need help with feeding schedule and subspecies

[Bowserz]

So, I just bought a blue tongued skink today and I have absolutely no clue what subspecies he is, but he is captive bred. I also need help with a feeding schedule. I have reptivite and calcium with d3

[Janella]

Congratulations on your new skink. Very cute. Hard to say exactly from this photo, but it is either a Merauke or Halamara. If you can provide a photo from above and sides, we can better identify.
As for feeding, it depends on how old your skink is. Did you see the feeding chart recommendations from our forum? I would follow that to a T.
Good luck with your new one. Skunks are amazing!!!

[Bowserz]

Sure! Here ya go, sorry about the screenshots I had them on another thread and they wouldn’t let me save em. Couldn’t get an underbelly pic, buts it’s white with black speckling

[kayla990]

Awww cute! I'm thinking Halmahera , especially with the underbelly description Have you been able to check the food chart on the forum? At that age you'll be feeding daily. I used to do a calcium+D3 sprinkle on each 3rd day, and vitamin dust once per week to two weeks - since the diet was pretty varied (but I can't find a set rule/recommendation on this, so best to see what works for you!).

[Janella]

Definitely looks like a Halamara to me also. They require higher humidity levels then other skinks do. Shoot for 80%. Babies do need daily feeding at this age to grow. Boy do they grow fast. Did you find the feeding chart? Good luck on your new baby.

[kingofnobbys]

At about his/her age , looks maybe 3 months old , I had my young BTs on a diet rich in insect protein ( wild BTs at that age need lots of calcium and lots live insect protein every day, twice per day)
I offered silkworms & crickets as staple insects

and I also offered a mix of scrabbled and hardboiled egg , boiled lean chicken mince ,

for extra vitamins I have them softened RepCal juvenile bearded dragon pellets mixed with softened VetaFarm Lizard Pellets + chopped raw ( green beans + peas + buk choi ) + grated raw (carrot and sweat potato) every day (to nibble on) and I also nasturtium leaves & flowers, and dandelion leaves and flowers,

and for treats I offered occasional small purged garden snails (bought these from a snail farmer) & berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, banana , kiwi , chopped green seedless grapes & apricot flesh.

So uptake , protein mostly for year while the skink is growing fast …. believe me a bluetongue skink grows very fast in it's first year, at least 2 feeds of live insect protein per day IMO until about 6 months old, cut back to one per day then until about 18 months - 2yrs old , the refer the Complete Critter Bluetongue Skink food pyramid from about 18 months old.

https://www.completecritter.com/blue-tongue-skink.html

Good feeder insects for your young BTS are :
Black Solder Fly Lavae
Silkworms
crickets
roaches
locusts …. crickets , roaches and locusts need to dusted and gut load to increase their Ca/P ratio and nutritional value , it may be a good idea depending on how good a hunter your skink is to chill these ones to slow them down , I found it easier and more efficient to handfeed the crickets to my little George and Mildred , handfeeding is a fantastic way to bond with a pet lizard , and worth the occasional finger tip nip (these are usually my own fault for not giving it my full attention , being too slow). I've never come close to being bitten by a pet skink or dragon in anger - all the bites have been accidents and never ever followed through with by the lizard).
Is actually very hard to get a BTS or water skink or bearded dragon bite you anger !!! they would rather run away.

Mealworms and superworms , and wax worms = treats ONLY.

I don't offer cat or dog food to my pet skinks or pet dragon ( wild BTs in the bush and grasslands don't find open bags or cans of dog or cat food laying about to eat ).

My two bluetongues were adopted from a breeder at about 2 months old and are now 9 years old and very smoggy towards us.

My greens and grated vegs were made up in bulk in a food processor and I frozen daily portions in icecube trays - thawing a cube or two each day to give to skinks (and later my dragons). I make up to 36 large 50mm x 40mm x 40mm food cubes in a batch and these typically last my 2 adult BTS and 1 adult bearded dragon and 1 adult (rescued) eastern water skink about 2 weeks .

[Bowserz]

Why would mealworms be a treat?

[kingofnobbys]

Why would mealworms be a treat?

Only a treat because because they are very poor in Calcium , low in protein , high in fat and have exoskeletons that are hard to digest and are known accumulate in the GIT and result in impaction.

Fine as a treat , never more than 3 or 4 at a sitting. Think KFC for skinks ….