Small Mouth Wound

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FernandoBloom
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Small Mouth Wound

Postby FernandoBloom » Mon Feb 20, 2023 9:13 am

Hey, guys! My wife and I are leaving for a few days for a brief out of town trip, so I was doing my skink rounds this morning before we take off. Our little guy was burrowed all of yesterday, and I need to take care of a few things in the tank before we leave, so I scooped him out of his substrate this morning so that I could move him for a few minutes for cleaning, and etc. Well, rather than finding him, he found me first. I think I woke him up unexpectedly, because he gave me a quick bite! Aside from being briefly startled, I wasn't really worried about it.

However, whenever I did get him out of the enclosure, I noticed that he didn't want to shut the right side of his mouth all the way (probably 90% closed, but not all the way). Upon inspection, I found that he had a small laceration on the inside of his mouth. I believe he got cut a little whenever he bit my finger and fingernail. Most of my searches on the web lead me to resources on mouth rot, which isn't the problem here. Do any of you have experience with interior mouth wounds with your skinks, and, if so, how concerned should I be? I know some animals could have filthy mouths that could get infected without human intervention, but I wasn't sure about BTS. Obviously, I'm going to be monitoring it, but we're heading out of town today, and I was hoping for some second opinions.

Anyone have experience with BTS mouth wounds? Would it be unwise to monitor it until it either heals by itself or looks infected? Thanks for any help!
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splashy07
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Re: Small Mouth Wound

Postby splashy07 » Tue Feb 21, 2023 6:18 am

They often bite down on things they shouldn't which makes this quite common. I had one of my eastern girls try to eat a decoration on a resin hide and made a complete mess of her mouth. When you get a chance, send a picture and I'll take a look.
FernandoBloom
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Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2023 2:26 pm
Country: U.S.
Location: Missouri

Re: Small Mouth Wound

Postby FernandoBloom » Fri Feb 24, 2023 2:39 pm

I've tried examining him since we got back, but I can't see anything at this point, and he eats well/doesn't show any other symptoms of mouth pain. I'll definitely monitor the situation for any issues, but I think we're all good!
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splashy07
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Re: Small Mouth Wound

Postby splashy07 » Tue Feb 28, 2023 6:15 am

Glad to hear. They often make a mess of themselves just to worry us!

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