rehabilitating bluetongue skink

[instar]

hi all, found a mauled and pathetic bluetongue a few days ago. been tryin to help him some, has shown really good progress so far.

heres progress so far~

Reggy bluetongue (rescue)
Fri may 28 2 pm
eastern bluetongue sex unknown, adult
Cond: slightly emaciated, wounds indicate cat or dog
attack. large bleeding swelling on neck.
eyes closed, limp, not responding

Treatment
Temp at 24c- 29c
wounds painted with iodine
water, snails worms provided
6pm gradient 28 - 31c
humidity 60 %
midnight alert , hasnt eaten, breathing strangly
sat may 29 7.30 pm
has eliminated appeared normal, active
repainted wounds

Sun may 30
Alert active, not eaten yet
Repaint wounds 1 hr sun
return hospital
Has eaten 1 snail
Cleaned wounds, changing to dry treatment
topical antibiotic powder
will try adding cod liver oil to further feeds
will try earthworms, insects, roach and smaller skink


10pm, alert active, encouraged to eat two white bait fish.
return to tank, wounds dry, swelling remains
mon may 31 few hrs in sun
wounds treated (dry) fed dog food with cod liver oil, active
eliminated again
6pm ate more dog food, hand fed
10 pm mon 31, hiding, breathing seems ok. alert.

Hoping to see him well and truely recovered before i release him. I have an area picked out but am a bit concerned to release him during winter. If I call wires etc will they wait till spring and release him?

 

[NCHERPS]

Instar,
If he is in a bad way and is getting better, but his wounds haven't healed, I would imagine Wires would wait until they are fully healed before releasing, and that will probably mean a good few month's, so I reckon it would be springtime at the earliest.

Sounds like you done a good job with him, well done!

Neil

 

[Bryony]

yeah you go instar!!
keep us posted

 

[instar]

Thanks Neil. hes lookin much much better, large ugly weeping swelling on his neck, few puncture wounds too. been cleaned out and dressed and are drying up now but swelling remains. Gonna keep him awhile, see him eating really well and then ill call wires. dont want to get attached to him though. be good practice if i ever buy one. kinda nice natured beasties, so i might yet. cheers. :wink:

 

[Incredible_Reptiles]

Keep up the great work instar!

 

[nuthn2do]

If is has been mauled by an animal it will most likely need antibiotic treatment, escpecially if it was a cat. They carry a bacteria called Pasteurella in their saliva and any sign of respitory distress needs immediate attention, this bacteria kills rapidly.
On the other hand if it was a small terrier type dog it may be suffering from spinal damage.
Craig

 

[Farkurnell]

Ring WIRES so they can get it to a Vet. It'll need anti-biotics for sure.

 

[peterescue]

I dont know where you are in Sydney Instar but you know wher the good herp vets are. Take to one of them and they will call one of the wildlife groups. Preferably Sydney Wildlife as they have a far bigger membership than Wires in Sydney. Their numbers is 02 94134300.
It should be held onto until it is reasonable healed so spring would be the logical release time.
Your treatment so far has been good but your choices of food are not.
NEVER FEED FISH TO BLUETONGUES. They do not have the ability to deal with salt from it and it effecrts their kidneys. Apart from snail the other choices would not be part of its normal diet
I would also suggest that you make sure that it has somewhere to hide.
I dont feed injured rescues in the first week and give and try not to disturb them to much.
I am also not keen on the overuse of antibiotics as this also effects the dgestive system as well.

Peter

 

[instar]

Thanks everyone. appreciated. Re: fish. he ate two whitebait, it wasnt a choice as such, just to encourage it to eat at all(strong smell) it worked. Getting him eating, roaches, crix, earthworms and snails now also teaspoon of dog food occasionally. Dosent appear to have any skeletal injuries, moves freely enough now. Im assuming it was a breif encounterwith whatever tried to eat him. The wounds were through the skin but there was no pus or other sign of major infection. Have been gently cleaning wounds (antiseptic and cotton buds) and at first painted with iodine. now packing clean wounds with antiiseptic topical wound powder. Punctures and small laceration have dryed and appearto be healing, as does one deep puncture wonud on neck, that is still swollen but looking much better. I did provide warm dark hiding place aswell, have not disturbed much. Periods in sun have helped enormously i think. An old cocky cage half shade half sun with a dark hide and waterbowl. Im Thinking its problem was shock as much as the wounds themselves.
Will leave it up to wires or syd wildlife to admin antibiotics, Thanks for the number. Thanks for your encouragement from me and "Reggy bluey" think ill call today to be on the safe side, i trust your opinions re: antibiotics needed. cheers.

 

[instar]

Just fed reggie again, hes lookin good, very active. Have called Sydney wildlife, they will try to get him collected this afternoon. Had to explain that even though i found him in my garden, its NOT siutable bluey territory. Looks like reggie is on the mend.

 

[instar]

Not very great pics, you can see the swelling on the neck, puncture wounds are round the crease of the neck and on his side/back, bit hard to see. Nice color on him though, kinda orangey.

just got a call from sydney wildlife, girl coming to pick up reggy tommorow sometime. ill miss him. :wink:

 

[nuthn2do]

Mate, going by those pics that wound on the neck needs seeing to asap. Looks like an abscess forming, could have crap in there like a piece of broken tooth or something.

 

[instar]

yeah, thats what i thought too, either that or infection. girl is coming tomorrow, meanwhile reg stays in hospital. thanks again mate. :wink:
i will post an update tommorrow, let you all know what is said etc.

 

[nuthn2do]

Cheers instar, should've hit refresh before sending and I would have seen your post
I've found blueys to be tough little buggers and they rarely show outward signs of pain. Seen quite a few act as if theres nothing wrong when they have half their innards on the ground beside them. Hopefully Reggie will come good.

 

[Farkurnell]

Preferably Sydney Wildlife as they have a far bigger membership than Wires in Sydney.

Pffft,
WIRES is heaps bigger than Sydney Wildlife.

 

[instar]

Think he said "IN Sydney". perhaps wires has greater membership overall, including country areas????? :arrow:

 

[instar]

Today "rescue Reggie" is on his way to the vet, courtesy of sydney wildlife. Prognosis is really good. Yah! Have asked to be kept up to date with his progress. Fairwell Reg! 8)

 

[peterescue]

Sydney Wildlife operates in the greater Sydney area. It is not a state wide organisation. We have a larger membership than any other rescue organisation in the Sydney area.
Wires has 4000 members(their figure) statewide. We have approximately 400 active members in Sydney.
Peter

 

[instar]

Whats it take to be number 401???

 

[Bryony]

good on ya instar!!!!
just give wires a call and ask how