Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just rescued a pretty beat up PTS last night. Very thin and dehydrated, lots of stuck shed and very few toes left. It didn't have any interest in greens last night so perhaps someone has some experience on rescues. Just looking for any tips or tricks that you found to work for you. I don't want to feed it anything too rich as it doesn't look like it's been fed much at all. Thanks for any ideas.

PTS can some times take a long time to recover, keep the cage simple paper towel, and a water bowel large enough to soak in. it will be a pain to keep clean they are messy animals. I would suggest trying Pothos make sure you wash it off to clear it of chemicals. Also mist the cage allot some PTS prefer drink from the condensation to a water bowl. Most PTS also like bananas or green beans I use the frozen bagged stuff. the bananas are easy to eat and the fruit if high in sugar and potassium might give the little guy a bit of a boost. Good luck with him/her they can take a long time to fully recover.

Devon

It seems counterintuitive, but severely dehydrated animals often lose the desire to drink fluids. If the animal is drinking on it's own you might try offering Pedialite, Gatorade or another drink that has sugar and electrolytes in it. Just as this helps athletes (and folks with hangovers) rehydrate quickly, it will help the skink. If the animal is not drinking on it's own your best bet is to take it to the vet to have it injected with fluids. Once it's hydrated you stand a much better chance of it starting to eat and drink on it's own.

Looking at the date of your post I realize that this email is already too late to help you in this particular instance but I'm guessing there will be a next time.