new blue tongue skink

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elias
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new blue tongue skink

Postby elias » Sun Dec 04, 2011 2:52 am

hi guys. im new here. i got my irian jaya 5 days back and shes my first BTS.
i think shes afraid of me im not really sure . im not sure to just carry her out from her enclosure or just to leave her there for abit more? will she bite me? and will it hurt me? or more importantly her? shes 6 months of age
how do i carry her out of her tank ? do i just lift her or is there a special technique of doing it? im currently feeding her cat food fruits and veggies:) she loves mango
i live in malaysia and the temperature is 27 -32 degrees do i still need a heat lamp?
thank you guys :D
i would really appreciate your help
elias
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Nae
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Postby Nae » Sun Dec 04, 2011 3:34 am

Welcome :D

Since shes only new, Id give her a week or 2 to settle in - is she captive born or from the wild? If shes captive born, she may already be slightly used to humans, and just unsure of her surroundings and thus will most likely only take a week to settle in. If she is wild caught, I would give her about 2 weeks to settle in before attempting to tame her. During this time, just go about normal cage duties, like feeding and cleaning, however dont try to handle her~

If she is acting aggressive and you ignore the warning signs (gaping, huffing), she will attempt to bite and yes, it will most probably hurt quite a bit!

To pick her up, ensure shes aware of your hands presence, then just lift up her front end with one hand, then scoop up the back with the other. Once you get more confident with handling her, it is possible to just use one hand, just ensure you are supporting her entire body.

Im not too sure on the temp requirements of IJs, so Ill leave that to someone else~
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Postby Fatal_S » Sun Dec 04, 2011 3:36 am

First off, welcome to the forum! :)

In regards to temperature, if your normal temperature is around 30 you may need a place in the tank that's closer to the low/mid 20s where she can avoid the high temperatures. And 32 is still a bit low for her hot spot. If you could give her a spot of 35-40 that's where she could go to digest her meals.

In regards to when it's safe to handle, 5 days would be about my minimum settle-in time. If she's hiding a lot, maybe give her more time to settle in and get used to everything. If she's active, alert and seems curious then go ahead and introduce yourself.

Skinks can bite, but they'll usually give you lots of warning first. The first thing you may get is a huff, which is a closed-mouth puff of air. This isn't really defensive, just the skink making itself known. If the skink is scared she may hiss, which is open-mouthed. She may show off her blue tongue to scare you away. These are signs she doesn't want to be touched, so back off and let her get to know you on her own terms. Maybe leave your hand in the tank and see if she wants to explore it.

If she does bite, it might hurt but it's not too bad IMO. The smaller they are the less it hurts. Mostly they just bite and let go right away; a warning to back off. She won't hurt herself.

If she's alright with you approaching you can see if she'll climb onto your hands or you can pick her up. When picking up/holding a skink the most important thing is to support the legs. I generally pick up my skinks around their back legs then put my other hand under their front legs. Never pull or grab a skink by the tail, since that can come off. Skinks like to feel supported and may flail if they think they're going to fall.

This is a video of me picking up my most aggressive BTS. I don't hold him for long since he's not friendly, but you can see how he reacts and how I pick him up:
http://youtu.be/dHv9wiRr0iE

Once you get her out let her explore you and other safe areas. You can offer delicious treats like mango when she's out as a way of teaching her coming out is awesome. She may want to explore, or hide, or just relax with you; every skink is different.

Be patient and enjoy learning all about your new friend :D
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Postby Katrina » Sun Dec 04, 2011 10:27 am

Welcome!! :D
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Postby Linnea » Sun Dec 04, 2011 10:35 am

im happy you decided to come here :D welcome!
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elias
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Postby elias » Sun Dec 04, 2011 6:57 pm

thanks a lot guys uve been wonderful help :)
and thank you for the warm welcome :)
this is a GREAT site !
elias
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Postby elias » Sun Dec 04, 2011 7:00 pm

if i try to carry her , can she turn back and bite?
elias
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Postby Susann » Sun Dec 04, 2011 7:17 pm

If you are worried, try to grab her from above, and put your thumb and forefinger around her neck and carefully enclose her front legs in your hand, and do the same around her rear legs from above as well.
This is not a very good picture of that in particular, but it does show a little bit what I mean (plus this guy is much bigger, can't really hold around his front legs, but you see what I mean with holding around the neck from above):
Image
The closer to the skinks head you hold, the harder it will be for the skink to be able to bite you. Their heads are so big, and their necks are relatively short, so if you hold kind of over the skink's shoulders/neck, it can't reach you with it's mouth, even if it were to try to bite.

Someone had really good pictures on how to handle, but the pictures aren't available anymore....I think it was Lea Bilby...?
Hope someone else has better pictures.... or at least a better was to describe it! :oops:
Last edited by Susann on Sun Dec 04, 2011 7:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby xxmonitorlizardxx » Sun Dec 04, 2011 7:20 pm

Susann wrote:If you are worried, try to grab her from above, and put your thumb and forefinger around her neck and carefully enclose her front legs in your hand, and do the same around her rear legs from above as well.
This is not a very good picture of that in particular, but it does show a little bit what I mean (plus this guy is much bigger, can't really hold his legs at the same time):
Image
The closer to the skinks head you hold, the harder it will be for the skink to be able to bite you. Their heads are so big, and their necks are relatively short, so if you hold kind of over the skink's shoulders/neck, it can't reach you with it's mouth, even if it were to try to bite.

Someone had really good pictures on how to handle, but the pictures aren't available anymore....I think it was Lea Bilby...?
Hope someone else has better pictures.... or at least a better was to describe it! :oops:
Yup,
http://bluetongueskinks.net/forum/viewt ... t=handling
(The pictures are no longer available as mentioned above)
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Re: new blue tongue skink

Postby realis88 » Fri Dec 09, 2011 12:22 pm

merauke red belly

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