Five-Lined Skink: Mouth Problem?

Question
QUESTION: I have have a five lined skink for quite some time now. I
noticed that when he was trying to eat, he couldn't keep the
cricket in his mouth! (I fed him the same crickets I usually
do, so that is not the problem.) He keeps on trying to eat
that cricket, but it just wont stay in his mouth. And his
tongue seems to stick out just a little bit. When I looked
closer at his mouth, I noticed something... The lower part
of his mouth hangs down, so that his mouth is open just a
little bit. Why is this!? He keeps on attacking the cricket,
he just can't keep it in:( I don't want him to die of
starvation, WHAT SHOULD I DO!? I love him very much, he has
been with me for so long. Please tell me what might be the
problem :(

For Clarification,
I feed him small crickets from PetSmart, he has a large
tank.

I ALSO NOTICED THAT: I keep the bottom lined with NEWSPAPER.
And when he goes for the cricket, his mouth opens really
WIDE and it seems as if he's "breaking" his jaw. Help!?

I don't know what to do to give him food. And I will NOT let
him starve. He is fairly small, so I cannot take him to a
vet.

Please help && I appreciate it very much :) Please get back
as soon as possible!

ANSWER: OK, this could be the first signs of disease which can be corrected.  But I have some questions to make sure.  I need to know what the heat is at as well as are you providing UV lighting of some kind and if so how long is it being exposed to UV.  This will help to better diagnose the issue.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: --I realized that that's been my problem all along. The
heating lamp in the terrarium broke about 2 weeks ago, and
my dad said it would be fine.. WHICH HE WAS WRONG! So he
doesn't get too much exposure to UV light. I finally got the
light fixed today, but when i keep him in my room it can get
as low as 77 degrees.. But I have usually kept him at a
temp. of about 95 degrees. I am really scared, because I've
never had this problem, and it looks painful! His mouth
doesn't seem to be as bad as before, like it's not too
flimsy. Please tell me what I can do!


Thank you so much.

Answer
OK, just so I am clear you have heat but is it also a UV source as well?  UV exposure must be at least 12 hours a day and then backed down to 10 hours during winter months.  Basically you're going to follow the seasons outside with UV lighting.  The heat doesn't really concern me that much right now as you said during the day hes at 95 so thats fine its kind of a big drop but he seems to have adapted.  I would see if there was a heating pad that would come on at night when the regular heat goes off as this will allow a less drastic temperature drop.  As the drastic temp drops can allow for respiratory infections and the like.