Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys,

I need some advice (again)! I've had my BTS for about 5 months. I work at a shelter for animals and someone brought it in, since we don't take care of lizards (no equipment) the only thing we could offer the lady was to put the poor thing to sleep (she wanted to let it go in the wild, coz of course thats a good idea in the UK!!!) OK, long story short, I couldn't see it put down so i took it home with me and its been quite happy ever since, with a few problems of course. The main one is she doesn't seem to be eating very much. I've tried her on absolutly everything I can think of (and belive me I think its everything they could possibly ever eat). The only thing she will eat is dog food and bannana. This is what the lady told us and I didn't know any better until I got home and checked on the net. I've tried everything, She went for 2 weeks without touching her food because it wasn't dog food or bannana. Even then it seems such a small amount. Maybe 3 or 4 bites of it. Thats all she ever eats and thats 3 times a week! I've noticed she has lost quite a lot of weight. She was quite chunky when I got her, I don't think she is too thin now but i don't want it to carry on any longer. What shall I do? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated! I've tried changing her substrate over as someone suggested this, it made things worse, so I changed back. Her heat is perfect, her enclosure has 2 digital thermometers in it so I know that isn't the problem.

also,, I know this may sound silly but her under-neck (if u know what I mean - between her front legs and jaw line) looks more pinkish than usual and looks either swollen or baggy!

Any suggestions?!?!?!?!?

Thanx alot

Terry

I'd take he rthe Vet but there isn't one where I live, I tried taking her to a few but thay all said they don't deal with exotic pets and the pet shop where the lady got her from has closed down about 3 months ago!

Try grapes, strawberries, peches, snails, meal worms. boiled chicken, or prekilled rat pups. These are all items that will often snap a fussy eater back into the swing of things. There is always something you can try. There could something wrong if she is actually loosing weight. A little is ok, but you need to be careful, and monitor her closly. Tell us more about her set up. Temps, type of enclosure, ect. The more info the better.

n/p
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Edward
Carpe diem

Terry, thanks for letting us know about your skinks condition. My advice to you, even though i certainly am not as experienced on the matter as James or Edward are, is that it could be parasites. If the skink has abnormal feces, which you didn't really say anything about in your post, and is losing weight and hardly eating, and you have tried a varied diet... than something is probably seriously wrong with it or it has parasites. what species is it???, if it is a gigas or irian jayan, i would definetely think it could have parasites, because it is probably a wild caught skink. if you suspect this, and there is no herp vet in your area, that i would try to do research online and administer flaglyl or panacure to the skink, but i am interested to know what kind of skink it is and if the feces are normal, as well as what James or Edward think about the possiblility of parasite infestation in this case.

As you mentioned, parasites are always a possibility, especially in wild caught skinks. I just hate to jump to conclusions when I do not know all the factors that are involved in the situation. I too am curious as to what type it is, and what its feces looks liks, along with many other things. However, this could just as easily be a case of a BTS fasting for no apparent reason or possibly out of boredom as some BTS occasionally do. It is just hard to say with out knowing more.

Terry,

If your big blue has a slightly sunken back, she may lack Calcium. I would try alternate days of calcium and reptivite supplements by hand or force-feeding. If that doesn't work, watch a few days for changes in activity and if necessary, start treating for parasites ie. baytral.

Good luck,
Jean