How often does your blue tongue eat during the winter?

[YouSureSkink]

My northern is about 5 or 6 months old and I've noticed over the course of the last couple weeks that his appetite has gone way down. He has only eaten twice in the last week. Been going 2 - 3 days between eating.

Not really worried as he looks very healthy (although he doesnt come out of his hides too much either). Just curious how much your skinks slow down this time of year. I guess it could be burmation?

[StaceyLeigh]

Yes, it is normal for them to sleep more and eat less during the cooler months. Even BTS in their 1st year will sometimes noticeable slow down. Eating 2x a week at that age should be fine. Once mine reach 6 month I switch to feeding only 2x a week. Just be sure to keep the basking spot at regular temps (95-100) during the day so they can bask and digest if they choose to eat!

[splashy07]

My Northern is about 3 1/2 years old, and same. Slows down a bit in winter. Warmer times of the year she is up and about looking for food as soon as the lights go on. Now sometimes when I leave for work at before 7 am she's not even up yet. I leave her some beardie pellets in there (she absolutely adores those) rather than the wet type food as sometimes it goes untouched. She'll wake up real fast for a superworm or dubia! Only as treats though, as northerns tend to become a bit overweight. Weekends when I am home she gets her wet mixture. Just make sure there is plenty of time to be warm after eating.
Best of luck with your baby!

[Romeyrider]

I have a young northern as well and he's not been eating either. I am glad this is normal behavior.

[Richard.C]

my adult northerns slow riggt down over winter with eating,theu mau have a bit of a nibble here and there but not alot,my juvie northerns i actually try to keep a bit warmer just go bang and i barely see them for 4 or 5 months over winter ,gets cold here and even with 24/7 heat the ambient drops significantly they just shut down on me

same conditions sees blotchie babies still eating like piggies all winter long

[Romeyrider]

I have offer my skink food every 2 days and he refuses to eat, even his favorites. It's been about a week now since he has eaten. His body weight looks great and he is getting ready to shed just like he does every month. How long should I wait between attempted feedings? I know with my snakes you can't just keep offering them food every couple of days if they don't eat the first day, you have to wait another week practically before trying to feed again. Is this the case with BTSs as well? Should I wait longer entervals before trying to feed?

[jdheff1982]

My northern is a bit over a year old now. He took a little longer this year to slow down and brumate compared to last year when my area was getting hit with constant polar vortexes. This winter has been warmer so far.

Anyways, I usually feed once a week and he'll take about 2 days or less to eat 3 ounces of food. Lately, he simply takes a few bites and goes back to hiding. I know this is normal; however, for you newbies, brumation is a normal hibernation cycle for reptiles. Even though we keep the tank temps the same all year, the reptiles know better and will usually succumb to some level of brumation. The only time one should be concerned about lack of appetite is outside of brumation cycle. If for whatever reason your skink quits eating for a long period of time and has noticeable weight loss, a vet visit should be in order. Also, lack of appetite could be a false-positive and the animal simply isn't wanting to eat. That's ok; compared to humans, reptiles can regulate their metabolism extremely well which means they can go long periods w/o eating and suffer only minimal weight-loss. Usually, a sudden loss of appetite is due to some sort of ailment the animal is experiencing.

The important thing to remember is to make certain your animal always has access to water.