BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

An eye update:

uvguide.co.uk now has a warning up about the ReptiSun compact fluorescents: http://www.uvguide.co.uk/reptisuncompacts.htm

I was feeling pretty good after seeing the improvement after Ping's first shed after the damage. Imagine my horror when I came home after he shed again, and saw this:


Not only has his left eyelid barely improved, but he rubbed it raw! It's still so stiff when he tries to close it. I caught him rubbing it even more, so now his tank is skink-proofed, with no rough decorations and paper towels as substrate. It looks like a horrible minimalist piece of art and I'm sure he's hating it. I made a vet appointment, but the earliest I can get in is Saturday. I'm going to a clinic in Manhattan on a recommendation, so I can be sure that I will see a real reptile vet. Like everything else in the city, it's going to cost, but I don't care.

Fortunately the eyelid looks to have scabbed over a bit.


These are details that can only really be seen in close up photos. In real life or from a distance it just looks like he was in a brawl and got a black eye.


He's still spunky though.

Thanks for the warning. For years we've been hearing "closer, closer, closer" when using UV bulbs and that the ray output from the bulbs is poor after so many inches distance and it decreases with time. Now it appears they are making the bulbs stronger without proper warning.

Hope Ping heals quickly.

I had a bad feeling because I didn't seen him out on the webcam so I left work to check on him...he is twitching...called five animal hospitals before I found one that will see him..

what have I done?

I am waiting now to be picked up (no car in terrible urban NJ) and driven there

I'm so glad you're such a dedicated Bluey parent.. good luck at the Vet!

hope everthing goes well please let us know the outcome

Good luck and keep us updated.

AneesasMuse wrote:I'm so glad you're such a dedicated Bluey parent.. good luck at the Vet!

Definitely agreed there. Good luck.

Love the last picture!

Hijinks wrote:I had a bad feeling because I didn't seen him out on the webcam so I left work to check on him...he is twitching...called five animal hospitals before I found one that will see him..

what have I done?

I am waiting now to be picked up (no car in terrible urban NJ) and driven there

Oh I hope he's OK, sending good thoughts your way.

Definatly keep us up dated!

I just double checked and I have the 10.0 compact.

Maybe this was what caused Quigly's eye issue awhile ago? Quigs has gotten better though, I hope your baby does so as well.

Good luck at the vets !!! hope he's ok !!

Hope everything goes well!

f.C

Lost: $384
Gained: nothing yet

By the time I got there the twitching had stopped. They took blood and will have the results tomorrow.

They gave him a calcium injection, vitamin b injection, and "fluids" AND I DON'T RECALL SPECIFICALLY GIVING PERMISSION FOR THESE. I said OK to the blood work and no to an x-ray for now. They did this in a back room, not in front of me, so I don't know how these "fluids" were administered but when I got him home he had a distinct clicking in his breathing I had never heard before!! I hope they were not given orally and went down the wrong pipe. I would NOT have OKed the fluids and injections if they had asked me specifically!!! They even said "his bones feel good and his diet looks balanced" and they went ahead and did it!! Does anybody know if anything bad could come of this?

And to top it off, they didn't tell me anything useful about his eye. I still have another vet appointment on Saturday and I will probably keep it to get another opinion on what just happened. It could easily cost the same amount, but he's the only one that relies on me aside from myself, so I'm not depriving anyone of anything by spending the time/money/energy. I love you, Ping.

And at least he's still eating. I had to wake him up (unusual for this time of night ) but now he's gulping it down (yay ). The vet noted that he "produced a huge fecal sample" so... ha ha ha. Animals CAN communicate.

Well, I hope they find something conclusive for you... but I sure am happy his back end knows how to let them know what he thinks of all that poking and prodding stuff

Communication is a good thing... no matter how it's presented

edit: I should say, it's a good thing for this scenario... okay?

They did this in a back room, not in front of me, so I don't know how these "fluids" were administered but when I got him home he had a distinct clicking in his breathing I had never heard before!! I hope they were not given orally and went down the wrong pipe. I would NOT have OKed the fluids and injections if they had asked me specifically!!! They even said "his bones feel good and his diet looks balanced" and they went ahead and did it!! Does anybody know if anything bad could come of this?

I am thinking they probably gave him subcutaneous fluids. Meaning through the skin on his back. But with reptiles I wonder how they would get around damaging the scales... maybe with a very small syringe.. Or maybe they have an entirely different way to give fluids to lizards. (I know, I'm no help.)

Either way, I don't think a little extra fluid can hurt. It probably helped with him having such a big poop! lol

Your such a good bluey parent!

Keep us posted!

mom22wins wrote:
I am thinking they probably gave him subcutaneous fluids. Meaning through the skin on his back. But with reptiles I wonder how they would get around damaging the scales... maybe with a very small syringe.. Or maybe they have an entirely different way to give fluids to lizards. (I know, I'm no help.)

Oh yes...you're right...it says SubQ on the receipt... I don't know anything about these procedures and freaking out is what I do best. <- me, all the time
There is a little scuff near the base of his tail, so I'm thinking that's where they did it. I really should have asked that they do this in front of me. Maybe they saw that I'd been in hysterics and were worried I'd come at them or something. Now I am freaking out over the fact that he's sleeping, when usually he's still roaming around long after the lights go out (and they're out at midnight EST). "He did have a very long day" is what I am telling myself. He spent some time with his nose in my ear and I didn't hear the clicking again. It's possible I was insane and mistaking the sounds of my fingers against his skin. But there was no mistaking what I saw with that twitch and I don't regret getting it checked right away. His back legs and the muscles at the base of his tail were spasming. Not like flailing around, but a very very noticeable twitch. I hope it doesn't happen again, but if it does I will try to have the presence of mind to get video.

Well, the vet said he had a big poo.. maybe he was twitching to break it up or loosen it or something.. ::chin::

My old lizards had jabs{Iguana ,Chameleon} both received these in the tail region, that vet had NO RIGHT to give anything you havent O.Ked, they can do damage if they o.d. the calcium , you're a responsible owner that feeds a good diet, I would complain to the practice manager, and I've had experience with newbie vets claiming they're Dr Dollittle before, much to keen to get thier under trained fingers on my animals for practice{nearly chinned one once}, I hope you can get some GOOD advice on the w/e, keeping my fingers crossed for the pair of you.

I am having some trouble following this case. Perhaps I missed something.

I was under the impression that Ping was having an eye issue. Has he been acting abnormally otherwise?

You mentioned a twitch. To help clarify what was going on, what caused you to perceive this as an emergency? Was it similar to a seizure? A tremor of a limb? Or his whole body?

If an animal is rushed into a vets office under emergency conditions, then procedures are going to be followed to insure the animal survives and IV or SQ fluids are almost always given. This should have been a small part of your bill. I suspect the bloodwork or labwork makes up the majority of the fee, along with the emergency office visit.

Talk to the office manager and tell them you felt you should have been kept informed of the fees being charged and an estimate of the work being done. I am surprised the vet in charge didn't talk to you and let you know exactly what was being done and the estimate of costs. Unless you ordered them to do anything to save your bluey and they took him to the back to work on him. Even then most vets will discuss costs because many people aren't willing to spend hundreds of dollars to save small animals such as pocket pets.

Clicking while breathing can be a normal sound on occasion.

As far as the vet visit for the eye, make sure you are seeing a recommended reptile vet. Don't just go to any office that "agrees" to see your lizard.

I am starting to think that just one eye being affected by UV and no other signs of burns or damage is unlikely to be due to the light. It is possible your skink has more going on.

Keep us posted on how he is doing and what the bloodwork shows and if he ends up on antibiotics. Hang in there! A sick pet is very stressful.

Thank you for all your responses and interest!!!

Hi, Kristine,
Both eyes were affected by the light. One has healed, but the other looks no better after his latest shed. I just wanted a vet to look at it and tell me the extent of this damage, whether it might be permanent, and whether we can do anything to relieve the discomfort he must be feeling (since he is still rubbing it).



These pictures (from the beginning of the ordeal) are bad. Here is a thread with quite a few more: http://bluetongueskinks.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9443

Because of this I feel like he's been in some sort of pain ever since I got him, so I've been in on edge constantly. I monitor him from work, and when I saw a break in his usual pattern I went home to see what he was doing. The tremors were isolated to both back legs and the area across his back/base of tail between them. To be honest, what made me perceive the twitching as an emergency is probably a case of "knowing enough to be dangerous." Already paranoid due to the eye, and reading that the hind legs twitching in reptiles could be a sign of a deficiency, I felt like getting him some care was long overdue and I flipped out. I tried calling everyone within a reasonable distance listed on Herp Vet Connection, but I kept getting bounced around and referred to other places. The vet I have an appointment on Saturday is on that herp vet list, though. Yes, the blood work and the fact that I did not have an appointment makes up over half of the bill. I never heard anything about the cost until I got to the cashier. I guess they saw the tears in my eyes and just assumed.

Poor bubba.

I can tell you that with most eye cases, supportive care is about the best you can do after the damage is done. Eye washes, ointment, etc. Salt water eye washes and cold tea-bag compresses are very soothing.

It will be interesting to see what the herp vet says about the cause of the eye problems and if they are UV burns.

Most vets charge out their fees with a system of itemized procedures and supplies. I doubt they took advantage of you just because you were upset. But they may have talked to you about the cost and in your distress it didn't register or process. It is still worth talking to the office manager about your feeling unhappy with their bill and that you felt uninformed. If they have a vet on staff who is not doing a good job communicating with clients, they need to know about it.