Is this a burn or something else?

[CupcakeCaper]

The bluey's I have are my first, so I'm not very experienced but would someone be able to tell me if the attached images are a burn or bruise or some other sort of issue. The photos show the two worst areas but there are a few other smaller, fainter marks along him as well. I know that the marks weren't on him yesterday. There's been quite a few things that have happened in the last few days that I feel any of them could have potentially caused this.
1. A fault in the tank meant Rocket was able to escape so I don't know if an injury could have occured that is only showing up now
2. The fault meant the heat bulb had to be rigged differently making the tank warmer (thermometer broke too so I don't have exact temp) so I'm wondering about the burn.
3. He's not a terribly agile lizards and earlier he had managed to get his body into quite a tight knot. Helped him out of it very quickly but looked as though he may have had a hard time untangled if I wasn't there.

Is anyone able to give me info on if it's a burn, bruising, or if there's something worse that could be the issue? It's worth mentioning that there seems to be no apparent pain on touch and he seems to be behaving regularly.

[Lea]

It would help if you could tell us more clearly the events leading up to the injury. Your vague details surrounding the incident aren't very helpful.

It looks like a burn, but could be anything and you should always seek advice from a vet for acute injuries.

Just out of interest, do you use a heat cord or mat? These frequently result in injury to snakes and lizards and definitely aren't appropriate means to heat your skink's vivarium.

[Lea]

Since this is more of a general question, I have moved the thread to the general discussion area.

[Spindown]

looks like a burn to me...do you use an electric heat rock? Those things are SO dangerous...throw it out if you do! Heat pads (or other types of Under Tank Heaters) should ALWAYS be controlled with at LEAST a dimmer, and better yet a thermostat.
I've found that lizards do better with back heat, while snakes do much better with belly heat.

Reptiles have a very different sense of touch that we do. If they dont feel the heat (which is pretty typical) they will stay on the heat source until they get burns. It goes to figure that if they dont feel that, they arent going to feel you touching that area either.

I'm not sure why you would think a heat bulb could result in such severe looking burns to the belly area?? More information is definitely needed about this. Also, severe burns need to be treated ASAP by a vet.

[CupcakeCaper]

The details of his escape are pretty vague as I was out when he escaped but some alterations had to be made to the tank as there weren't sufficient amounts of heat and UV getting into the tank. This meant that there was a small gap in the wire at the very top of the tank which he ended up climbing up to and squeezing out of. The tank is 40cm high and then it's on a stand a bit high that that so it's fairly likely he went down those, however there was a point where he would have been able to climb into some things which would have meant he could have climbed down easier. I ultimately found him on a very dusty box under the bed, no marks, big appetite and acting like normal. There was also no heat source in the room he could have got to.

For the burn, he has a basking rock (which was previously a heat rock but doesn't function) that Rocket truly loves. The reason I think the bulb might be responsible is thatafter his escape I've had to change how it's placed in the tank meaning it's a bit lower and the basking rock is being heated more. I wouldn't have thought it was getting hot enough to burn him, but not being experienced and having had my thermometer break I concede that I very easily may have misjudged.

Lastly is when he tied himself into a knot. Rocket was having a climb and ended up slipping when he was trying to turn around. He didn't have a a fall but he did have a pretty big freak out and twisted himself over his tail. This is something his sibling often does, however she's smaller and far more flexible. Rocket is starting to get to the size where he just doesn't climb over himself any more. He looked to be in a very awkward position when he twisted himself so I'm worried about if he could have dislocated something and the marks are bruising.

I can't get him into a reptile specialist vet until Monday, should I just take my chances with a regular vet and their limited reptile knowledge and get him in sooner?

[Richard.C]

Are they housed together?

Reason i as is could be bite wounds from dominant cage mate,easterns can get feisty,not sure it would be burns,but who knows,if basking light was to hot id imagine there would be burns on his back if there was underneath,also could be injury from escaping,did it have to squeeze out,lift a lif or anything or drop a reasable distance to the ground,could be a number of things that caused it

[Richard.C]

Oh and blueys shouldnt be able to tie them selves up in knots,that sounds rather odd to me,can you show a pic next time one does it

[CupcakeCaper]

It wasn't a full knot, it's just wrapping himself around himself, but they don't do it often, only when they've slipped and panicked or in Eclipse's case, when she wants to abruptly turn around... Rocket is much more rigid than Eclipse though.

I took Rocket to the vet to air on the safe side. He had a brief look at as the vets were just squeezing us in, but the verdict is a superficial burn and they gave me some cream to apply. Thankfully Rocket is a very chilled out boy so tilting him backwards to treat it is very easy as he's pretty relaxed, even on his back. I had to think how I'd treat it if it was Eclipse! I've now also bought an infra red thermo gun.

They are currently housed together, but Rocket is the dominant lizard. I've tried to seperate them but they keep finding ways back together as until I get a bit more money to afford a seperate tank, there's just been a divide in the tank.

Thank you for the answers and interest guys, it's very appreciated!

[LarissaLurid]

Oh and blueys shouldnt be able to tie them selves up in knots,that sounds rather odd to me,can you show a pic next time one does it

lol yea...that's a bit impossible. My snakes don't even tie themselves in knots

[Spindown]

The only time I've ever seen a snake somewhat similar to being in a knot was when it was dead, and had obviously suffered horribly to have curled up and died in that position.
Cant possibly imagine a lizard being able to do that..esp a bluey.