on Friday. Please help me, my animals are my children and I don’t know how I’d react if I lost her.

[Janella]

Hi there and I am really sorry to hear about all that is going on with your skink. What are your temps? Humidity? Also are you using UVB or not? I would get your skink back to the vet asap. There definitely is more going on here.

[Allisynner]

Hi there and I am really sorry to hear about all that is going on with your skink. What are your temps? Humidity? Also are you using UVB or not? I would get your skink back to the vet asap. There definitely is more going on here.

Hi! Her humidity is usually around 60% (I usually have a hard time with humidity) and her heat stays around 98-100
Within the few days of waiting for this post to be approved, she got worse. She wouldn’t eat anything, she would only lick water maybe twice. I handed her over to my mom to take care of while I was super sick (she had her before when I was homeless so I knew she was in good hands and my mom loves her almost as much as I do) Obviously, I didn’t want to give her to my mom but I could not take care of my really sick lizard while I was really sick and in the hospital. Once I gave her over to my mom she called the vet again and sent him pictures of how much worse she had gotten. He immediately prescribed her strong antibiotic ointment and iodine. My mom used these for a day before she started to really decline. Obviously, she wasn’t eating anything or drinking much so there was no way for her to really improve without the proper nutrients. Early this morning my mom had called me saying that Toko had began losing teeth on the left side of her mouth (where the infection was), her eyes were severely sunken in, she wouldn’t keep any water down and that she didn’t look well at all and I would probably have to put her down. Clearly this was really upsetting to me so I let myself calm down for an hour or so before heading over to my moms to see her (thinking I was about to have to put her down). Once I got there Toko immediately knew who I was and cuddled up to my neck (one of her fav spots) and slept on me as I pet her for about 30 minutes. She started moving around and crawling all over me after that. Once she was alert after about an hour I decided to try to give her some food. (I didn’t have my hopes very high) And for the first time in about a week and a half, she ate and drank quite a lot and kept all of it down no problem! We were all so happy we were practically jumping around the room. My mom and I both thought that her losing her teeth was probably good for her and that they were just putting her in so much pain from being in there with the infection that her mouth probably felt a lot better after they were gone. Her eyes weren’t sunken in at all anymore and she was alert and actively trying to chase down my brother we gave her a warm bath and then I took her home with me since I have gotten better and can now give her all my attention. She had been sleeping almost 24/7 before and after I gave her to my mom. When I got home and got her comfy she was awake and alert basking under her lamp just chilling. After a few more hours I decided to try to feed her just a little more and she ate again! Kept it all down as well. I am keeping her literally beside me at all times to monitor her and the vet said if she got worse again or back to the state she was in that he’d take her for a few days to monitor her and see where to go from there. (This vet KNOWS when to put an animal down because he immediately knew from looking and multiple of our family’s dogs/cats/other animals if it was there time to go and he was always really straight up about it) He thinks she still has a lot of fight in her and it’s not time for her to go yet. (She is only a year and a few months old - I got her when she was around 3 months , so she has a LOT of living to still do) It’s 2 am and she is now cuddled beside me sleeping and she’s breathing a lot better than she was before. I have hope for the little one but I also know that things could change really fast so I am prepared for the worst.

[Allisynner]

Also I forgot to answer the UVB question! Yes, she has had a uvb since I got her ^^

[splashy07]

It does look like MBD or some type of nutritional deficiency. You need to use a more humidity friendly substrate, this type needs way more humidity than is being offered. Cypress mulch works well. Basking area should be 100+ and humidity 85+. Dry bedding is definitely a bad choice. Are you feeding a high quality dog food? Any insects? Calcium supplements?

[Janella]

HI again, and I am so happy to hear that your skink took a turn for the better. That is great. Now, I would just do has the last post Splashy07 suggested. We need to get that humidity a little better. Also can you provide the answers to her questions. Thanks.

[IvanDanko]

Hi there and sorry to hear so much has gone wrong with your skink. As Janella and Splashy said it's really important that we can gather as much information as possible about your skink by doing your best to answer some of the questions above.

Whilst it certainly looks like MBD there is also a chance your skink has a genetic defect if the onset as you described was very sudden. We can revisit once we get a bit more info about the care background of your skink.

[mb606587]

This skink is very thin. Also curious about the diet but has a fecal examination been done to check for internal parasites? I would think that's the first thing a competent reptile vet would conduct on an obviously imported skink

[Allisynner]

Hi! I only feed her high quality grain-free dog foods! She also gets collard greens and calcium every 2 days mixed in with her food. She’s actually gained some of her weight back in the past 2 days!
I am more than willing to admit my mistakes and the place I got her from didn’t specify her exact species of skink which I why I assumed the normal 60% was a decent humidity for her. I don’t want her on any sort of substrate that will get stuck in her nose or mouth again while she is healing. If you have any tips for that that would be awesome. Also, she’s always had a uvb and calcium and the back kink happened in literally one day which is why i didn’t think it could be mbd. I actually got her a new lamp today and it’s at 102-104 most of the time. She absolutely REFUSES insects and I’ve even tried to hide them in her food before but it’s like she knows they’re in there.

[Allisynner]

This skink is very thin. Also curious about the diet but has a fecal examination been done to check for internal parasites? I would think that's the first thing a competent reptile vet would conduct on an obviously imported skink

She also goes to the vet about every 2 months since I have other reptiles and I’m always very paranoid about them getting sick. (I have 3 leopard geckos and 2 bearded dragons, along with my blue tongue skink) she actually had a fecal exam along with my bear dies about a months ago and she’s totally perfect! I will get her checked up on again though most likely on Friday

[IvanDanko]

It seems like you have done a great job of looking after your skink which makes the stack of issues seem so strange - barring the humidity. The spinal kink is simply bizarre if it happened within 24 hours - is there any chance there was an accident with the skink at any time you were away or you may not have noticed? Something not adding up.

In either case its good news to hear your skink is somewhat on the mend!

[Allisynner]

It seems like you have done a great job of looking after your skink which makes the stack of issues seem so strange - barring the humidity. The spinal kink is simply bizarre if it happened within 24 hours - is there any chance there was an accident with the skink at any time you were away or you may not have noticed? Something not adding up.

In either case its good news to hear your skink is somewhat on the mend!

It is very very strange to me as well! Even in the slightly improper humidity she’s always thrived and was super active and loving and always ate like a champ. She actually managed to escape her tank (she isn’t in this one anymore) twice and every time I found her she would have hair or something in her mouth which is what I think caused the issue in the first place. I don’t keep any dangerous chemicals around the floor area because my boyfriend has a 3 year old so I doubt she got into anything bad. But I do keep an old piece of heavy driftwood i used to kee in her tank in the bathroom (which I found her under both times) that might be the culprit for the back kink

[Allisynner]

I knew animals and human all have a grace period when they’re dying where for a few days they get better and then pass, and I was hoping that wasn’t her case but - sadly, it was. When I woke up and went to check on her this morning she was barely alive and barely breathing with sunken in eyes and she’d pooped out every fecal that she had had left , her eyes were really sunken in and barely open and I knew it was her time to go. I went ahead and got her put down about an hour ago. Just letting you guys know. Thanks for all the help <3

[Janella]

I am so sorry to read this. You have my deepest condolences.

[IvanDanko]

Horrible to hear this after what seemed like a bit of a recovery. Sorry more couldn't be done. I hope your skink is at peace.