Non-brumaters: how do you deal with winter hunger strikes?

[Jambi]

Title says all. I dont brumate my Skink, yet he doesnt eat during the winter, even though he's CB. I've been assist feeding him medium sized portions of dogfood once a week or every two weeks. It's barely even assist feeding actually... I just lightly tug on his upper jaw to get him to open his mouth and then I put a chunk of dogfood on his tongue and he always snaps it up and swallows it.

What about you guys?

[Cathy20]

Wyatt has been refusing food lately too. Finally decided I needed to spoon feed him and it worked well. He's thin right now, but active and I hope he gets his appetite back soon

[Fatal_S]

Simple, I keep an eye on their weight and otherwise leave them alone. They're designed to slow down and stop eating for the winter without issues. If they're not losing a lot of weight, it's safest to let them do their thing. Stressing them out by forcing them to eat and digest and stay awake is much more dangerous IMO. I'm not purposely brumating any of mine this year. Some are active but not eating, some are completely out, some are behaving like nothing's changed. My deal with them is if they stay healthy, I let them do whatever the heck they want.

On the other hand, if the skink starts losing weight (and I mean a significant amount, apx 10%) or appearing ill, something is wrong. The skink will need some extra care and quite likely a vet visit to determine what's up.

[Emz3]

Fatal,

How do you know if your skinks are appearing ill? My two have been brumating since early October and they have not eaten more than a bite or two in the last month or so. I'm a new skink owner, so I am slightly worried. My Merauke is still "active" and basks daily, primarily in the evening. He is in good body condition and hasn't lost any weight. My IJ barely moves, she sleeps day and night, I don't think she has eaten in months. She has lost a little bit of weight. She was slightly overweight however. Nobody has pooped in a month or more all thought I did find some white urates in the tank last week and this week. So if their eyes and mouths look clear and they don't loose a ton of weight, it sounds like we shouldn't worry? Am I right? I've been contemplating taking them to the vet again, just because I'm paranoid. (They saw a vet in October)

I did buy some dubia roaches and superworms today in hopes it might get them excited about eating again...

[Katrina]

Exactly what Mel said!

Emz - the best way to monitor health is to keep accurate weights of them. Get a pre-brumation weight and then get a new one every few weeks. The usual golden rule I've heard is what Mel said - 10% of the body weight. If they lose more than 10% of their body weight, consider a vet visit. Otherwise, if they appear healthy and eyes / nose seem fine just leave them be. They will wake up and eat when they want to. No poop is a good thing - you don't want any food in their digestive tract before brumation because they won't be basking to digest it. I wouldn't take them to the vet, what they are doing is completely normal. Mine will sometimes not eat for 4-5 months but barely lose any weight. Don't worry - what they are doing is completely normal!

[Emz3]

Thanks Katrina! Just wanted to double check! I did get a pre brumation/beginning of brumation weight. I will get an updated weight this week to be sure! And thanks for posting this thread, it helps to know that I'm not alone during this crazy brumation season!

[Katrina]

No worries - we were all there at some point, new to blueys and worried that our lovely friend was sick or starving!

[Fatal_S]

Really, the thing that makes me feel best with a brumating skink is if I simply don't see them. In my experience, if they're hidden away they're feeling just fine.

That said, this year is different because I'm not forcing a hard brumation. Many of my skinks are still out and active. I just let them do as they wish, and watch for anything that seems unusual. For example yesterday one of my yellow tanimbars made some weird breathing noises when I was holding it shortly after it drank. There are no other signs of an RI and the skink is in great body condition and eating well, so it could be that it was just because of the water. However, I'm a lot more cautious than I used to be, so we're taking a trip to the vet to get an all clear.

When I was forcing a hard brumation (skink placed in a small dark container at apx room temp for 2 months) I learned a lot. First off, their immune systems basically shut down. So anything even slightly ill became very ill (a skink with mouth rot nearly died, even with medical treatment part of his lip rotted away). Also, I've had some that get RIs. The signs they showed were coming out of hiding, alternating between extreme lethargy and being extremely active (trying desperately to get to someplace warm so they could recover I assume), sneezing, wiping nasal discharge everywhere, bloodied noses from constantly rubbing them, bubbly eyes/mouth, and just a general appearance of feeling awful. I'm not saying this to be scary, my brumation method was obviously too rough on the more sensitive skinks, just to say some of the symptoms/signs I saw. Now, if I see something amiss, I just head to the vet, totally worth it for my peace of mind. This year the above yellow tanny is the only skink with anything odd, everyone else appears to be healthy as can be, even the ones who haven't eaten in months. Of course not sure if I'll have any breeding, but it's been a very relaxing winter for me

[kenn]

As Mel says, good brumating = no picking them up to weight.
Same with Tortoises. If they sleep well and were in good health...they won't loose weight at all!

[critterguy]

It seems that hard brumation is really falling out of favor. Some Northern breeders do cool their animals down in the way Mel described, but the LTmin for these guys isn't quite well known and that can be dangerous(an old thread on here recounts a story of a member losing almost all there Northerns brumating in a garage when the temps dipped). Jeff will need to speak for himself(or you can go find his old posts) but his animals are only cooled slightly.

With the exception of blotchies(which seem physiologically quite different from scincoides and seem to seek out cold wet places to spend the winter based on members anecdotes), in the wild blue tongues get plenty of opportunities to warm up and they do use them. In North Australia the daytime temperatures actually remain pretty close to the same, nighttime lows drop a lot. But even in Southern areas of the country sunny days or compost piles can provide surprisingly warm temperatures. So captive brumation is frequently harsher than even what wild animals may normally experience. Success had with, say, brumating Meraukes at 60 and below I would attribute to the hardiness of these animals.