Baskden a warm den for reptile folk · baskden.com Sandfish Skink — Vet-Prep Sheet
🔍 Find a reptile / exotics vet — before you need one
- Search the ARAV Find-a-Vet directory (the Association of Reptilian & Amphibian Veterinarians), or in the UK the RCVS Find-a-Vet — or search "reptile / exotics vet near me".
- Call ahead and ask the key question: "Do you see reptiles?" Not every practice does.
- Ask the exam fee when you call. Knowing the cost up front removes the money-panic in a crisis.
- Find and save one now, while things are calm — not in the middle of an emergency.
📇 Fill this in now — before the crisis
Two minutes now saves ten in a panic. Print it and keep it with your care notes.
🚨 Is this an emergency now?
See a reptile vet promptly if you notice any of these:
- Not eating for an extended stretch, or visible weight loss / a thinning tail base — see an exotics vet.
- Won't burrow, sits listless on the surface, or is repeatedly exposed and not thermoregulating — a red flag for illness or a setup problem.
- Swollen or rubbery jaw, tremors, or trouble moving the limbs — possible metabolic bone disease; get UVB/calcium checked and see a vet.
- Retained shed (especially around toes or the tail tip) that could constrict circulation.
- Runny or bubbly nose, open-mouth breathing, or wheezing — possible respiratory infection, often from too much damp; see a vet.
- Any deep wound or persistent swelling from a cage-mate fight — separate the animals and have injuries assessed.
When in doubt, a vet call is never wrong — most issues are reversible if caught early.
🚗 On the way / while you wait
✅ Do
- Keep it warm at a safe transport temperature — a cold reptile crashes fast (a warm car or a covered container with a warm, not hot, pack helps).
- Keep it calm, dark and quiet in a secure, ventilated container — stress makes almost everything worse.
- Bring it in its own container so the vet sees it as it lives.
⛔ Don't
- Don’t offer food, or any OTC, aquarium-shop or online-forum remedy — many are useless or harmful and can mask the signs.
- Don’t let it get cold on the way in.
- Don’t handle it more than you must.
🎒 What to bring
- A short video and a couple of clear photos of the behaviour or sign — it may not show it in the clinic.
- A note of your setup (basking, cool-side and night temperatures, UVB, humidity, substrate) and exactly what — and how often — you feed.
- Your reptile, transported safely in its own secure, ventilated container — kept warm (see below), not in a cold car.
🗣️ What to tell the vet
A general vet may not know this species. Come ready to explain its correct care:
- Temperature
- Basking surface 130–140°F (54–60°C). Yes, that's hot — it's a surface temp on the sand under the lamp, not air temp. Use an overhead halogen flood on a thermostat/dimmer and confirm with an infrared temp gun. Cool end 80–90°F (26–32°C). The whole enclosure should offer a real gradient so the skink can dive down and cool off — the sand a couple inches below the surface runs noticeably cooler than the basking spot. Night drop to about 70–80°F (21–26°C). Turn heat and UVB off at night; a normal cool room usually handles this with no extra night heat.
- UVB & lighting
- Yes — they're diurnal desert lizards and benefit from UVB. Ferguson Zone 1: aim for a UV Index of about 1.0–2.0 at the basking surface, leaning to the higher end. A T5 HO tube such as Arcadia Forest 6% or Zoo Med ReptiSun 5.0 at ~14–20 in, or an Arcadia ShadeDweller 7% at ~8–12 in, works well. Replace UVB bulbs every 12 months. Photoperiod ~12 hours/day (some keepers cycle ~13h summer / ~11h winter).
- Humidity
- Low — desert dry, generally under ~50% ambient. Don't spray the whole tank. Instead keep a small shallow water bowl and dampen a lower pocket of sand (e.g. via a buried tube) so the skink can find moisture underground if it wants it.
- Enclosure
- Minimum 30 x 12 x 12 in (75 x 30 x 30 cm) — a 20-gallon "long" — for one adult. Better: 36 x 18 x 18 in (90 x 45 x 45 cm / ~40 gallon). Floor space and sand depth matter far more than height. Add at least ~1 sq ft (10 gal) per extra skink if grouping.
- Substrate
- Deep, clean, fine desert sand — this is the whole point of the species. At least 4–6 in (10–15 cm) so they can burrow and "swim"; deeper is better. Use washed play sand or a low-dust reptile sand (Jurassic Sands, Zoo Med ReptiSand, Exo Terra Desert Sand). Avoid calcium/vitamin "sands," sandblasting sand (free silica), and anything that isn't sand — carpet, coco fiber, and aspen all defeat the purpose.
- Diet
- Insectivore. Staples: crickets, dubia/discoid/red-runner roaches, black soldier fly larvae, small locusts, mealworms, small superworms, darkling beetles. Occasional treats: small hornworms, silkworms, waxworms, butterworms. Keep prey no wider than the skink's head; offer what it eats in ~5 minutes.
- Supplements
- Lightly dust feeders with a plain calcium powder at nearly every feeding (skip on naturally calcium-rich prey like hornworms/isopods). Add a reptile multivitamin occasionally — err toward too little rather than too much. Extra vitamin D3 usually isn't needed if UVB is correct; a low-D3 calcium is a safe way to top up.
⚕️ Reptiles are ectotherms kept at species-specific temperatures — a cold reptile can’t metabolise medicines properly, so tell the vet your exact temperatures and keep it warm for transport. Reptiles are prey animals and hide illness until it is advanced, so early changes matter. Mention your UVB/lighting and any supplements or remedies you’ve already used, and ask for reptile-safe products and doses.
Then note which of the warning signs (above) you are seeing, when they started, and whether they are getting worse.
❓ Questions to ask
- Do you routinely see reptiles? If not, can you refer me to a vet who does?
- What are the likely causes — and could my setup or diet be contributing?
- What is the treatment plan, the likely cost, and what should I watch for at home?
- How do I prevent this from happening again?