Picking up a BTS today, couple questions!

[R176]

So, I managed to track down a local Indonesian blue tongue skink just an hour away from me, I'm picking him up tonight. It's 2 years old, it looks healthy and happy, comes with a tank, supplies, substrate, and some fake plants, light, heating pad underneath, temp/humidity sensor, etc. He's currently being fed pretty well it sounds like, spinach, various greens, mushroom, chicken, worms, occasional cat food and fruit for treats. Apparently his favourite is mashed banana! They don't know the gender, I guess they got it when it was too young to know.
I've been reading up a ton over the past week or two, every caresheet and general information I can find about them basically, but there's a couple small things I was wondering about that I can't seem to find specific information about. Hopefully someone can give me some pointers!
First, as far as the lamps, do you keep the heat/uva/uvb lamp on all the time? Or turn it off at night?
Second, do they eat raw or cooked beef/chicken/pork? Current owner mostly gives him cooked chicken and worms for protein, but I'm unsure if beef/pork should be cooked or not?
Third, I know about their shedding and how to keep an eye on the little toes and tip of the tail etc, but how often do they shed on average?
Fourth, is there a relatively easy way to tell what gender it is?
Fifth, about how much calcium should I give it per each meal? It eats 3-4 times a week currently.

I'm very excited, I'll post a couple pictures the seller has sent me. Does it look good and healthy to you guys? looks healthy to me, and pretty handsome! Picking it up tonight!

[alichamp]

Hi! Congrats!

Looks like a healthy halmahera to me. These guys need really high humidity typically in the long term to stay healthy, even 80+% so make sure to checkout the humidity thread in the FAQs and add a humid hide to the enclosure. Looks like they've had some moss in there to help.

1) Heat/UV lamps go off at night time, follow a day/night cycle that fits with the seasons, eg 12-14 hours day heat/UV during summer and 8-10 hours for Autumn/winter. If you need extra heat overnight use a heat source that doesn't give off light.
2) Cooked chicken and beef can be raw if of good quality. There is a thread on preparing meals also in FAQs and check out El Lobo posts for examples of his fresh food feasts.
3) Depends on growing rate and other things. A few times a year for yours...?
4) No. And animals are of sex not gender.
5) Follow the instructions on the packet you get. A sprinkling once a week should do. Also a skink that age should be fed once a week not as often as it has been! Again you'll find this in the diet chart.

Hope this helps! Post more pics when you bring it home, we love them!

[kingofnobbys]

I strongly suggest ditching the woodchips ... if he swallows any and can not pass it in his poo , and it blocks his plumbing , it will kill him.

[alichamp]

Sorry I also meant to say there are better greens to feed regularly than spinach so best to choose those instead.

[R176]

Hi! Congrats!

Looks like a healthy halmahera to me. These guys need really high humidity typically in the long term to stay healthy, even 80+% so make sure to checkout the humidity thread in the FAQs and add a humid hide to the enclosure. Looks like they've had some moss in there to help.

1) Heat/UV lamps go off at night time, follow a day/night cycle that fits with the seasons, eg 12-14 hours day heat/UV during summer and 8-10 hours for Autumn/winter. If you need extra heat overnight use a heat source that doesn't give off light.
2) Cooked chicken and beef can be raw if of good quality. There is a thread on preparing meals also in FAQs and check out El Lobo posts for examples of his fresh food feasts.
3) Depends on growing rate and other things. A few times a year for yours...?
4) No. And animals are of sex not gender.
5) Follow the instructions on the packet you get. A sprinkling once a week should do. Also a skink that age should be fed once a week not as often as it has been! Again you'll find this in the diet chart.

Hope this helps! Post more pics when you bring it home, we love them!

Hey thanks for the information my dude!

I got him home earlier, fed him a mushed up strawberry after a couple hours as a little treat and a couple blueberries. He ate some right out of my hand! Total cutie. And yes I meant sex, not gender. Sorry. I'm just saying he/him for simplicity. He huffs and puffs a little when I touch him though, not hissing but like breathing hard, so I'm gonna give him some space for a few days so he doesn't get too upset. He's asleep right now as it's like 3 am and I just woke up and can't get back to sleep. Lights are off but the heating pad under the tank is on. Apparently they weren't giving him any calcium, they did when he was young and growing. Should I start that back up? I'll swing by a store tomorrow to get some if need be. I imagine I should. And as far as humidity, the who left side of the tank is all moss and the humidity sensor is over there. It's at about 70% on that side.
Thanks for all the info guys, I wanna make sure he's as happy and healthy as possible! I'll take a couple pictures later today once the sun is up. I don't wanna wake him up just to take a picture heheh. I already almost did, just turned on the room light to check on him and he half opened an eye to glare at me then went back to sleep heh.

[R176]

Update!
After a nap, I woke up and turned on his lights and he looked up, I gave him another little bit of strawberry he took from my fingers very gently, so polite. I tentatively picked him up, as I was a bit nervous myself, put him on my lap. He huffed once or twice, and within a minute was climbing all over my arms and up my hoodie to hang out on my neck! I put him on my bed and he explored all around, sticking his tongue out, climbing over my lap, being super cute!
We are now officially acquainted. I didn't expect him to warm up to me so quick, didn't wanna go back in his tank, he kept trying to climb up!
Gonna pick up some proper food for him today as all I have right now is strawberries and he already ate a whole pretty large one all mushed up. A nice selection to see what he likes best over time.
I'll attach a few pictures! He's super cute!

He needs a name! Any ideas?

[Janella]

Beautiful skink and congratulations on your new BTS!!! They are awesome pets :-)

[R176]

SO! Another quick update. I got him a few things today. First, I made him dinner, a mixture of collared greens, dandelion greens, canned dog food(Blue Wilderness small breed pork & chicken), and a little bit of raspberry on top with calcium powder that I picked up(Fluker's Calcium with vitamin D3). I'll post a picture of his meal. I also updated his tank, he now has two separate hides. One on the cool/wet side, one on the warm/dry side (over his heating pad under the tank) so he's got a little more variety for places to hang out! I also picked up grub pie, ground beef, and some mealworms to try him on.

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