How to Deal with Biting?

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Bluezip
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How to Deal with Biting?

Postby Bluezip » Mon Jun 11, 2018 7:37 pm

I recently bought a very gorgeous northern that's about a year old, but there's a bit of a problem... She's biting. A lot. I've had her for about a week now, so I know it's still early and probably due to stress, but it's somewhat concerning to me.

I've been trying to get her used to my presence by putting my arm into her enclosure and just letting it sit there. Sometimes she'll bask next to me or gently nose under my hand with no problems, but other times she'll bite very viciously without any warning or huffing beforehand. It's very slow, too -- she slowly climbs up my forearm almost to my shoulder, opens her mouth and noses my skin, then chomps on the skin of my arm very hard and it's quite a while before she'll let go. At first I tried to grin and bear it in hopes that she'd just stop once she realized I'm not dangerous (maybe not the best move in hindsight... I'm just glad it wasn't my fingers that she bit!), but after seven bites in the same area in rapid succession that drew blood and left surprisingly large bruises, I decided that I needed to try something else to get her used to me, because this wasn't working.

She won't let me pick her up or even touch her at all when I'm the one instigating it, either, so I just don't know how to get her used to handling. Do you guys have any suggestions for how to deal with her? Will she just become more mellow as she gets used to her new home? I've also tried feeding her raspberries as treats using both feeding tongs and my hands (she's very apprehensive and huffy about the latter, but will take the berries sometimes). She's still not eating a whole lot, though, so she often doesn't eat them. My current plan is to lay off trying to interact with her for a day or two before trying something else -- is that a good idea? Thanks.
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Re: How to Deal with Biting?

Postby kingofnobbys » Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:30 pm

every time she opens her mouth to threaten to bite pop a taste food treat in there from the side ….she'll soon get too full of food to be game to open it , or she'll soon learn you are the food giver and learn she trust you.

Very likely if she's acting like that it indicates she is either -
wild caught and has had bad experiences with people and been trafficked before you bought her
or
she's not been handled by the previous keeper/s so never really tamed up.

Do the food treat thing , and give her time to learn you are not going to hurt her.
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kayla990
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Re: How to Deal with Biting?

Postby kayla990 » Tue Jun 12, 2018 12:07 am

Tricky to say how long you've had her - but if she's very new it's generally recommended to not handle much (if at all) for around two weeks once you first get them. As kingofnobby's said, likely the previous owner didn't socialise her or could be from bad experiences/wild caught.

Strange she shows no warning before biting - is it possible she may be mistaking a smell for food? such as a type of fruity soap or so? It could also be because she's not used to this type of interaction. She may not know that people are not for biting (as they can be very curious, they can do continual bite tests on something new or unusual in the tank, doesn't seem to matter if it's something like a rock!).

I believe that she'll mellow out with time. There's a good chance for now it's a case of not trying to handle her and try to gain her trust first. Common methods are to sit by the tank, talking to her, making slow but controlled movements as you go close to her tank, maybe having some gentle background noise on etc (I used to sit by the tank and read a book out loud as it seemed to get them used to your voice and being close by). As you've already seen - watch out for long reaches with her mouth open! I would wear long sleeved clothes and use thick gloves for the first few times you do handle her again once she's settled in. That way you have a bit of a barrier if she unexpectedly tries to chomp (and keep her well fed in case of her being hangry!) :)
- Hons. Degree Animal Management -4 years volunteer in a Zoo -10 years volunteer in animal shelters -Enclosure enthusiast
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Taliats
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Re: How to Deal with Biting?

Postby Taliats » Tue Jun 12, 2018 2:13 am

Mine was a bit of a biter at first, she never managed to bite me successfully as I would move away when she tried, there were several attempts, however.

It was not aggression or anything, she just mistook my fingers for food.

Perhaps it is the same in your case?
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AndrewSeike
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Re: How to Deal with Biting?

Postby AndrewSeike » Thu Jun 14, 2018 7:53 pm

Hi Blue Zip,

As a keeper of hundreds and through out my life thousands of blue tongues many mellow out.

I have several specific questions to ask you.

Is this your only blue tongue?

Andrew
http://www.bluetongueskinks.com with New Blue Tongue Skink Forum

Breeding and living with skinks since '88
Currently working with many representatives of the following Tiliqua:

scincoides.scincoides
scincoides.intermedia
scincoides.chimaerea
nigrolutea - alpine form
multifasciata
gigas.gigas
gigas.evanescens
gigas.keyensis
sp - Irian Jaya
Bluezip
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Re: How to Deal with Biting?

Postby Bluezip » Sat Jun 16, 2018 1:39 pm

AndrewSeike wrote:Hi Blue Zip,

As a keeper of hundreds and through out my life thousands of blue tongues many mellow out.

I have several specific questions to ask you.

Is this your only blue tongue?

Andrew


This is my only blue tongue, yes.

On a more general note, thanks for the advice, everyone. It's especially weird considering that I know she's captive-bred, since not only is she a northern and I live in the US, but also because I got her from Scincoides, and they sent me pictures of her parents. I'm hoping she'll mellow out with time too, and she sort of seems to be heading there?

Her behavior still strikes me as strange overall, since she's already making an effort to try to interact with me and explore my house outside her cage -- she'll scratch at the door to her enclosure and push her nose against it until I open it, and will happily crawl onto the piece of felt I use to bring her down to the floor where she can run around. She even sat on my lap and crawled around on my shirt happily for a over fifteen minutes yesterday with no problems until she noticed a place where my pants didn't cover my leg, at which point she walked over and tried to bite it. She doesn't seem afraid of me in any way, since I can mess around in her cage next to her with no problems and she lets me easily pick her up and hold her. It almost seems like it just feels good on her teeth? That or she associates skin with food or something, somehow. I don't use scented soap or lotion on account of my own sensitive nose and wash my hands often, so... I dunno?

My current strategy has been to pick her up and hold her for a bit after she tries to bite me until she calms down or starts looking at something else, then put her back down. Is there a better way to do this? I was going to try the food treat thing, but I've found that I both don't always have enough time to get a treat in her mouth before she bites me or that she gets full too quickly but still keeps biting.
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kayla990
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Re: How to Deal with Biting?

Postby kayla990 » Fri Jun 22, 2018 12:22 am

Oh wow, tricky to know what else to suggest.. Maybe it's just a trait that will stick for a while. I know that when we went to a reptile expo, they let us handle Blueys (before we got one ourselves!) and there was one in particular who was trying to do bites similar to how you described. The owner made a short 'no' sound, and tapped the end of their nose to discourage it (obviously not in a hard way, just 'Hey, stop that!') and then they didn't try it again for a while. Could be worth a try!

If nothing seems to change - maybe don't involve food. For all we know, maybe using food as an incentive (or distraction) may be making her think that bites = treats! Of course she may not associate this together yet, since she seems to be bitey before you got her too.

Keep us updated, would be great to see what helps in the end!
- Hons. Degree Animal Management -4 years volunteer in a Zoo -10 years volunteer in animal shelters -Enclosure enthusiast

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