Help needed with sick Blue Tongue

[NancyA]

I apologize for posting with out a proper introduction but I'm a little desperate. My Blue-Tongued Skink is an older male, age unknown. I bought him in 2002 at a petstore. He was in deplorable condition at the time, malnurished with mites and parasites. Up until this past Monday he has always been the picture of health.
What's happened so far.
Monday night saw a small amount of mucus in one corner of mouth, less than 1/4 inch. He had eaten, pooped and moving around fine. I watched him for quite a while thinking his breathing may have been a little faster than the norm. He is currently shedding
Tuesday morning still shedding, looks good, breathing normal no mucus ate breakfast no issues
Tuesday night again small amount of mucus in one corner of his mouth. His breathing increased after handling and he appeared distressed. Calmed after about 20 minutes.
Wednesday morning breathing appears fast again, no mucus noted.
Got an appointment for 2:50 so I took him to work with me maintained his temps in tub. Still appears to be breathing heavier.
Xrays and blood work. He stayed at the vets while I returned to work. Back to the vets at 7. Xrays normal, blood work being sent to University of Miami.
His throat is almost entirely occluded causing the breathing issue. No masses seen on xray. Vet is consulting with other herp vets. He was started on antibiotics IM for 5 days. Vet showed me how to do the injections so he could go home. Concern is possible organ failure or hopefully an abcess beginning under the chin which is not visable yet. Vets did try to aspirate under chin but it was negative for fluids. Abdomen is also bloated at this time. Because of his advanced unknown age it's uncommon to see them in vets office in the US. He feels that he is a New Guinea Skink not a Northern. This confirms the first vet in 2002 statement of wild caught because he was loaded with parasites and mites. Unusual so they said to see in captive bred individuals.
Does anyone have any ideas of what may be happening or things that the vet could look at or the name of another herp vet that treats blue tongues?
This is happening all so fast I'm at a loss on what to do. I've bumped up his temps a little which the vet approved.
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[Planky]

it could be an upper nasal respiratory infection witch the antibiotics will cure

 

[NancyA]

Thank you for your responce. Exam and full body xray rulled out all respiratory infections. All the vet could think of was I may have brought him before an abscess formed in his throat due to the edema and swelling. This the antibiotics should cure too. I'm praying that I see some improvement over the next day or so. This all came on so suddenly since Monday.

After consulting with numerous exotics vets we tried Precious on Lasix with no reaction. I could not watch him suffer anymore after trying to save him for two weeks. None of the vets have seen an older Blue-Tongued Skink over here saying most die before age 10. I brought him over to the Veterinary College to be euthanized and have donated his remains for study. Hopefully the new vets coming out of the school will be familiar with these amazing animals. They wanted a detailed description of his husbandry over the past 12 years. The only things I see that I have done differently is not keeping him in a humid environment, use of UVB lighting and feeding him daily. He has also never eaten invertibrates, only ate cooked chicken.

 

[NickGeee]

Yeah respiratory. Good luck with him or her, mine had it but just survived.

 

[Chris1]

Sorry to hear, but it sounds like you made the right decision, will the college let you know if they find what was wrong?

Hope you're ok, must be hard after so many years together.

RIP Bluey.

 

[NancyA]

Nickg respiratory infection was ruled out after full body xrays and blood work. He was also put on antibiotics for 5 days while awaiting test results as precaution. His body had bloated with edema most likely due to heart failure which was causing him difficulty in breathing. Yes Chris it was a very difficult decision to make. The teaching exotics vet over at the college is a friend of one of my friends so I'm hoping I can get some feed back. The vet that was treating him has also contacted the school in hopes of sharing information regarding his necropsy. To be honest I was totally stunned when I found out that Blue-Tongued Skinks don't live that long over here. How old do they live in captivity in Australia?