Baby Indonesian?

[monstresque]

My roommates and I just brought home what I think looks like an Indonesian(?) bluey. He was abandoned and dropped off at the local pet shop. He's still very young, and it seems safe to assume he's wild-caught. His needs as far as humidity and shedding go have obviously not been met, but he seems to have been very well socialized.
He's already lost plenty of old shed and is still working on more, and the majority of his toes have at least one knuckle gone. He's only got three claws left, and his tail's got quite a bit of stuck shed too. Aside from the obvious need for a good shed or three though, he looks like he's doing okay. Just in case, I'm going to be setting up an appointment with a vet for him in the next two weeks.

I also have a Merauke, which I know is an Indonesian subspecies. Does that mean that their care requirements are similar?
I'd love to get any advice anyone has to offer for keeping an Indonesian, and for helping lizards with bad sheds - specifically regarding what to do or not do if another toe falls off!

TiA!




Ps: any idea what age and/or gender this little one is? It's probably around 12" from head to tail tip!
Pps: Is it even an Indonesian? I just went on assuming he or she is, but I'm not 100% sure.

[Dakota]

You are correct, it is an Indonesian. Since there are two forms of this subspecies, we refer this one as a "classic" Indonesian. I am not positive, but it looks more like it is shedding, rather than stuck shed coming off. I'm sure it does have some stuck shed, though. The skink doesn't look in that bad of shape, so I would leave it be for a day or two and see if it gets the shed off by itself. In the meantime, make sure you give it adequate humidity - around 70%. I see your hygrometer reads 50%, so try reducing the amount of ventilation. There is no science to getting stuck shed off toes, but I personally have soaked them in a tub with a few drops of vegetable oil and it loosened up pretty good. However, in my experience, most came off with a proper shed. Expect some potential bleeding by doing so, but again, I'd wait a few days before doing something invasive like this. Classic Indonesians are very small skinks, and it looks like yours is full-grown, although pictures can be deceiving. His eyes look pretty good, so that is a plus. Eye issues are quite tedious. Other than the possible toe issues, it looks in decent shape.

He looks male to me.

[monstresque]

I have a tendency to worry and overreact, so I'm very glad to hear he looks better than I thought! He looked a little worse off when I first saw him in the pet store a while ago, but he looks loads better now. I think it was mostly the toes that got me.
Thank you so much for the info!! (I had no idea they're that small! Wow!)

I have him on aspen for the time being because I figured it's soft and clean (I also set up a humid hide in there for him), but I know that's a dry substrate. Should I have him on something else while his toes are still healing/shedding? I keep my Merauke on shredded coconut, but I thought that might irritate this guy's feet.

[Dakota]

Put him on paper towel until his toes are healed all the way. If he actually is just 12", then he will grow about 6-8" more. However, he looks like a good 18" in that last photo. But yeah, typically they are quite small! One of my adult Halmaheras is just 17.5"; he is pygmy compared to the Meraukes. He is 20 months old, so I don't expect him to grow much more.


Good luck. You are lucky to find a yellow classic. They are gorgeous.

[kiraptor]

Put him on paper towel until his toes are healed all the way. If he actually is just 12", then he will grow about 6-8" more. However, he looks like a good 18" in that last photo. But yeah, typically they are quite small! One of my adult Halmaheras is just 17.5"; he is pygmy compared to the Meraukes. He is 20 months old, so I don't expect him to grow much more.


Good luck. You are lucky to find a yellow classic. They are gorgeous.

Monstresque has been super busy so I thought I'd give this a quick update - (I'm the room mate, lol)

After measuring him, we found he's actually 18 and a half inches including his tail. Body alone is 9.5.
We got the humidity up to 72 and he ate his mix of collard & mustard greens, squash, cat food and a small amount of plum.
The shed is coming off quite nicely, apart from on his feet/toes and tail so we'll be putting him into a tub with a few drops of vegetable oil like suggested to see if we can help him along.

He's investigating his enclosure, burrowing and generally seems alert. He's a really beautiful lizard and his colours are so vibrant <3
We'll be changing the substrate today like suggested.
He's in my room so I can keep a close eye on him but he seems pretty content at the moment, probably not as much when getting a bath, lol.

Thank you so much for the advice so far, it's much appreciated x

[Dakota]

I knew he looked bigger than 12". This is the second time I've seen someone mistake an adult classic Indonesian as a baby due to being used to Meraukes, Northerns, etc. I think it is quite funny. Tiliqua gigas literally translate to "Giant Blue-tongued skink", which seems a bit off considering how small they are.