Another rescue.

[NBGwen]

You've lost Toothless? I'm so Sorry! ☹ I'm sure you've probably posted about what happened elsewhere in the forum. I will go look. {{{HUGS}}}

I'm glad you have her to care for.

 

[kingofnobbys]

You've lost Toothless? I'm so Sorry! ☹ I'm sure you've probably posted about what happened elsewhere in the forum. I will go look. {{{HUGS}}}

I'm glad you have her to care for.

Never expected this to happen see link in PM.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Fluffy is starting to really assert herself, she was much more interested in exploring me than eating much today, only 0.1ml of Critta Care today + a few drops of manuka honey (she LOVES the taste of the stuff).
Definitely the way to go to give a droplet of honey to start off the sick lizard's feeding by syringe session and to give a droplet when the feeding slows, the lizard knows it's limits, is also a stress free way of assist feeding a rescued wild lizard, and quickly forms a bond with them as well as earning it's trust.

She sees the 1ml syringe full of manuka honey coming and even stands up and stretches to lick droplet of honey on the of the syringe. Her little blue tongue gets very busy when I deposit a droplet of honey on the tip of his snout.

She shows no fear of me at all for a about 3 or 4 days now , though she's not a fan of being picked up when she's half asleep in her hide or under her paper sheeting bedding, but is fine and settles almost immediately when she gets my scent / tastes me or sees she's In my hand.

Even looks for more honey between my fingers - she thinks I'm holding out on her.

She likes my up-tuned open-cupped hands as a comfy spot to nap - but doesn't nap for long before she wide awake and crawling & climbing all over my hands.... nothing wrong with her energy levels.

Also moving her furnature about , the water disk is too heathy for her but the converted cricket tub and the cardboard tunes are no problem for her to lift up and push around.

Her stump is starting to look a lot better , the skink is growing over it and it's starting to regenerate.

She's gained 1g since she was rescued. Weighted he and other other lizards all on Saturday and she was 24g.

 

[NBGwen]

I don't know much avout skinks...her tail will grow back?

 

[kingofnobbys]

I don't know much avout skinks...her tail will grow back?

Yes, I think so, but it will take maybe 9 months and will be almost good as the original issue tail.

May take a wee bit longer with Fluffy as I believe she is pregnant and most the calcium and protein she is getting will be going to the tiny fetuses developing inside her - water skinks give birth to live young and are great mothers and aunties (protecting their babies and juveniles).

 

[SHBailey]

Glad to hear that Fluffy is doing so well -- a healthy appetite, more activity and curiosity, and even getting affectionate with her new human slave -- all good signs. Surprising that her tail is starting to grow back already -- it looked pretty raw in the first photos you posted.

I didn't know that they were born live or that they care for their babies like that, but it's too bad this had to happen to her when she was pregnant -- that much more of a drain on her biological resources while she's trying to recover. I hope she continues to improve -- you've had more than your share of grief this year.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Fluffy's stump , regeneration in process

Fluffy's back and side lacerations

Treating these with 1:1 manuka honey

Fluffy enjoying a snuggle

...
She seems to enjoy a tummy tickle (she was standing up on my tummy to my hand and I thought I'd see how she's respond to a tummy tickle since her tummy was exposed- she didn't object and stayed that way still for longer than she has before ==> I think she quite enjoyed the new sensation , she also likes having a nice firm snout rub between the fingers , just like Lucky & Wriggles did. Sorry not enough hands to take a photo.

Dropped a mealworm sized silkworm in with her today - not interested.

 

[SHBailey]

Fluffy's tail looks like it's healing very nicely, as well as her eyes.

Have you tried her with BSFL yet? Maybe you should try putting a little honey on the worms -- you know she likes that. :wink:

 

[AHBD]

She is looking sooooo much better. Isn't honey great ?

 

[kingofnobbys]

Fluffy's tail looks like it's healing very nicely, as well as her eyes.

Have you tried her with BSFL yet? Maybe you should try putting a little honey on the worms -- you know she likes that. :wink:

Not tried her on the BSF lavae yet, but did check the batch I have yesterday and there are still some lavae.
I'll give her a try on the BSF lavae tomorrow.

She loves the honey so much that when I get her out late at night to give her eyes and lacerations the 2nd treatment of the day that wont sit there long enough for to deposit the dilute honey on the eyes she's too actively searching for the source of the smell of the honey , sniffing all over my hands and fingers for the it and even trying prize my fingers apart (she thinks I've hidden it and am holding out on her).

She's becoming so active now she's bit of a handful trying to assist feed her and medicating her. She's not trying to leap off me or run away , but she does love exploring now she can see and she seems to have no fear of me at all now and is quite comfortable being on me.

The beauties of using dilute honey are
> she obviously loves it and it encourages her to eat the Critta Care paste , makes feeding her stress free for her , she's quite enthusiastic about her daily 0.2ml of Critta Care and maybe 0.2ml of concentrated honey she gets with it.
> unlike antibiotic eye drops / ointments , I don't have any worries if it dribbles to her mouth or gets into her water when she's drinking / bathing
> unlike antibuitics , it doesn't harm her beneficial gut flora
> I had 2 tubes of Activon MediHoney on hand

I am indeed converted to the use of manuka honey.

 

[kingofnobbys]

update :

Fluffy is back onto whole live insects
>> tried leaving a small live silkworm in her tub on Wednesday = no interest
>> tried leaving a few BSF lavae and pupae in small plastic petridish on Thursday , still there this afternoon.
She probably didn't recognize these as food because they smelt strange to her.

>> deposited 4 freshly formed very wriggly mealworm pupae in with her this afternoon after her feed of manuka honey and Critta Care , see made these disappear in under 30mins and was looking for more !!

Been hyperactive today while I was trying to syringe feed her , only managed to get 0.1ml of Critta Care into her , manuka honey she was licking off the end of the syringe and off my fingers .... nom nom nom !!!

Even more active after she had belly full of yummy soft newly formed mealworm pupae , been thoroughly enjoying her water dish , splashing about in it , but cant swim in it as it's only got water about 5mm deep in it.

is nice to have a win , in a lot of ways her personality and character is very similar to how Toothless was.

Very pleased !! ....
Fluffy has decided she's ready for whole live insects , had her first 4 mealworm pupae today , loved them and made them disappear in no time and was looking for more.

She took the last of the syringe full of Critta Care today, she still needs the supplementation so I'll refill the syringe tomorrow , and will be adding CalciVet to her diet from tomorrow.


Here's Fluffy today after her meal of Critta Care & Manuka honey enjoying a lovely tummy tickle from me

- she LOVES tummy tickles , lets me know when she wants a tummy tickle by positioning herself to let me have free access to her exposed tummy , and stays like that (standing up) for 10 minutes for more each time ,when any other time lately she's super active crawling all over my hands and chest exploring here there and everywhere. That look on her face says it all .... "ohhh !!! bliss .... that's so nice".

 

[AHBD]

Very good news indeed. She is really enjoying her time at your spa.....no wonder the wild skinks hang around your place.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Very good news indeed. She is really enjoying her time at your spa.....no wonder the wild skinks hang around your place.

I'm in the process of F10ing toothless' old 100L rearing tub (JIC it was something contagious that killed him - though I doubt it) and Fluffy will get a surprise when she wakes up tomorrow , she'll find she has a nice bright 6 month old 26W UVB200 over top of her , and she'll find she has no lid on her 10L tub , she'll have access to about 4x more crawling area when she climbs out to explore and will have access to Toothless' fake rock grotto and his piece of bluegum bask.

This will the 5th lizard to have that bit of big bit of bark off my big bluegum , first it was Lucky, then it was George as a baby , then Puff from as a hatchling , then Toothless from as a hatchling , now it's Fluffy.

 

[CooperDragon]

Lucky skink! Do they have similar lighting requirements to dragons? I've seen blue tongues housed together with dragons at the zoo but really don't know much about them.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Lucky skink! Do they have similar lighting requirements to dragons? I've seen blue tongues housed together with dragons at the zoo but really don't know much about them.

They have the same range as Eastern Bluetongues and Eastern Bearded Dragons, and share the same habitat as Eastern Water Dragons.
So UV requirements are same as Eastern Bluetongues (a 5% UVB is sufficient) , and similar temperatures as the Bluetongues.
So 34degC basking spot & same for the heat slab (I've removed Toothless' basking globe , will be too hot for her) , and Toothless' 6 month old 26W UVB200 (I've checked the UVB) is going to be fine.


I've adjusted Toothless' thermostat (for his heatslab = 7W heatpad between tiles) accordingly, just waiting for the F10 (1:125) sprayed on everything to air dry now and I'll then deposit Fluffy (in her lidless 10L tub in on top the heatslab after I wipe away any residue , and I reline the big tub with paper towels , and she'll wake up in a larger tank with lots more crawling exploring space and an extra hide (in the cool zone) and she'll get plenty of UVA & UVB to help her recover and heal and regenerate her tail and help the baby skinks inside her develop.
I'll only line the area under the heatslab and grotto , she'll get a bed of bluegum leaf litter to explore and fossick through when I can get some collected off the front garden path.