Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, It seems after 2 months my new rainbow skink's bottom jaw seems to always stay open. It like he can't shut it anymore and is having trouble eating crickets as he just pecks at them. This has been going on for about 3 weeks, but was hoping it was related to his recent scaling. Is this common for skinks? What is going on?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Paul

2 possible causes come immediately to my mind.
One is stomatitis (mouth rot) and the other is MBD.

Check the inside of your skink's mouth. Does it look clean and pink (not knowing much about rainbow skinks, I'll assume they have a pink tongue ordinarily), or is it pale? Is there mucus? If there's alot of mucus or unhealthy looking tissue you're probably dealing with stomatitis.

Check the bones that make up the jaw. Are they misshapen in any way? Do they feel soft or spongy? If so, it's most probably metabolic bone disease.

One other thought -- is the skink wheezing or whistling when it breathes? Is there dried or wet snot in the nostrils? Could be a bad respiratory infection.

All of these situations (and proper diagnonis) call for veterinary intervention. I suggest that you call your vet ASAP.

Check anapsid.org, arav.org or herpvetconnection.com for vets in your area if you don't already have one.

Good luck!

-Z

Thanks, Just made an appointment with the vet.
I'll bring along your list and have him explain each to me.

Paul

n/p