Question: Substrates and Feeding

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Sennsei
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Question: Substrates and Feeding

Postby Sennsei » Thu Nov 16, 2017 4:13 am

I just finished reading and summarising the guide in an effort to prove my dad that I can care for a bluey and wow, I haven't read that much in a long long time. I have a few questions before I purchase my first bluey though:

1) What substrate should I use? From what I can tell this is a pretty heated debate and I can't decide who to trust. The guide was pretty adamant about using aspen but I recently saw a thread in which people were saying that it was not good for the bluey. My friend suggests using sand as that's what blueys are used to in the wild and it helps with their toenail situation - but it appears a lot of people are against this. He has successfully managed to keep multiple reptiles over a long period of time though, so I'm not sure who to believe.

2) What the hell are goitrogens? The feeding sheet says some food contain goitrogens, but when I look that up all I see is a whole lot of jargon that I can't understand at all. Can anyone elaborate this for me please?

3) What's the general consensus on dog and cat food? The guide says that juveniles should be fed cat food, but from what I've seen there are both people for and against using dog and cat food.

4) How frequently should blueys be fed? The guide stated that they should be fed daily until they are one year old; however, the feeding sheet says that only blueys under three months should be fed on a daily basis.

5) What do you guys feed your blueys? I saw the 50/40/10 plan, but I'm not too sure which foods to pick. This goes with supplements as well - how much supplement should be given to a bluey and how often? I think I saw someone say that they did it on a weekly basis, but I guess it depends on the diet of the bluey and the calcium/phosphorous balance and all that.

6) What foods are toxic to blueys? The guide mentions eggplants but the feeding sheet doesn't. The guide also doesn't mention onions while the feeding sheet does. This makes me think that there are other discrepancies. If so, what are they?

Thanks! I can't wait to get my first bluey (at least I think it'll be a bluey... I might go with a beardie but I doubt it at this stage!)
LeadedCactus83
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Re: Question: Substrates and Feeding

Postby LeadedCactus83 » Sun Nov 19, 2017 12:28 am

Hey there! I don't know everything about keeping BTS, but I'll comment on what I do know or what I've found to be general consensus.

1) Aspen is fine for certain kinds of BTS that have low humidity requirements. I keep my Northern on aspen shavings and she has been the picture of good health. It really depends on what species of skink you have. When it comes to substrates, many people will have completely different opinions on what works and what doesn't for their skinks. Try one out and see if your skink is healthy and thriving. If not, try another one.
Sand isn't generally recommended for any type of reptile (unless it's mixed with something else, and even then in small quantities,) even if your friend has used it with success. Things might not work out the same for you. From what I've read, sand has a great risk of impaction. I personally wouldn't take the risk when there are safer options available. As for keeping nails trimmed, have a slate tile or rock slab with some texture under the basking light and your skink will keep them filed down just by walking on it to bask.

2) As for goitrogens, this site gave a straight forward answer.
https://reptile-savvy.weebly.com/goitrogens.html

3) Some people feed cat food but others say it has too much taurine which is bad for skinks. Canned dog food is a good source of protein, so long as it's free of grains, animal by-products, and too many starches. Check the ingredients thoroughly before you buy anything.

4) You can offer food every day, but your skink may not eat. It also may eat everything you put in front of it. You need to adjust to your skinks' needs and offer accordingly. Offer every two to three days if it's over three months and go from there. If they're babies or juveniles, they'll go through growth spurts and eat a lot, and often. If your skink clears the dish, offer it's next meal a day sooner. If it doesn't eat much, wait an extra day before you feed again. Once it reaches adulthood, it should eat once a week, maybe twice if it's looking a bit skinny, and only until it's a healthy size.

5) Follow the feeding chart. It has lots of great options of what to feed and the calcium/phosphorous ratios of the safe items.
Supplements are debated as unnecessary, with the reason that a proper diet should be all a skink needs, but many keepers still give calcium and multi vits just as a safety net. I supplement calcium with D3 since my baby hides very often and I don't want her to miss out on D3. I give it to her every third or fourth meal, mixing it in to her main protein. I haven't bothered too much with multi vits since I give a good variety of food. Don't give too much D3, it can poison your skink, but it's pretty rare to happen.

6) I don't know any other toxic foods other than avocados, onions, rhubarb, and eggplants. I've heard citrus isn't great for reptiles in general, but I don't know how true that is, but I've not fed her any citrus just to be safe.
I go by the rule that if it's not on the food chart, ask before you feed. If you can't find anything (positive or negative) about what you are researching, don't feed it. Better safe than sorry. Most of the items on the chart are pretty easy to come by (squashes, arugala, kale, etc.) so going beyond its recommendations would be a hard press, I would think.
EDIT: just remembered I had this site bookmarked on my computer. It's a great list of what is dangerous to reptiles and amphibians. http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm ... 3&aid=1612

Hopefully this helps. If anything was wrong I'm certain a more experienced keeper will correct me.
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ReptiFiles
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Re: Question: Substrates and Feeding

Postby ReptiFiles » Mon Nov 20, 2017 10:29 am

1) The type of substrate that you need depends on what kind of BTS you get. For example, Indonesian species need higher humidity, which means aspen is a bad call and you will need moisture-retentive materials like cypress mulch and sphagnum moss. But Australian species don't need high humidity, so aspen is fine. Contrary to popular belief, the blue tongue skink's native habitat in Australian (or Indonesia) is not covered in loose sand. It's more like packed earth and leaf litter. If you want to mimic nature, a mixture of equal quantities organic topsoil, play sand, and coconut fiber can do the trick.

2) LeadedCactus83 hit it on the head — that link is the best explanation you'll find.

3) Cat food is very high protein and good for young skinks that are still growing. Dog food is lower in protein and tends to contain more vegetables, making it more suitable for adult skinks that have finished growing (after about 1 year old).

4) Hatchlings up to 3 months old should be fed daily, juveniles between 3-8 months should be fed 3x weekly, and adults after 8 months should be fed 2x weekly. Use portion sizes of 1-2 Tbsp, roughly the same size as their head.

5) I feed my adult skinks a varied diet with canned dog food as the base. The dog food *must* be top quality, grain free (preferably also potato-free), no fish, and with as few artificial flavorings and fillers as possible. Then I will add things to it for variety and extra nutrition like fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, raw egg, dried mealworms, dried silkworm pupae, crested gecko diet, Repashy Veggie Burger or Grassland Grazer, bee pollen, and a 50/50 mixture of calcium powder (with D3) and multivitamin. However, the dog food always makes up at least 50% of this mixture. My skinks love it. Add a sprinkling of about 1/8 tsp of 50/50 calcium and multivitamin powder with each feeding.

6) Here's the stuff to avoid: Avocado, onion, eggplant, sage, rosemary, buttercup flowers, azalea flowers/leaves, daffodil flowers, lily of the valley, marijuana or hemp leaves, tulips, spinach, corn, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, lettuce of any kind, citrus, rhubarb, seeds, pits. Not all of it is necessarily toxic, but it's not good for your bluey, either.

I know you've already done a ton of reading, but based on your questions, I recommend reading through this blue tongue skink care guide as well.
Mariah Healey
Author of ReptiFiles.com, a free online educational resource for reptile owners
Check out my research on captive husbandry for BTS: https://www.reptifiles.com/blue-tongue-skink-care-sheet/
1.0 Tiliqua gigas evanescens
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