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Yesterday morning when I checked on the skinks, King (the female) was sitting on the bottom of the cage, looking very strange. She was laterally compressed, with her spine arched in an odd position. She almost looked like she was straining to defecate, but her muscles weren't moving like she was pushing.

I took her out and she was not aggressive (unusual) and didn't try to move around while I was holding her (also unusual). Her entire body, including abdomen, was rigid. I gave her a warm soak, which produced nothing.

Then I called my vet, who is out of town until next week. With no other herp vets within an hour and a half drive I decided to wait and watch.

This evening King is back to normal. She's eaten a big plate of fruit (to loosen her bowels in case she was straining to defecate) and is actively exploring her hospital tank. My plan is to keep her on her own in a very basic tank at the top end of her heat and humidity range until she either poops for me, or gets worse again and goes to the vet.

Last night I was reading an article by Andrew Devare in a 2001 issue of The Herptile and came across these lines: "Several days after mating, a female Corucia becomes "hunched up", barely mobile, and appears to seek seclusion. This condition seems to be connected with ova passing along the oviduct to the uterus. She returns to her normal state after several days."

Has anyone witnessed this? King is old enough to be sexually mature (approx. 6 years old), but I think Ripper is still too young at only 2 - 2 1/2 years old.

The link provided will take you to my skink photo album. The last 4 pictures are of King yesterday morning. You'll notice that Ripper was on the floor of the cage too, but this is a normal place to find him in the morning.

I'd be interested to hear opinions from the rest of the group.

-Z
Link

I have had something similar happen with Gertie twice, and I think it might have been Sherri who described a similar problem with one or two of her PTS and called it 'going vertical'.
Both of the times this happened with Gertie, I found her on the bottom of the enclosure with an arched back, acting uncomfortable (shifting/straining). She was extremely tense and felt and sounded gas filled when I tapped on her abdomen. The first time I remember I had changed the warm zone locations, and I blamed the temp changes for her problem- I thought she had gotten too cold or was perhaps constipated. The second time I can't remember if there were husbandry changes.
The first time, I was very worried and Gertie got the works- x-rays showed a huge amount of GI gas and very little ingesta except some very hard round feces- she was treated with injectable pain refief and fluids and was back to normal within 24 hours. The second time she did this the following year, she was treated conservatively with soaking- and was normal withing 24 hours. I *think* I was dealing with gas bloat- but ovulation is a very interesting consideration/differential! A note on the x-rays- every x-ray I have done on one of my PTS shows a fair amount of GI gas- especially in the colon region. They seem to be very gassy animals- hind gut fermenters like little rabbits or horses...
On that note, cheers- jess b

Based on the description and the pics, it looks definately like gas. Check for intestinal blockage

On Sherri's post.

See Re: Worried about PTS April 21, 2003 9:41 am

Liz

Hi Everyone,

I want to give great credit where credit is due in this case. Yes, i've had several females 'go vertical' on me in the last few years. The first time it happened, I freaked out & thought my girl was in big trouble. It was Susan, our PTS pioneer, from PTSkinks in Rochester NY, who coined the phrase & who helped me understand what was going on. Interestingly, & this is for you Z, I have noted that this situation only happens to my female PTS & I too began thinking a corulation with ovulation or breeding season. I did all the variables on diet but yet, it still only affected my females at certain times of the year &, unlike Jess, I didn't change the 'basking' area or anything within the enclosure.

Thank you Jess! I was going to answer Z this morning but didn't feel like I had the technological background to contribute in a scientific way to try & explain this. I feel i'm still always learning & that's what makes Corucia so very special. Anyway, I knew you'd come thru, LOL!

Susan is our PTS heroine here! I couldn't have learned as much without her. Good luck to you Z & remember that thru my experiences that rehydration has been the biggest key & symptons usually disappeared between 24 & 48 hours.

Sherri

Sherri, Jess and Liz -

Thanks for the responses. King is now up and actively moving around her hospital tank and she's looking pretty normal again. I have been giving her daily soaks, but still no poop and she's not eating as much as I'd like. As long as she continues to remain active I'll give her another day or two without defecating before I take her in.

I'll keep you updated on what happens. Thanks again for sharing your experiences and knowledge.

-Z

'Candy' one of the twins out of Gertie and Chip is not quite 2.5 years old- and he acting sexually mature. He is not fighting with Dad (yet) but he is actively chasing/nuzzling/attempting to mount Gertie- hense his forced exodus from the group. He is almost as large as Chip as well. So you may also have a precocious male!
jess b

nothing to see here.

Daily soaks, fruit-rich meals, and higher than usual temps and humidity seem to have done their job. King left me a nice big one this morning. The fact that it was very firm makes me think that she was having problems passing it. I'll be continuing to keep her under close observation for awhile.

-Z