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Red marks on head, little worried.

Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2023 11:37 am
by lazywing67
Hey everyone,

I have an almost year old Northern Bts named Angel who has been a picture of health since I got her at 8 weeks old. I was getting her some food today and I noticed that she had some red marks on her head. They must be fairly new as I had her out of her enclosure hanging out with me only a couple days ago and didn't notice anything. I'm not sure what these marks could be, but my daughter is in love with her and when she saw them she got pretty upset and worried.

Has anyone on here seen such markings? I'm not sure if they are just a scrape or if there could be something more serious. She has a resin cave style hide and a log, as well as another wooden hide. She is always handled very gently and she has never scraped herself before, but she is a pretty active skink and likes to climb and burrow. Anyway, to ease my daughter's worries I figured I would see what everyone thought.

Re: Red marks on head, little worried.

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2023 8:12 pm
by lazywing67
hey everyone, sorry to bump my own post but I was really hoping for some experienced keepers to let me know what they think.

I have been watching her closely over the last few days. I also cleaned and sanitized her tank and replaced all the substrate. I thought her red marks were starting to fade, but it may just be that they are getting a touch darker. google image search was not super helpful as there are just so many examples with varying looks and species.

just looking for opinion, I already have an antimicrobial cream and betadine solution on its way to me, but they don't arrive for a few days. am I worried about scale rot with reason?

Re: Red marks on head, little worried.

Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2023 5:52 am
by splashy07
I would not worry about scale rot, I've never seen that on the head. Most often on underscales from damp, unsanitary conditions. I'm thinking it's just a scrape, as they try and get themselves under things they shouldn't. Mine often do anyway, especially overactive males this time of year knocking everything around as they are going into season.

Re: Red marks on head, little worried.

Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2023 7:06 am
by Janella
Hi there, I would just keep an eye on it for now. It doesn't appear to be anything serious. If you notice the area spreading and turning more red, swelling, discharge, etc then call the vet and have it checked. My guess is like Splashy said, it probably scraped it on something while rooting around it's enclosure.

Re: Red marks on head, little worried.

Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2023 7:06 pm
by lazywing67
Phew, Thanks for the responses. I'll definitely keep a close eye on it for the next while just in case, but you have taken a load off me for sure. thanks again!