BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Not the greatest Pictures, he has been getting rather touchy about anything near his face (Understandably, I am still cleaning itfrequently)

Plus he just finished shedding after 3 days of BTS PMS. So here's all I could get that were not just blurs.





I couldn't get the other side or his feet. The other side is a bit worse than this one as he decided to bite at me and got the toothbrush I was using on his foot at the time and opened a couple sores. The feet are still awful, I think a couple are not going to be able to be saved and everytime I pull off shed new sores and cracks open. So I try and soak and pick as much as possible but I don't want to cause an infection either.

I still think there's been a massive improvement though.

I am not sure that if I met the previous owner in a dark ally she would be safe though. In some spots I've pulled 20 layers of shed if I've pulled 1 and if any spot had less than 15 layers I'll eat my hat and the hats of anyone who cares to offer. I am now certain that ALL of the problems have been caused by retained shed and general bad care. There was no sign of mouth rot, just two years of shed build-up on the face and lip area. With this shed I was able to get the shed off the eyelids finally and I can't believe he's not blind after the amount of crud I pulled off there.

hes looking very good, i cant rememebr from your first posts but were any blood tests performed? systemic antibiotics?

Hey Luce,
this might sound disgusting, but do you have any examples of the layers of shed that you pulled off Quinn so we can see what it looked like? I have no idea what 15 or 20 layers of stuck shed would look like, and though I hate to think about it, I think it could be very educational for anybody who came across this same situation down the road (Gods forbid!)

Aslo, could you take pics of Quinn's feet? I feel terrible for him and I love that you are so diligent with his care but I feel that this is a good opportunity for learning and posting specific examples of what can happen with poor husbandry/improper care.

I still think you need to file charges of animal cruelty on the previous owner. Its revolting that anybody could let a living creature get that bad without any care at all.

Helikaon wrote:hes looking very good, i cant rememebr from your first posts but were any blood tests performed? systemic antibiotics?

No, His recovery has been so rapid I haven't yet taken him to a vet. The Face has vastly improved with the shed removal and treatment with anitbiotic ointment. So currently I am just monitering and if anything takes a down turn I'll get him to the nearest experienced vet. The only reason we haven't gone so far is because the nearest vet I would trust is 2 hours drive away and is extremely hard to get a time slot with.

SailleSkinklover wrote:Hey Luce,
this might sound disgusting, but do you have any examples of the layers of shed that you pulled off Quinn so we can see what it looked like? I have no idea what 15 or 20 layers of stuck shed would look like, and though I hate to think about it, I think it could be very educational for anybody who came across this same situation down the road (Gods forbid!)

Aslo, could you take pics of Quinn's feet? I feel terrible for him and I love that you are so diligent with his care but I feel that this is a good opportunity for learning and posting specific examples of what can happen with poor husbandry/improper care.

I still think you need to file charges of animal cruelty on the previous owner. Its revolting that anybody could let a living creature get that bad without any care at all.

I will do my bset, he has been through so much that he is now cranky and touchy about his face and feet. I will try to get pics of his feet later tonight though.

I don't have any spacific examples of the shed itself because it all came off in bits and pieces and sometimes I would think I had all the shed of a scale and here just when he shed again I would pull up a patch of more shed. So it's not like 15-20 layers come up at once. And its only on smal places like the lips, eyes and feet not all over the body so it doesn't come off in chunks big enough to show anything.

The best I can do is repost the first pics of Quinn. As an example of what the buildup it's self looks like. It's made even more difficult because sometimes the shed has been stuck so long it almost seems like it rotted out from undernieth and the scales below it especially around the mouth and between the toes, are raw and very soft so they bleed slightly when the shed pulls off

The shed off the eyelids were almost just a slime with out any recognisable scale patterns or seperatable layers. But you could tell it was shed rather than say pus because it was in little sheets. There doesn't seem to be any real infection anymore it's just a slow removal of shed and treating the irritated scales under it. You can see the redness and discolored scales around his mouth even in these pics.

I agree that this can be a good learning experience, i'm just not sure how to illustrate the effects more than the pictures I have and my descriptions of what is going on so far.

Comparasin Shots!
For those who don't quite remember how bad his face was.

27 Days ago The very first picture.


20 Days ago.


Today

Wow - you've done an amazing job! Its incredible what some TLC can do.

You can see very well in the 20 day ago shot how the scales look raised and have ridges on them. Those are the scales that have shed stuck on them, and if you think about how thin the shed is you can imagine how many layers have to be on there to raise them that much.

I will keep these pictures in mind when I go pick up the little guys that we are rescuing! Its definitely inspiring, even though it is totally different situations.

*clap clap*

Excellent job!!

I stick by my standing that she is a GORGEOUS skinker ;D

I can't believe the change!~

She looks WAYYY better ^_^
She must feel a heck of a lot better too ^_^
She appreciates deep down in her bluey heart for peeling all that crud off~ Even when she's biting that toothbrush >_<

I think I forgot to mention that we have Quinn confirmed as a male. We had a bathing incident that resulted in flipping tail, everted hemipenes, flying sperm plugs splatting on my arm...

You get the picture.

I keep coming back and looking at those pics because even watching the process as he gets better doesn't drive home the difference until I posted tose pics side by side.

lol~

great~~ I was calling him a him and then you said She so I used she and now we're back to him @_@

lol~~ Least ya know now~~ ^^

Alright was able to get some pictures of the other side of his face and his feet.




Left Front Foot



Right Front Foot



Left Rear Foot



Right Rear Foot

he is looking much much better! he'll be good as new at this rate

bless him.. i almost cried looking through all these pics and reading about how much shed you've pulled off.. it really is just beyond me how anyone can see an animal, any animal, in such an obviously terrible state and in obvious constant pain and still be able to just sit back and ignore it and let it get as bad as it was..

bah..

still, he looks absolutly amazing compared to how he did when you first got him, you've done an awesome job.
hope he heals well and quickly, poor little dude..

I think you've got past the hardest part now,thats a massive improvement in him.

The left front foot is in the best condition. The right front has a toe I think I was too late to save but there is still blood supply so I do have hope.

The rear toes are a mix, some seem very strangulated some are ok, I'm not sure on any of them but i'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I almost think the face will be right as rain after another shed It's all healing well and a lot of the initial swelling has gone down now that all the shed is gone. It's just a waiting game.

Feed good grub, keep his face clean, wait for the next shed to lift away the damage to the scales.

He is eating great and after a bit of initial fussing about the greens he's got it figured out, he kept trying to lick everything up as if he didn't realize that he had to actually bite this stuff. but after i stuck a few bits in his mouth he figured it out. He still gets dry catfood for now until I'm sure he's healed enough for the wet stuff.

I'm planning on switching him off the papertowels soon and going to Carefresh/Critter care so he will get to figure out burrowing soon, I'm sure he hasn't done that in awhile either since they kept him on cheap indoor/outdoor carpet. I tried shredding up some paper towels and filling his hide but it's just not the same.

God bless you for all you have done - I'd be right behind you in that dark alley with the previous owner! I can hardly look at the first pics, you have done an amazing job!

I'm sorry I have not been here for a while. What happend to him? Did he get burned??????????

herpboy that skink was kept for two years on dirty carpet being fed tablescraps and baby food. with no care being put into it's health whatsoever

Luce can answer this better than i can but needless to say it was disgusting horrid deplorable conditions. the previous owner needs to be thrown in a cold damp cellar and fed molding bread and garbage for a couple of years.
:edit:
and Luce you've done a fantastic job your dedication to quinn is an inspiration keep up the fantastic work the improvement is amazing.

sheslikeheroin wrote:herpboy that skink was kept for two years on dirty carpet being fed tablescraps and baby food. with no care being put into it's health whatsoever

Luce can answer this better than i can but needless to say it was disgusting horrid deplorable conditions. the previous owner needs to be thrown in a cold damp cellar and fed molding bread and garbage for a couple of years.

and you've done a fantastic job your dedication to quinn is an inspiration keep up the fantastic work

Thanks!!!