BLUE TONGUE SKINK SHEDDING PROBLEMS PLEASE ADVISE

[Babybeardie3]

A couple months ago I purchased a Halmahera blue tongue skink at a reptile show. Upon purchasing her she obviously have some shedding issues with her toes and around one eye. Since then I have been able to help the shed around her eye but her toes continually stay bad. They are falling off, becoming twisted, and she has gotten annoyed with them enough to have bitten off a few. I give her soaks in betadine and Epsom salt as well as treating the stubs of the toes that fall off with antibacterial spray. But she had some major shed build up on her feet prior to me purchasing her and it continues to this day. All the bathes I give her just act as prevention from her toes getting any worse. Any way I can fix the stuck/piled up shed that still remains. She has lost about 3 toes since I got her and Ive tried pretty much everything I can think of bathes, diet change, substrate change, antibiotic ointments, humidity increases, etc. Any ointments or medicines I can use over the counter to help her? I live pretty far from the nearest exotic vet and don't know when Ill be able to have the time to drive there so I want to help her as much as I can at home until then. Thank you in advance. :? :|

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Do you have any pictures we could see?
So sorry for all of the shedding issues for your blue tongue! Do you have pictures we
can see?
Are you using calcium & vitamins for him regularly also?
You can look for some raw, unpasteurized honey or manuka honey to put on the areas
which are not shedding well if they are raw or look infected. To help, in general with
shedding, shea butter or coconut oil are both very good for helping with retained &
stubborn shed.
Is he eating very well right now?

Tracie

 

[Babybeardie3]

I dust her food with a calcium d3 powder every other meal and she eats well. She seems perfectly healthy other than her feet. As for posting pictures I keep losing the link to do so. Any chance you have it?

 

[kingofnobbys]

I dust her food with a calcium d3 powder every other meal and she eats well. She seems perfectly healthy other than her feet. As for posting pictures I keep losing the link to do so. Any chance you have it?

With BT skinks , if you give too much of the "WRONG" type of protein this protein results in thickening of the scales and shedding issues.

What is the diet you have your skink on and the feeding schedule ?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Thanks Kingofnobbys I knew you would weigh in eventually.
Diet is important for blue tongue skinks' health but I know you haven't
had him for long.
Let us know how things are going!

Tracie

 

[Babybeardie3]

She is feeding on a variety of things. I give her repashy bluey buffet every other feeding instead of dog food, because I believe you advised that dog food is not a suitable staple for BTS. The meals that I don’t give bluey buffet she gets snails and hard boiled eggs along with any veggies or fruits I have that she eats. (Carrots, collard greens, strawberries, bananas, etc (never too many bananas though it makes her poop runny)) I’ve tried other live insects like crickets but she is not interested. If anything they just annoy her. Although I can sneak a few recently killed ones into her bluey buffet.

 

[kingofnobbys]

She is feeding on a variety of things. I give her repashy bluey buffet every other feeding instead of dog food, because I believe you advised that dog food is not a suitable staple for BTS. The meals that I don’t give bluey buffet she gets snails and hard boiled eggs along with any veggies or fruits I have that she eats. (Carrots, collard greens, strawberries, bananas, etc (never too many bananas though it makes her poop runny)) I’ve tried other live insects like crickets but she is not interested. If anything they just annoy her. Although I can sneak a few recently killed ones into her bluey buffet.

The diet seems OK …. try slower moving insects …. live snails and large silkworms go a down treat with my pair 9 yr old bluetongues.
Mashed hardboiled egg is a good addition as well.

Wish Bluey Buffet was available here in Australia, I'd like to try it as a food option for my two eastern water skinks.

You could try her on an all veg and fruit diet for a month or so to see if it is due to excess protein rather than a "environmental" issue (too dry ?? , no options to climb, substrate too soft) or something to be determined by an experienced reptile vet that needs a medical / pharma - treatment approach to get the shedding back under control).

Banana's will bind the calcium so great treats ONLY.

Have you had a reptile vet examine her ?
They have some tricks / right tools to help get resistant / retain shed off places like toes and fingers.

 

[Babybeardie3]

Sorry it took me so long to reply the post notification got lost in my emails and I forgot to check with school being so busy. I have a picture of her eye as of right now. Keep in mind that when she recently finished her latest shed I allowed her to be put on a substrate (for the first time ever) of clean reptile aspen ( first time it hasn’t been paper towel) shavings because prior to putting it in her whole cage she enjoyed playing/digging in it in a tub. Also after her recent shed her eye cleared up (as it usually does after a shed) and I just noticed that it’s beginning to look bad again. In the picture you can see the missing toes on her foot as well as how bad her skin is (it’s been like that since day one no lies) and I’m doing my best but I can’t seem to figure out what’s up with her eye, toes, skin issue, etc. I love her so much but the constant skin treatments and overwatch I do on her is time consuming with school and sports (and I just want her to get better) as I’ve said before the nearest reptile vet is quite a ways away and I want to do what I can at home before I piss my parents off and ask them to drive me 2 1/2 hours away.

Sorry for the quality it is nighttime and I had to take it on flash (I couldn’t turn on the lights because it would have disturbed my crested gecko who was out eating at the time of the pic)

 

[Babybeardie3]

Also another thing to add is that her other eye is perfectly healthy. This one just seems to like forming abscess/scab like growths for some reason

This is back when I fed dog food but her good eye still looks the same (sorry most photos I take of my reptiles are on my actual camera not my phone so I have a limited selection as of right now)

 

[kingofnobbys]

Sorry it took me so long to reply the post notification got lost in my emails and I forgot to check with school being so busy. I have a picture of her eye as of right now. Keep in mind that when she recently finished her latest shed I allowed her to be put on a substrate (for the first time ever) of clean reptile aspen ( first time it hasn’t been paper towel) shavings because prior to putting it in her whole cage she enjoyed playing/digging in it in a tub. Also after her recent shed her eye cleared up (as it usually does after a shed) and I just noticed that it’s beginning to look bad again. In the picture you can see the missing toes on her foot as well as how bad her skin is (it’s been like that since day one no lies) and I’m doing my best but I can’t seem to figure out what’s up with her eye, toes, skin issue, etc. I love her so much but the constant skin treatments and overwatch I do on her is time consuming with school and sports (and I just want her to get better) as I’ve said before the nearest reptile vet is quite a ways away and I want to do what I can at home before I piss my parents off and ask them to drive me 2 1/2 hours away.

Sorry for the quality it is nighttime and I had to take it on flash (I couldn’t turn on the lights because it would have disturbed my crested gecko who was out eating at the time of the pic)

I've seen that kind of issue with a lizard's eye.
My little rescued water skink Lucky (recued from an attacking cat) lost his right eye , and it looked exactly like your BT's bad eye.
Your skink has either had the eye injured by another animal ,, or when it was captured in the wild , or while being trafficked from Indonesia (many trafficked reptiles die in this process because of the horrible/cruel way they are packed/hidden) , or while at the pet shop ( some kind of infection that started as a minor injury).
He can do OK as a pet with just one good eye because he doesn't need two good eyes to avoid predators.

I think if you took him the local reptile vet (or even an exotics or zoo vet , better than generalist vets) that they will tell you he's lost the eyeball in the bad eye and is permanently blind in that eye.
I don't see any indication of infection , no obvious pus , but if there is any pus or crustiness , antibiotic eye ointment or 50% Activon Medi-honey (Manuka honey) in saline wont hurt until the infection clears up , again , a vet needs to assess this and advise on treatment.

Issues on the toes and fingers , he's an Indonesian BT , he's likely suffering due to low humidity, a humid hide might help him. People over at https://www.bluetongueskinks.org/forum/index.php can give more advise on this as I've no experience with Indo BT skinks and they will know how set him up properly.

 

[Babybeardie3]

The fact is I know for a fact that the eye under the infection is perfectly healthy. It’s just the skin above it. Whenever she goes in shed, the bad/infected/scabbed skin falls off and becomes almost perfectly healthy again. And the eye underneath works and functions just find and looks perfectly healthy.

This is right before a shed you can see the bad skin starting to form right under the eye. But you can see that the eye itself it perfectly fine (it’s the eye on the right in the picture but in real life it’s actually her left eye the picture just flipped it)

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

This is going to really become a large issue, if the eye has an abscess forming, she could lose
her eye potentially. Plus, an infection could travel through her body also.
As suggested, manuka honey or raw, unfiltered honey either one, can be use on the eye area.
Just dilute it if needed but it can be put on full strength on the area directly. If putting into the eye
you will need to dilute it with some warm water to thin it out before putting it into the eye.
Can you get the humidity up any at all?

Tracie