07/13/2026
⚠️Choking Hazard PSA: Preventing Respiratory Obstruction in Skinks⚠️
BLOOD TW!
Many lizards have a slit on the roof of their mouth called the choana, which serves as their internal nostrils. If you have ever seen a skink panic—running with its mouth open and shaking its head during or shortly after feeding—or seen posts of others discussing this behavior, this may be what is occurring.
When blue-tongued skinks are given a large quantity of insects at once, particularly mealworms or superworms, they often enter a feeding frenzy. In their haste to devour as many as possible, they may swallow the insects whole rather than chewing them. When live worms are swallowed without being dispatched, they often attempt to escape by grasping the skink's flesh and climbing anywhere they can, often resulting in them entering the choana and becoming stuck.
This is similar to the painful sensation humans experience when food or water "goes down the wrong pipe." For a skink, this is extremely distressing and painful, as the flesh inside their mouth and esophagus can be sensitive.
⚠️What to do if your skink is choking on a worm:⚠️
Note: This is not medical advice. If your skink becomes unresponsive or lethargic while choking, seek emergency veterinary care immediately. Any emergency vet should be able to assist with foreign object removal.
If a worm is visible in the choana, wrap your skink firmly in a towel (a "burrito" wrap) to hold it in place.
Carefully open its mouth and use blunt tongs—nothing sharp—to pull the worm out.
If you are unsuccessful after three attempts, stop immediately and seek professional veterinary help to avoid causing further injury.
While you may use your fingers if tongs are unavailable in an emergency, be aware that you risk a significant bite.
⚠️How to prevent this:⚠️
Instead of placing a large number of worms in a feeding dish, opt for tong-feeding.
Limit the skink to only one to three insects at a time.
Allow the skink to fully chew and swallow each insect before offering the next.
While this method is more time-consuming, it is the best way to avoid a dangerous choking hazard.
We haven't had this issue in quite some time, until we introduced superworms to one of our subadults today. Going forward we will be restricting how much they get per offering!
