Meet Our Blue Tongue Skink Rescue!

How it all started:

On Monday I got a text from Hubby about a blue tongue skink rescue.

How could I say no?

So when I picked up Hubby from school that afternoon, I met our newest addition. His original owners apparently dropped it off without any kind of enclosure, so Hubby was carrying it in a cinch sack inside his coat.

I didn’t get a good look at our blue tongue skink rescue until we got home:

No wonder he called it a “rescue.” Total damage: malnutrition, spine deformity, mouth abrasion, stuck shed, overgrown claws, missing toes, regrown tail, and suggested breathing problems.

According to our friend Clint, the skink was close to death when he arrived. Clint has many reptiles of his own, and between caring for them, his family, and working, he didn’t have time for a rescue. At least he was able to fatten him up a bit.

Based on size and the fact that neglectful reptile owners rarely keep their reptiles for very long, we estimated the skink at ~1 year old.

We got to work.

We gave him a bath, clipped his nails, and removed the stuck shed on his toes. Some of them are so raw he might still lose them. :'( After all that, we gave him a good meal. Clint said he wasn’t eating well, but look at the little guy go! No skink can resist my “meatballs.”

Fortunately we had recently picked up a 55 gallon tank for separating Nabooru and Deliora, along with extra heat lamps. Even though it’s only 48x13x20 (4 sq ft), we suspect it’s MUCH better than the bin he had been living in before. Due to the skink’s raw toes, we set up a fairly sterile environment: fleece blanket, flagstone for basking, hide, and water dish.

And we decided to call it “Kinks” until we could figure out a more dignified title. After a quick experiment with Morgana (who recently dropped a sperm plug to inform us he is, in fact, MALE, and is now re-named Hermes), we think it’s most likely Kinks is a boy. Let’s hope he stays that way! 😉

Moving Forward

In spite of being a blue tongue skink rescue case, Kinks is the sweetest bluey I’ve ever met. He loves to explore, but unlike Morgana/Hermes, doesn’t try to hide. And when he gets tired, he’s content to rest with us. I wonder if the calmer temperament is because he’s a Northern…?

We’re taking him to the vet as soon as we can, but meanwhile we’re giving him daily baths, massaging with mineral oil to keep his scales in good condition, and antibiotic ointment on his raw toes. To fatten him up we’re offering a “meatball” every other day, and extra calcium supplement plus D3 with raw egg in between. We’re told that as he fattens up, the dip in his spine will get less obvious.

And just this morning we settled on a name: Kairos. It’s Greek for “opportunity,” with a connotation of luck. I think it’s fitting, don’t you?