rescued Halmahara and has a scab on its mouth

[Asleep50]

Hello all!

I am new to the site as i just got my first blue tongue skink and spent weeks researching to make sure its conditions are the best i can give it. I was going to order from a breeder but i come across this little one in my area and after talking to the owner the conditions were not ideal and they didn't want to care for it anymore, it had been on my local areas version of Craigslist for almost a month so having had many reptiles over the years and had done extensive research about the species i decided i would rather help it out and not risk it getting sick. once i got the animal it is a little thin and very small! but all in all was in better shape then i thought it would be in. One problem i did notice is that it has a small scab on its mouth and a slight raised bump on the other side of its mouth on the lit(i have seen these bumps before and have always seen them go away)that i did see and examined thoroughly when i got it. There is no fluid in it and it doesn't look like there is any swelling or discoloration in its mouth it is just a scab, i am taking it to the vet for a general checkup regardless but i just wanted to get some thoughts on what you might think it is, thoughts comments or concerns would be appreciated considering this is my first blue tongue

BTW i have it in a 30 gal long(because it is still young and will be upgrading when i move in two months) with forest floor as the base of the substrait mixed with ecoearth and terrarium moss assisting the moisture is a zoo med repti fogger and it is right at 90% humidity, for heating i have a 100W mercury vapor bulb which is making his basking spot around 96 average depending on the time of day. Because it is winter and it gets cold in utah i have a 50W night black heat zilla bulb to keep the other side around 82 to 86(might switch to a 50W ceramic heater to it doesn't get the light at night) that is on all day,

the little thing is a little skidish and small for a 10 month old so i am waiting to feed it tomorrow so it has a bit of time to adjust to the tank

[mb606587]

Hard to be certain from a picture but it looks like stuck substrate or food gunk that accumulates on the gumline. Sometimes the saliva acts almost like a glue and bonds it on there. I have one that always seems to have that issue. Are you able to take a pair of tweezers and gently remove it?

[Asleep50]

After feeding her today it definitely looks like it is some food stuck completely around a tooth, she was getting pretty angry with me picking at it I got some of it off but it caused her to stop eating the food I gave her so I will try again tomorrow to get the rest off, thank you!

[Asleep50]

I feel like she is very small for 10 months old I’m going to feed her a lot cause she is a little skinny cause I can see her hips but is this size normal?

[mb606587]

Yeah she doesn't look overly skinny to me. Halmaheras sometimes can be on the smaller size when compared to Northerns and Meraukes. Tail to snout length typically ranging between 18" to 24" as adults.

[Asleep50]

Still trying to get it off, she is pretty calm but when i start trying to get it off she gets puffy and she still inst used to people yet so im not pushing it. she has already gained a little weight i just thought they were supposed to be full grown by the end of their first year. im going to try a Qtip next time instead of a washcloth see if that helps, fingers crossed

[mb606587]

They are usually done growing by year 2. How long in inches is your skink? Keep feeding her and you'll probably see some more growth. And even when they get used to people, they still don't particularly enjoy being poked and prodded. I've been pulling gunk from my skink's mouth for 20 years and she still gets hissy with me when I do. I usually just leave her be for the most part now and it'll usually clear on its own eventually.

[Asleep50]

so I know this is off topic but I wanted to get some oppinions, I have a temp/humidity reader with a probe in the cadge but in an effort to keep the humidity i got a reptifogger from zoomed along with a inkbird humidity controller and the two are giving me conflicting readings. the probe thermometer shows 99% humidity all the time but the controller is bouncing between readings depending on what heat source is on but it always shows lower than 90 but i feel like the cage is extremely humid even for my Halmahera standards the cage is all fogged and it has been staying like this. So my question is can i get the cage to humid and cause health problems? is this fog to much?

the pictures of the controllers the closer one is the humidity controller

[mb606587]

Too much humidity shouldn't be an issue with a Halmahera. Too much moisture can be. I'd recomend running the fogger on a timer to help prevent this.

[Asleep50]

Thank you for the reply. I have my feptufogger on a humidity controller so it stays in the 90% range