New Baby Skink Normal Activity?

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Evaughan
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New Baby Skink Normal Activity?

Postby Evaughan » Mon Oct 02, 2017 11:41 am

After wanting a skink for so long I finally adopted little Dino last week! I believe he is an indonesian. Right now I've got him in a 20 gallon tank because he is so small right now but I'm looking for a 40 gallon for the future. The temperature on the hot side is always in the 85-90° range and on the cold sode stays from 75-80°. Humidity has been a little harder for me to keep up with. I've decreased ventilation, i spray down the reptibark multiple times a day, and i have a large water bowl in there but the humidity never is stable. On a good day I can get it between 50-70% but some days when I'm out and i get back the humidity drops to 40%. What can i do to keep the humidity up?

Also, I'm hoping it's just because he is a little stressed out from being in a new environment but his poop is a little bit runny. I got him 3 days ago. Is it normal? I know i am feeding him a slightly different diet than what he was eating before. I've been giving him chicken dog food with calcium powder mixed in. I also mix in homemade apple sauce made with only apple and collard greens. He is not big on collard greens though. I've been feeding him every day because he is a little skinny. The poor guy's hip bones stick out. How long will it take for him to become a healthy weight? It's weird but he will also only eat outside his tank on the floor. I tried feeding him in the tank and he took no interest in food. Even if i kept him outside the tank but in a different location like the kitchen or living room he would not eat unless he was out on the floor next to his tank. Why does he do that??
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LittlePetDirt
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Re: New Baby Skink Normal Activity?

Postby LittlePetDirt » Tue Oct 03, 2017 11:07 am

Hey there,
I also purchased a bluey last month. When I first got him, his poo was also quite a bit runny. This is completely normal and is probably just stress or the change of diet. Is should be gone in a week or 2. His weight looks fine to me!
Hope this helped! :D
- Jaidyn :P
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EricaLikeBurrito
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Re: New Baby Skink Normal Activity?

Postby EricaLikeBurrito » Tue Oct 03, 2017 6:57 pm

Try using eco earth on the bottom with cypress mulch or repti bark on top to keep up the humidity. He doesn't seem skinny to me. How much does he weigh? He looks around 2 months old but I'm not too sure since they can grow pretty fast. If he hides in the moss a lot it means the humidity needs to be higher. Make sure you don't feed it too much fruit. There is more phosphorous than calcium in fruit so you don't need much.
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Re: New Baby Skink Normal Activity?

Postby splashy07 » Wed Oct 04, 2017 9:12 am

He does look thin. Most likely a recent import. Years back when I kept these in glass tanks I covered the entire screen with foil and cut a hole for the light fixture. That kept my humidity at 80% with a large water bowl. I'm sure he will put weight on and eat in his cage once he gets used to you. Just let him settle in.
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Re: New Baby Skink Normal Activity?

Postby Marmar » Thu Oct 05, 2017 12:48 am

Hi there! I just want to say your little guy/girl looks just like mine! My situation was also very similar. I want to start by saying I am very new to this as well. I have only been doing it for a little over a month now and I am in NO WAY AN EXPERT nor do i claim to be. This is just my experience and what I have done so far that works. I to had troubles with humidity at first. What I did to help was add 3 types of substrate (Cyprus mulch, Repti soil, and spahgnum moss) and a lot of it. There is about 3 to 4 inches of it and that helps a lot. It may just be the picture but it seems there isnt much substrate in your cage. After that I covered up about 2/3 of the top with cardboard pieces wrapped in foil. Also a good spray at night and in the morning of course. All of this helped a lot. My night time humidity ranges from 80%-100% because I turn off all lighting and heating. During the day since the heating sucks out the humidity, it ranges from 40%-70%. To help with this I added a humid hide. I just used a piece of tupperware and cut out a hole and stuff it with spahgnum moss. Then just keep the moss moist/damp. The only thing that I dont like is the look of the tupperware inside the enclosure because I am going for a display enclosure. So I will eventually just build my own to look better. I know exo terra makes some but they dont get big enough for when he is full grown. Another option you could try that I have read about is a heat mat with a good temperature controller to replace your over head heating. Since you wont be using over head heating it wont suck out all the humidity but you will still have your heat. I have not personally tried this but may switch to it eventually, but the humid hide is working well for now. Again, I am not an expert and I am nowhere near one. This is just my experience and what has worked so far! :thumbs:
P.S. My guy doesnt eat in his enclosure either. I have to bring him out and put him in a tub with a paper towel because he poops right after he eats so I just throw away the paper towel. Its super easy! Good luck with your guy/girl! I hope you love yours as much as I love mine!
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Re: New Baby Skink Normal Activity?

Postby Evaughan » Thu Oct 05, 2017 7:51 pm

EricaLikeBurrito wrote:Try using eco earth on the bottom with cypress mulch or repti bark on top to keep up the humidity. He doesn't seem skinny to me. How much does he weigh? He looks around 2 months old but I'm not too sure since they can grow pretty fast. If he hides in the moss a lot it means the humidity needs to be higher. Make sure you don't feed it too much fruit. There is more phosphorous than calcium in fruit so you don't need much.


That is such a great idea i didn't even think of laying the two! Thank you! And i'm not sure how much he weighs unfortunately. I recently took him to the vet and he wouldn't sit still on the scale. I think she said 58g but I'm not sure if that is a reasonable weight considering he wasn't sitting still.
Evaughan
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Re: New Baby Skink Normal Activity?

Postby Evaughan » Thu Oct 05, 2017 7:58 pm

splashy07 wrote:He does look thin. Most likely a recent import. Years back when I kept these in glass tanks I covered the entire screen with foil and cut a hole for the light fixture. That kept my humidity at 80% with a large water bowl. I'm sure he will put weight on and eat in his cage once he gets used to you. Just let him settle in.


Did covering the top with foil raise the temperature in your tank? When I cover my tank with tin foil during the day while the heat lamp is on the temperature will raise above 90° around 94° and I worry if that's too hot for him. The tin foil really does do a fantastic job of keeping in the humidity though!
Evaughan
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Re: New Baby Skink Normal Activity?

Postby Evaughan » Thu Oct 05, 2017 8:02 pm

Marmar wrote:Hi there! I just want to say your little guy/girl looks just like mine! My situation was also very similar. I want to start by saying I am very new to this as well. I have only been doing it for a little over a month now and I am in NO WAY AN EXPERT nor do i claim to be. This is just my experience and what I have done so far that works. I to had troubles with humidity at first. What I did to help was add 3 types of substrate (Cyprus mulch, Repti soil, and spahgnum moss) and a lot of it. There is about 3 to 4 inches of it and that helps a lot. It may just be the picture but it seems there isnt much substrate in your cage. After that I covered up about 2/3 of the top with cardboard pieces wrapped in foil. Also a good spray at night and in the morning of course. All of this helped a lot. My night time humidity ranges from 80%-100% because I turn off all lighting and heating. During the day since the heating sucks out the humidity, it ranges from 40%-70%. To help with this I added a humid hide. I just used a piece of tupperware and cut out a hole and stuff it with spahgnum moss. Then just keep the moss moist/damp. The only thing that I dont like is the look of the tupperware inside the enclosure because I am going for a display enclosure. So I will eventually just build my own to look better. I know exo terra makes some but they dont get big enough for when he is full grown. Another option you could try that I have read about is a heat mat with a good temperature controller to replace your over head heating. Since you wont be using over head heating it wont suck out all the humidity but you will still have your heat. I have not personally tried this but may switch to it eventually, but the humid hide is working well for now. Again, I am not an expert and I am nowhere near one. This is just my experience and what has worked so far! :thumbs:
P.S. My guy doesnt eat in his enclosure either. I have to bring him out and put him in a tub with a paper towel because he poops right after he eats so I just throw away the paper towel. Its super easy! Good luck with your guy/girl! I hope you love yours as much as I love mine!


Oh my goodness that is so cool! I really love the way the halmaheras look it's just so beautiful. I took your advice and put some tupperwear with moist sphagnum moss in it. I've got my fingers crossed! That is so crazy i wonder what it is that makes them want to eat outside!!

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