BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

So my little 3 and 1/2 year old male northern bts, Paarthurnax is on 2 types of liquid medication. They gave me 2 small syringes for each bottle. Also the vet is closed today so that’s why I’m asking you guys on here. Plus you might have better more creative answers But one of his medications is
Hepasil- VetOmega Liver supplement

It’s a liquid mixed with a THICK GRAINY substance. You can’t shake it or it’ll mess with the strength of the medication. You have to either roll the bottle slow in your hands or stir it with something. I’ve been using a chop stick to stir it up cause it’s faster and easier. When it’s all mixed up I take the syringe and slowly fill it up. Then I get out bubbles and try to line it up with the line telling me how much I need to give him. Within literally 1 second, the medication IMMEDIATELY begins to separate and the thick grainy stuff gets stuck in the syringe not allowing me to get the air out it and line up the right amount of meds, and when I have gotten it right, I can’t never push the full amount into his mouth cause it clogs up so fast! I try my best to push it out and start over but then I can’t pull the plunger back without the plastic part separating from the squishy black stopper. I don’t know what to do. I’m so frustrated and anxious cause I want my baby to get better. I’ve used 3 out of the 4 syringes they gave me. The 4th I’m trying to keep for the other medication so I don’t want to mess that up too.

I’ve tried running the syringe under hot water, I’ve tried using something small to push the black part back up the syringe. I’ve tried a lot and nothing is working… I have to give my baby this medicine TWICE a day. He hasn’t gotten it yet this morning and I’m so defeated and frustrated. Please guys, any advice would be truly helpful.

Hey, there...first I wouldn't stress. I would wait until the morning and call the vet to let them know what you are experiencing and have them help. I have actually never heard of this medication, so I am unfortunately not familiar with it and how to help more. Just keep getting the other med in and wait till they can direct you further. Good luck and I hope your skink feels better soon.

I've never heard of it either. Northerns rarely get sick... why is your skink on it?

Thank you for replying. Yeah I left a message today and I’ll call again tomorrow, I was able to administer the medication thankfully. But I’ll definitely call back and ask them for more advice.

And I know northerns rarely get sick :/ that’s another reason I’ve been so hard on myself. He’s been in for a check up a month earlier for a basic physical. I couldn’t afford blood work at the time. I wish I did, maybe I could have caught this sooner. I’m constantly doing research and making sure I’m up to date on their care and husbandry. I don’t know what I did wrong. It’s been really stressing me out.

Tldr: kidney and liver functions not working properly, causing high levels of uric acid, and possibly gout making left arm very swollen.

Long detailed story:

Basically one night after his lights went out, he’s usually under his water dish and sleeping. But he was leaning on his water dish in a basking pose which his face pointed up. He was very still and not moving. I thought okay, lizards are weird. I’m sure he’s fine. But after an hour I was like okay somethings not right, so I took him out and I put him on my bed. Usually when he gets out on my bed he immediately starts exploring and looking for a place to burrow and be comfy. But he stayed still, not fully limp but lethargic and almost limp leaning on me. He seemed a bit bloated too.

I immediately knew something was wrong. I was so scared. This was at 1am in the middle of the night. Thankfully my mom was still awake and so was my little brother(he’s the only one in my family with a car and license) so I checked my vets website and went to the 24/7 animal hospital they referred. When we got there they took him back and told me he was active and moving around fine. He might have just been cold. They couldn’t do an extensive check up because they don’t really deal with reptiles. They doctor was so nice and helpful. He said I don’t want you charge you all this money to even attempt taking his blood when we might not be able to. You’ll have to get that done anyway at your vet so I won’t try unless you want me to. So they nicely didn’t charge us anything and told us to call my vet in the morning and they’ll let me come in immediately. They even sent a text to my vet cause they work closely with him. So they said keep him warm, he seems a bit cold.

So I left his basking light on all night. They said if he’s bloated maybe he’s constipated so they said give him a nice warm soak. And when I brought him home and put him in the bath to soak, he still didn’t move and was very lethargic(he also hates baths. Whenever I put him in he immediately tries to climb out. And this time he stayed totally still in the water) so I don’t know why he was active and seemed fine at the hospital. Thankfully the soak helped, and he did poop a little bit and started moving again. So I thought okay he’s constipated or impacted?

Next day I bring him to the vet. They said the same thing, he was active. Did some blood work. Called me back the next day with results. They said he had elevated levels of something (I forgot the words) but it had to do with either his liver or kidneys not being fully functional so he had high levels of uric acid and his kidneys or liver were irritated and inflamed a bit. They also gave him a shot for an anti biotic in case it was an infection. They said to schedule an appointment to get X-rays done. So I scheduled them for as soon as possible which was a week later, but then 2 days later I go to check on him in the morning and his left front arm was VERY swollen and he was barely using it. I immediately called the vet and they let me bring him in. They did the X-rays said nothing was broken or fractured. They don’t see any abnormalities but they’re going to have a radiologist look and call me some time this week. They gave him a shot of basically Tylenol, so for the pain he may be experiencing from his arm and an anti inflammatory to help with the swelling.

What they think is happening is whatever is causing his liver and kidneys to not work properly could have possibly created a high level of uric acid which has possibly caused him to have gout which is why his arm is swollen. So they started him on gout medication and then the liver supplement which is the medication that’s super thick.

I’ve been so worried. I don’t know what I did wrong. I love him so so SO much. He’s definitely a bit more active for the past week. But he’s also still a little still and slow. Especially after I give him his meds he immediately shuts down and doesn’t move. It scares me so much. I’m terrified he’s going to get so stressed out that it kills him. I’m doing the best I can. I just don’t know what I did wrong. I wish I knew so I can correct it. On top of all of this my mom has been using her tax money and house renovation money to help me pay for the vet but she told me yesterday she really has no more money she can front. So I have to find him insurance asap. Because I don’t want to hear from the vet and have them tell me he needs something that’s going to be expensive and then I’ll have to surrender him so that he will get the care he needs. I can’t lose my boy. I’ve got SO many horrible things going on in my life that are extremely stressing me out. I’ve got horrible depression and anxiety on top of that and he’s what keeps me going. He keeps me sane and happy. He’s my everything! I can’t lose him..

Hi there and I am sorry to read about all that your skink has been going through. Sounds like a tough and scary time. So I would continue to do exactly what your vet has told you to do. Follow all their instructions. Make sure the medication gets in him. Also is your skink eating still? What is your set up? Temps? Humidity? Substrate? What have you been feeding him. Where did you get this skink again?

Omg… I’m so mad right now. I just wrote out a huge reply about his set up and everything you asked. And then the vet called me back this morning so I wrote an update and when I went to hit preview I had to log back in and the whole message I typed out was gone X__X

So I’m gonna need a break before trying to write this out again lol but I’ll definitely reply today.

But I just wanna add really quick, thank you so much for your concern! I promise I’ll write everything again today. I just don’t have time atm to sit down and rewrite all of what I wrote :/

Hey so thank you for the concern. Paarthurnax has definitely been a little stressed with all this going on. But he’s taking it like a champ and really doing so much better in my opinion.

Having to wrap him in a towel and gently try to put a syringe into the side corner of his mouth has been a little difficult. Some days he does really well! But then some days he’ll be a little fussy and bite down on the syringe and not let it go for a bit. He’s been doing so much better each day but like I said, some days he’s still fussy. I’ve been very slow and patient with giving him his meds, I just feel so bad stressing him out.

But okay, so his set up is pretty basic. My vet said it was fine. So we really don’t know the cause of his issues. Thankfully he’s been more active. The arm that was swollen is still a little swollen but not as bad and he’s using it again, which is great.

Here’s my set up:

The tank is 3ft x 18inch x 18inch
Huge water dish on the cool side in case he wants to soak which he doesn’t but I like giving him the option, plus he loves sleeping under that huge water dish. So I’ve got the water dish on the cool side, on the warmer basking side behind the light is another hide, his basking spot in front, and a big fake plant with vines to give more coverage. It’s not a lot. I’d like to add more rocks or bricks because his claws are getting a little long and I’m not able to cut them. I usually file them cause it’s easier and it won’t hurt.

The temp is 90-100 basking
65-75 cool side

I use repti bark substrate and spot clean daily. And then every few weeks or once a month I try to clean out and replace as much substrate as I can and when I do that I use lots of water to really get the substrate nice and damp but not too wet to where it’ll cause mold.

I do have a problem with humidity at the moment. I just moved back to my moms house and my room gets very dry. I try to spray his enclosure once to twice a day. But it’s still a little dry. I’m looking into buying a humidifier for my room.

I have a long horizontal tube uvb light that’s a 5.0. I think I’m going to switch to a 10.0 though.

I feed him 25% instinct grain free freeze dried chicken dog food, I add 50% zilla omnivore mix and 25% zilla fruit and vegetables mix as well. The serving size is about the size of his head. I also dust with calcium and once a month I add a multi vitamin powder as well. I feed him this once a week.

And then once or twice a week he gets Flunkers freeze dried Dubia roaches or sometimes a fruit I’m eating I’ll give him some after looking up if it’s okay to eat. But lately he’s gotten the roaches and It’s his FAVORITE snack ever! When the tongs come out he immediately gets so alert and in hunting mode it’s the cutest coolest thing ever! He LOVES those roaches. Maybe I’m feeding him too many at a time? I’m not entirely sure how many I can give him at once. Because if I don’t stop him he’ll want to keep eating more and more. I’ve given him 5 at a time once. Maybe that’s too much. If it is please let me know

And that’s basically it. He’s still eating and drinking. Thankfully he didn’t stop doing that.


UPDATE:
Also the vet called me this morning because they spoke to the radiologist and they told me so his liver is not huge or super abnormal but it’s not the regular size either. It’s slightly larger so it’s irritated and inflamed a bit. So they believe he’s got high levels of uric acid, he possibly has gout which is why his arm swelled up. And then they told me when they looked at his spine on the X-ray they saw signs of arthritis.

My baby boy is only 3 3/4. He’ll be 4 in June. When I got him he was healthy. Everything was going great. The breeder was so kind and helpful and knowledgeable. He told me Paarthurnax was definitely captive bred. So I really don’t know how this happened to him. I constantly try to keep up on research to make sure I’m caring for him correctly. I don’t know how this all happened. The vet doesn’t know either. She said my set up seemed fine. I was being really down on myself cause I want to correct whatever I did to let this happen. But she said they don’t know what caused it but let’s just focus on getting him better.

So he’s gonna stay on the liver supplement and gout medication. And in a month I’ll be taking him back in for blood work again to see if his levels went down. This whole experience has been very expensive. I’m not in a good place financially at the moment. Thankfully my mom was renovating the house and gave me some of that money to help pay for his vet fees. My vet also told me about insurance options for his health which I’m definitely going to look into and get because this process is probably going to cost me a lot more to keep him healthy and better with lots of future check ups. So hopefully I can get him covered before his next appointment.

So yeah, that’s my set up. And that’s the update on what the vet said. I typed a lot so I’m sorry if it’s too much to read. I just wanted to give as much detail was possible in case someone can help or maybe this post can help others, or even for anyone studying reptiles to become a vet or zoologist maybe this post can help as well.

Thank you so much for staying up to date on what’s going on with my chonky noodle boy. You guys are the best! thank you.

Hey if anyone wanted an update. I think I know what went wrong


So I truly feel awful. I believe this may be my fault. My boy was very healthy before this. But I read online that Dubia roaches were very healthy and a great snack for skinks. So I ordered some freeze dried ones. And my boy LOVED THEM! he’s usually VERY picky. So I was so excited to know he loved them so much. Without even thinking I must have given him too many.

It says gout can be caused by too much protein. Even one article said too many Dubia roaches could do it. So I feel so horrible. I haven’t given him any since. Last time I gave him some were 2 weeks ago. And I’m still seeing pieces of the roaches in his poop. He’s still bloated as well. That could be from the roaches or inflamed liver. As soon as I can I’ll be contacting his vet to let them know about the roaches and see what they say.

So for anyone who did read my crazy long ramblings, please be careful with feeding too much protein or this could happen to you :/

Thank you everyone who’s been following this and supporting me and have been so helpful and caring about the situation. I truly appreciate you guys. I’m glad I have a specialized vet for reptiles but when I can’t reach them I’m glad I have an experienced community of herpers who can calm my crazy anxiety. Thank you.

Interesting. I honestly have never heard of this. I do hope your skink is doing better and better.

Neither did I. But hey, it's a reptile.