New baby BTS! need some advice

[dcsnowrider]

Hi I recently got a baby blue tongue last Saturday. Hes a northern/ irian jya mix. He seems to be very healthy and is eating great. Im guessing hes about 2-3 weeks old. not exactly sure. Hes about 6in. his tank has plenty of hides and half of it is lined with paper towel and the other half has about 2 in of aspen substrate I've been taking him out of his terrarium for the last 3 days in 10-15 min intervals. he seems to always hiss and bite at me when im taking him out but stops when I finally get him out of his tank. He moves around a lot and tries to find places to hide but I keep him in my hands and rub his head when he lets me. Although he is burrowed in his substrate for most of the day. the only time he comes out is when i take him out to feed him. then he walks around and basks in his heat lamp. but after an hour or so he will just go back under for the rest of the day. I was wondering if I should let him burrow or should I try to pull him out from under the substrate when he is burrowing? also, how often should i take him out? I just want to make sure I tame him correctly.

[tylociraptor]

You shouldn't be handling him right now. He needs awhile to get used to his new environment, a week at least. He is hiding because he does not yet feel secure and safe (or maybe he's just a skink that likes hiding).

That said, once he has had his time to settle, it's very easy to tame most skinks. They are pretty relaxed lizards, aside from a few individuals, and Tanimbars. I have had Misha since the end of July, and starting this week I have had her out every day for extended periods. I actually put on a hoodie backwards and let her sit in the hood. She usually just falls asleep.

[dcsnowrider]

Ok. When I feed him should I find him and put him next to his dish? Because thats what I have been doing.

[justyna.ewa]

If he is hungry, he will find the food himself. They have an extremely powerful sense of smell.
One tip I would give you is to try hand feeding and talking to him - it gets him used to your presence and will create the "you = food = good" association in his little lizard mind.
EDIT: That being said, I agree with the previous comment: do not take him out so often if he is very new in your home. He is probably very stressed and needs to be left alone for a week or so to get used to being handled.
When you hand feel, be careful if you say he bites. They don't have teeth but they have very strong jaws and often cannot tell the difference between dinner and fingertips. The good thing is they are usually very slow to take the food from your hand, so try handing it to him with as much of the food sticking out of your fingers as possible, so you can retract your hand before his jaws of death close upon it.

[El Lobo]

Actually they do have teeth. A full dental arcade no less.

[justyna.ewa]

Actually they do have teeth. A full dental arcade no less.

I didn't phrase that properly - what I meant to say was that they don't have protruding, visible teeth like most mammals do. They do however bite very hard if you have berry juice on your fingers.

[El Lobo]

I don't know about your BTS but the teeth are visible on all three of my blotchies.

They don't have thecodont teeth as do mammals but have pleurodontal teeth, i.e not attached on both sides through a socket.

[justyna.ewa]

Yes, I agree, you are right. I just meant they have teeth in the same way that snakes without fangs have rows of teeth. I have seen my BTS yawn several times, but it doesn't actually look like they have teeth. Random google image example: http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-6744810 ... ongue.html

[dcsnowrider]

Ok. So should I wait till like Sunday to take him out again? This saturday will be a week since hes been in his new home