Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I bought my first skink today, and set it up a cage using cypress mulch and a hide. I gave it a plate with a few banana slices some spinich and 3 grapes. I went out to the movies and came home to find that he ate some bananas and a grape but i noticed a little bit of mucus like blood in the cage. I pulled him out to inspect and there are no signs of injury anywhere. I was hoping to get some thoughts before i take him to the vet this week (which i was planning anyway). Now i dont know the sex of the animal, but it is possible that he/she could be pregnant because it is pretty fat looking.

I have no idea, but I'll respond anyway since nobody else seems to be responding to stuff here very often.

It seems very possible to me that she could be pregnant, but you never know if something else is wrong. I'd do some research about diet and stuff to make sure it wasn't something she ate.

I've also heard that people often find out they bought a sick skink a couple of days of having them home from the pet store. With all the different animals and the stress of moving around and stuff I would imagine that's why sicknesses are probably pretty common in pet stores.

Of course, since you planned on taking it to the vet anyway, you might as well do it now just in case... you don't want the thing dying overnight or while your gone at work or something. Good luck...

Is it possible that it could be the grapes, or residue from them? there have been cases in dogs of them getting kidney failure due to grapes, how they haven't figured out to my knowledge. But there is some connection. Maybe that could transfer over to reptiles? I don't feed any of my reptiles grapes anymore, or cherries for that matter. Not with all the other fruit choices available. Best of luck

It would help to know more about the skink. Is it an adult? How old? How much blood was there? Just a little staining? Did you cut the grapes? When you checked him/her over, did you check in the mouth? Claws? Vent area?

Wood from the mulch could have wedged into the mouth and cause bleeding, so checking to make sure there aren't any slivers etc, would be a good ideal (be careful with opening the mouth though...skinks do have a very powerful bite.)

Is the blood like little droplets? or more like blood mixed with some other liquid (mucus, water etc.)

Green grapes or red grapes?

Oh and for future reference, I would not offer spinach at all. This tends to bind calcium and thus make it impossible to be used by the body. Best to use other greens such as collard greens, mustard greens, endive etc, pretty much all the same healthy greens you would give a bearded dragon or green iguana (for a great site on greens and vegetables for bearded dragons which are good for BTS, see www.beautifuldragons.com
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PHLdyPayne