New BTS Concerns

[Chronai]

image.jpeg

I just recently purchased my first blue-tongue skink, and have several concerns. While I did do research beforehand, I attended a reptile expo a couple days ago and admittedly got a little overzealous when I saw only one available.

It was my mistake to not ask more questions about it/examine it closer before buying, as it wasn't until a couple hours later that I noticed some things:

1. First off, its demeanour wasn't quite what I expected (granted, also owning a bearded dragon, I was under the impression that a northern BTS would be similarly docile). It'll hiss whenever anyone gets close, and has already bitten my mother – while I am willing to brush this off as it being young and stressed out from the move, I thought it might be worth noting. I was told it was a captive bred northern BTS, but I'll be the first to admit I'm quite awful at identifying reptiles based on appearance, and am hoping someone more experienced can confirm this for me since I have my doubts.

2. What's more concerning is that there seems to be two lumps on the side of its tail. I'm wondering if anyone has any idea about it is, or if they've had a similar experience with their bluey. I definitely plan on taking it to the vet to have it checked either way, but unfortunately it may be a while until I can get an appointment.

3. This is something I've noticed even more recently, and I'm unsure of this is normal, but the skink itself seems to have a funny smell to it. It hasn't defecated yet or anything of the sort that would explain the odour, and I haven't been able to find anything on it, so I'm worried it could be a sign that something is wrong.

I've only had it for around two days, and fortunately I've gotten it to eat, so a lack of appetite isn't an issue. I just hope there isn't anything serious going on with it.

(I also apologise in advance for the quality of the photos, the aforementioned lumps seem harder to notice in the pictures than in person).

[jdheff1982]

Do you know how old and long your skink is? This info will us out.

1. Every animal has its' own personality. Depending on how long your skink has been home, it may take some time before it calms down. Moving is quite stressful and entering an unknown environment is even more stressful. Expect it to hide a lot, hardly eat and it may not like you at first. All of those will change with time. Another thing to note, if your sknk was not captive bred, they tend to be even more difficult to work with. I used berries and other treats to get my NBTS to trust me. He's quite easy going and doesn't mind a few strokes here and there. I had a BD for 3 months that I could not tame. Even when I provided treats for it to eat from my hands. Every time I would approach, he would flatten out, hiss and run around his cage. As much as I didn't want to, I felt it was best to return him to the local pet store I bought him from.

2. I can't really comment on this. Based on the pics, it could be the hemipenes bulging or something else.

3. My skink has a certain smell to him. I think it is just normal BO.

After looking at your pics some, I don't think you have a Northern. I think it is an Eastern. Easterns have the shadow behind their eye and the banding runs down the whole body. The lesser yellow/orange on the sides appears to be an Eastern trait, too. If it is an Eastern, their temperment might be different than the Northern. I know they don't get as big as a Northern, either. Do google picture searches on both and compare yours to them.

Hope this helps.

EDIT: I did another quick pic search and based on the back pattern, you could have yourself a tanimbar skink. If so, they are known for having sour tempers. Man, I hope someone more knowledgeable chimes in!

[kingofnobbys]

image.jpegI just recently purchased my first blue-tongue skink, and have several concerns. While I did do research beforehand, I attended a reptile expo a couple days ago and admittedly got a little overzealous when I saw only one available.

It was my mistake to not ask more questions about it/examine it closer before buying, as it wasn't until a couple hours later that I noticed some things:

1. First off, its demeanour wasn't quite what I expected (granted, also owning a bearded dragon, I was under the impression that a northern BTS would be similarly docile). It'll hiss whenever anyone gets close, and has already bitten my mother – while I am willing to brush this off as it being young and stressed out from the move, I thought it might be worth noting. I was told it was a captive bred northern BTS, but I'll be the first to admit I'm quite awful at identifying reptiles based on appearance, and am hoping someone more experienced can confirm this for me since I have my doubts.

2. What's more concerning is that there seems to be two lumps on the side of its tail. I'm wondering if anyone has any idea about it is, or if they've had a similar experience with their bluey. I definitely plan on taking it to the vet to have it checked either way, but unfortunately it may be a while until I can get an appointment. <<<< looks like scaring from a vicious bite by another (sibling) when it was younger and with the breeder or previous keeper to me. Completely healed ? but permanent.

3. This is something I've noticed even more recently, and I'm unsure of this is normal, but the skink itself seems to have a funny smell to it. It hasn't defecated yet or anything of the sort that would explain the odour, and I haven't been able to find anything on it, so I'm worried it could be a sign that something is wrong. <<<< what are you feeding to it , dog food perhaps - that would explained stinky breath.

I've only had it for around two days, and fortunately I've gotten it to eat, so a lack of appetite isn't an issue. I just hope there isn't anything serious going on with it.

(I also apologise in advance for the quality of the photos, the aforementioned lumps seem harder to notice in the pictures than in person).

[kingofnobbys]

Do you know how old and long your skink is? This info will us out.

1. Every animal has its' own personality. Depending on how long your skink has been home, it may take some time before it calms down. Moving is quite stressful and entering an unknown environment is even more stressful. Expect it to hide a lot, hardly eat and it may not like you at first. All of those will change with time. Another thing to note, if your sknk was not captive bred, they tend to be even more difficult to work with. I used berries and other treats to get my NBTS to trust me. He's quite easy going and doesn't mind a few strokes here and there. I had a BD for 3 months that I could not tame. Even when I provided treats for it to eat from my hands. Every time I would approach, he would flatten out, hiss and run around his cage. As much as I didn't want to, I felt it was best to return him to the local pet store I bought him from.

2. I can't really comment on this. Based on the pics, it could be the hemipenes bulging or something else.

3. My skink has a certain smell to him. I think it is just normal BO. <<<< my skinks don't get dog food , their protein is from insects and sometimes lean boiled chicken mince and egg....no noticeable smell with mine. They both had a feast of medium (2 inch long) silkworms today when my order arrived....

After looking at your pics some, I don't think you have a Northern. I think it is an Eastern. Easterns have the shadow behind their eye and the banding runs down the whole body. The lesser yellow/orange on the sides appears to be an Eastern trait, too. If it is an Eastern, their temperment might be different than the Northern. I know they don't get as big as a Northern, either. Do google picture searches on both and compare yours to them.

Hope this helps.

EDIT: I did another quick pic search and based on the back pattern, you could have yourself a tanimbar skink. If so, they are known for having sour tempers. Man, I hope someone more knowledgeable chimes in!

[underlashes]

Hi, and welcome!

1. They take a bit to settle in. Also yours isn't a northern, it looks like an irian jaya to me but I'm not familiar enough with them to say for sure. My northern was unhappy with me the first few weeks he was settling in. He'd huff or display his tongue whenever I walked past, and after he got over that he hid for a while. He probably would've tried to bite if I tried to touch him. Within a week he would come out to watch me so I tried to handle him after 2 weeks. Now he's perfectly fine with me and doesn't mind handling/petting. You might notice a difference if yours was wild caught or even captive born where they catch a gravid female who gives birth in captivity (i'm sure a breeder would know that isn't a northern), but give him space, try not to handle him for the first 10-14 days unless you have to. He might take more time and patience to come around if he is wild caught.

2. Not sure, you might want to have a vet look it over regardless though.

3. What kind of odor? My northern gets a distinct scent when he gets dark before he's about to shed but it doesn't smell foul... just extra lizardy if that makes sense. I'd have to put my face really close to him to notice it though.

**Edits: to add on to what's been posted above he could very well be a tanimbar as well, his personality sounds like it. I looked up what they look like as babies and I can see that too. Someone who has more indonesian skink experience will hopefully step in to say for sure.

Also I feed my skink dog food and he doesn't have an odor unless he sheds, which I've heard from people who don't feed dog food as well, so I'm not sure it's accurate to assume that. It sounds like as long as it isnt foul and is natural smelling it varies skink to skink... but of course I don't sniff other skinks

[starscream3232]

Yours is an Irian jaya. Not a northern. They are an Indonesian species. Very very few people actually breed IJs so yours is most likely wild caught. A vet trip will be necessary to clear up any internal parasites. Also quarantine from any other reptiles you have as they can carry mites. Very few breeders attend expos. I see it happen too often when some one goes to a show and gets a skink that they were told is (insert species name) and captive bred. Usually turns out to be the opposite. Personally I find expos one of the worst places to find skinks other than big online retailers. Most sellers at shows have no clue and will tell you what you want to hear to make a sale. Best to join some of the Facebook skink groups and seek out reputable breeders that frequent those pages.

[splashy07]

Definitely IJ, you won't find an Eastern at an expo unless you're attending one in Australia. They're hard enough to come by from breeders. Ditto what Starscream posted, and I definitely second getting him to a vet. Those bumps on the tail are not normal by any means. As far as his 'odor', many importers have hundreds of them in bins and they just foul eachother all up.. possibly a nice warm bath will help. Internal parasites account for some pretty foul smelling feces, and many come in with them. Good luck, he's a cute little one!! I'm sure with gentle care and good husbandry he will be a fine pet.

[alichamp]

I agree with above, definitely not one of the Australian species.

To add another possibility with odour is that they can smell bad when stressed. Maybe this is it? They can release a really foul smelling wee under these circumstances and even without the wee part they can stink quite up a bit.
I also very strongly recommend keeping your dog and other animals far far away from your new lizard, having your dog nearby, and close enough to peer into the lizard that's trapped in a bin, was very lucky there was no incident there. No wonder it's stressed.

Leave the lizard be with minimal handling for a few weeks while it settles in. You want to make sure it gets used to its new environment, conditions are right and it feeds well before handling for very short periods and building up.

[BD99]

G'day mate.

To start with... that does NOT look like a Northan. Maybe a mix breed? But again, I am doubtful. I am not an expert though.

Easterns are generally paler/ more washed out than this though, especially in their creams. It may be the lighting though. I'll pic you my two easterns for a comparison.

Easterns are very placid in my experience actually, but a bit more expressive in some senses. They look grumpy and give stink eye a LOT. My female, Gidge, Huffs all the time too. It isn't a hiss. There is a lot less energy and depth behind the noise. A huff is more like a sigh or sneeze, and usually doesn't have any tension behind the body language. Often times it happens when she burrows or an object can't be moved. A good thing could be to notice the body language when hisses happen. If its because you're chasing it around or looming nearby, hiss. If its when something doesn't move or it dislikes a food it pushes aside. Huff.

By week 3 with my Eastern female, I could have my nose on her side while she ate and she did not give a flying toss... Now she even comes to snuggle under my chin if she's out and I lay down at her level. In my experience, Easterns are very placid and confident but also very set on what they want. Breeders here even suggest them as a number 1 for outdoor cohabitation cages in my experience.


As for lumps on the tail. My eastern blue female has similar ones on the Ribcage. They are scartissue from a male roughing her up during mating. Perhaps your bub took a chomp or two? My other bub has completely LOST his tail to a bite, but bites when bubs are kept together in mass are incredibly common. Many stores and breeders keep at LEAST 3 together. The record I have seen is 14, where my bub lost his entire tail.

I certainly would take them to a vet though to be safe.

As for foul smelling. My girl smelt terrible originally, I was quite concerned. it turned out to be the fact I had missed poo in the overly large amounts of substrate I used, so she was sitting in her own dung :/
I fixed this by emptying ALL the substrate, scrubbing the cage down several times, only to end up putting her in a different cage. I also bathed her for about 30 minutes and used paper towel to really rub at her to get the smell out.

As for the low energy. IF she is something Aussie, it might be a brumation period if its over 2. Its winter for us, and if it was shipped over, then lizzy might be working on body clock vs location. Though this is a WILD theory. Likely inaccurate.

It COULD be the lizard's personality. Especially if wild caught, or even 1st generation in hand. Wild bluetongues are NASTY as hell. My dog bit through one's spine, and it STILL did not release his bleeding nose. It also fought me every chance it got when I tried to treat the bite and save him. Even dying, it wanted my hands dead. Remember, we are GIANTS to them. Very scary until they learn we give yummy food.


Stress from a move is CERTAINLY a thing. My new bub without the tail curls into a C shape and hisses when I get too close, improving though. Unfortunately, I have to keep an eye on a wound he has so I need to eyeball him daily instead of leave him be.
It usually takes at LEAST 1 week for a domestic bred lizard to settle into their environment. Longer, if, like me, you try to adjust the environment to their behaviour ASAP.
If its a wild caught, you're in for a LOT longer.

My advice there would be to give it a week or two before handling... But get TALKING and actively feeding day 1. Sit nearby while he eats. Talk to him. when you change the water, talk. Everytime your hand goes in, leave a treat behind. Everything about your presence needs to become POSITIVE. The fastest way to begin this is with FOOD. Food = Happiness and security. Your hand = food. Your voice = your hand = food = security and happiness. Even WILD animals can work with this. I domesticated the water skink beneath my stairs in this manner who was always wild and free. So for your bub, it'll work too.

People say leave them alone, but you HAVE to keep their cage and water clean. Use the basic care as an advantage to have a very distant interaction.


I'd also sit there for an hour and watch the body language of your skink. As he walks and eats and all. If you notice anything unusual or concerning in just how he functions, then VET ASAP. Even still, my first goal would be a vetcheck within 2 weeks MAX. Better safe than sorry.