BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

While taking photos of the skinks on Saturday my Northern Skids had an issue with his eye. It was much reduced by the next day, and it's pretty much normal now (I'm in the US, sister is watching and keeping me updated). But I'm curious if anyone knows what could cause this.

Before:



After:




These pictures were taken within 10 minutes of each other. The only difference was that Skids had been put back into his tank after weighing/pics and was given fresh water and was drinking some. My sister said it looked like his lower eyelid was weird. He could still close the eye and didn't seem bothered when I wiped that side of his face. The photos make my eyes water. Any ideas on what happened and why?

Vet - check for abscess, or infections in sinuses. Either way most likely gram neg bacterial - course of abs may be best bet.

Even if it is reduced, note that the eye is not even following the other eye (unsynched).
are the eyes focusing properly on the same thing now that the swelling has become better?

Piece of substrate lodged in eye would be my guess...especially considering that it is now normal. I wonder if gently running his face under warm water would have relieved any discomfort or sped the healing process.

Linnea: You can't really use eye tracking to check for normal with BTS-perfectly healthy BTS will move there eyes asynchronously...it is quite amusing to watch them dell* one eye to watch you.

This is a bit late but some information I found in medical notes I have kept.

'Bacteria may also travel up what is called the hardarian duct, a pathway connecting the inside of the mouth to a sinus near the eye. In this case, the eye may become infected and swell. If not treated quickly and aggressively, the eye may be lost to infection.'

Thanks for the ideas guys. I'm still not sure what caused it, but it's completely back to normal now on it's own. It had mostly recovered by the next day, and my sister tells me he looks totally normal and is his usual self.

I don't think it could be infection given that it swelled within 10 minutes? It must have had something to do with the sudden intake of water? I'll mention it to my vet next time I see her.

To me it looks like it's the tissue behind the eye--not the eyeball itself--that's swelling, making the eye bulge out.

Since it seems to be coming from underneath and behind the eye, and because it was such a quick progression, I wonder if water got into the Hardarian duct El Lobo mentioned, since it connects the inside of the mouth to a sinus cavity near the eye.

In the first "after" picture there is a droplet of water at the bottom of the eye. Unless he splashed around while drinking getting a drop splashed on his eye, it may have come FROM the eye. FROM the water in the cavity by the eye connected to the mouth. See what I'm saying?

Since it swelled so quickly (10 min!) after drinking, then slowly dissipated, I would be inclined to thinking that the water was the culprit. Hopefully a "fluke" occurrence.

Would a veterinarian actually be able to make this diagnosis?(Hardian duct problem-providing no bacterial infection was present?)

I'm still saying it must have been some kind of irritant.

Bringing this back with an update. The eye was fine for a while and so Skids went into brumation 2 weeks ago. Today he wasn't looking well and the eye was a bit bulgy. I took a closer look and noticed his mouth on that side was bulgy too. A look inside the mouth revealed the left side is infected or something. So I took some new photos, he's being warmed back up, and we'll be going to the vet tomorrow (that's the plan at least, no one was open to make an appt after 5 today).
Pictures:









Comments/tips/suggestions/etc are very welcome. Will update after visiting the vet.

I don't have any suggestions but it looks painful . I hope he gets better soon . What vet do you take your skinks to ?

I switch vets depending on how much help I need. For something simple where I already know what it is and what I need I'll go to Winrose. Super nice and won't charge for every single animal if I bring a group. But if I need a real diagnosis I'll go to Centennial. Much more experience and knowledge, but not as nice and more expensive.

I don't have anything helpful to add - you probably have as much experience with this kind of stuff as I do. But those are great pics of the mouth. It looks painful, poor guy... but great pics. Hard to see from the outside of the mouth. Please add them to the stomatitis thread and the diagnosis / vet's recommendations if you have time. I'd love to have more info up there.

There is swelling & infection on the upper jaw too, it's just harder to see in the photos. I don't normally check mouths, but just noticed one side looked very different from the other and so grabbed lots of photos. I also got some of Pryce's healthy mouth to compare to. Whatever Skid's has looks very unpleasant, poor guy. I'll see about getting more photos after the vet.

I can't say about the top but the bottom looks like there might be an abbess in the jaw. Poor little guy. Maybe he cut the inside of his mouth and got an infection? Lucky you caught it.

Skids, Mizu and I are about to head to the vet. Will let you know how it goes.

Ouch that does look painful. It does look something like an abscess, and if he bit down on something it could have cut the top jaw too. Good luck at the vet and I hope you figure out what's going on.

Seems that brumation and lowered immune response allowed the infection to spread. Hope to hear results of the vet visit.

I'm glad you checked on him when you did! Let us know how it goes at the vet!

What happened to Mizu ? I hope everything went ok at the vet and you will be able to help skids recover

Well I don't know anything more than I did, but Skids is now on antibiotics to fight the obvious infection. There's enough antibiotics for 2 weeks, but the hope is with the heats/light back, the antibiotic, and feeding he can perk up a bit before she tries to biopsy. She's taken notes and copies of my pictures and is discussing the case with other exotic vets. He's in really rough shape and I think his total lethargy scared the vet (it's scaring me too) and she didn't want to stress him any more. I went with Winrose, and the vet doesn't know everything but she really cares about the animals and will do her best for them. I remember someone saying something about painkillers in reptiles. I'm guessing he's probably hurting, should I ask for some painkiller? They're not normally used for reptiles here, but I'm sure if I ask she'll give me some. What kind would I get and what dosage?

I also have antibiotics for Mizu, Cyrus and Clue who have all also been warmed back up because I noticed signs that might indicate a RI.

I'll update again soon.