Bts gone wild

[Gary90]

So today I took hee out to get some natural sun.......came back out an hour later tempted to pick her up and she starts shooting her tongue out wildly eveeytime I came close...think my bts is wc. Fresh air made her nuts......8-(

[Linnea]

maybe your bts got very stressed from being outside! dont leave your skink un-watched outside. birds, dogs, cats....anything like that could stress or harm your skink. especially if there is no hide. its a bit like moving them to a new cage if theyve never been there.

whenever i take mine outdoors i always observe closely and let them take their time, but start to show your skink the outdoors for not too long at a time, and feed a treat at the end of the outdoor time.

even if its wc, this behaviour sounds okay to me as long as your skink is healthy.

[Fatal_S]

This is very normal in reptiles. They're not a domestic animal and all the wild instincts are still there. Being outside seems to trigger those instincts and the skink becomes pretty much a wild animal.

[Gary90]

Yeah but I had him in a cage ..only reason I left her out for an hour is because I don't supply uvb inside just d3

[Katrina]

This is very normal in reptiles. They're not a domestic animal and all the wild instincts are still there. Being outside seems to trigger those instincts and the skink becomes pretty much a wild animal.

Exactly what Mel said. It is normal.

[Anderous]

yep, totally normal

[aggiegirl]

Be careful with them outside. I do the same thing to get UV for my adults and babies. I take them out for short times at first and gradually increase the amount of time. My adults explore while I garden or poopy scoop (3 large dogs so there is alot of that! ) nearby. I have had some serious issues with mockingbirds where I live. They will group (and they are not a flocking bird) around where my lizards are. The lizards are scared of them and recognize the cries of the birds. My female lizard will actually come crawl in my lap when she gets scared. Anyhow, cats, racoons, birds, snakes, fire ants, and other predators are concerns. Since they are not domesticated, blueys are equipped with instincts that warn them to be cautious. Even my happy go lucky male skink gives me the "Oh, it's just you" look when I reach over him to pick him up outside. Most blueys will acclimate and look forward to going outside. Mine actually try to climb the glass when I put them back into their tanks after going out.... I do remember a bad first experience though. My female did the whole tongue flare, whip into a horseshoe, and flatten into a pancake routine the first time I took her outside and the dog walked by. Made me seriously consider reptile ownership! Hang in there!

[aggiegirl]

I know you said "cage" but be sure never to leave a bluey outside in a glass tank. They will literally "bake" as glass tanks tend to capture the heat...

[Susann]

Just another thing to keep in mind. Sun through glass = no rays. So if you put a tank outside, the sun still has to shine straight down for any ray-benefit. And a tank in the sun can heat up very fast.

[Gary90]

No he was actually in a plastice clear tub

[Susann]

No he was actually in a plastice clear tub

Yup, same thing applies as with glass.

[Adalon]

Adalon does something similar to that when he's outside. I will sometimes sit out on the grass and read books with Adalon on my lap. He does jump down and explore a little, but most of the time he'll get a foot or two from me at max, get spooked by something and come running back under my legs. He treats me like a defense fortress against the birds or something because once he's done exploring he'll stay close to me until we go inside.

A couple times though, he has gotten pretty far from me and it seems like some instinct kicks in as he moves really 'jerkily' and fast to the closest form of shelter. When I approached him it startled him and he flattened himself out and started creeping away from me. When I reached for him he tensed and puffed up immediately while his tongue was on rapid fire mode. I think once he picked up my smell he realized he was ok as he was back to his normal self by the time I was picking him back up. He wasn't a WC himself but his parents were and even though he's the most docile and gentle skink I'm sure those wild instincts are always just under the surface.

Next year I plan to make him an outdoor pen to allow me to do yard work and other things to get Adalon more outdoors time. I've seen a few outdoor enclosures for shinglebacks on these forums that I'll probably try to get ideas from, but I'd like to have something simple that can easily be setup and taken down when I'm done. I was also thinking of building a kind of 'skink fort' to put in the center to give him a secure place and some shade to cool off; no idea on specifics, but I've got several years of lego experience as a kid so I'm sure I'll figure something out.