Strange Behavior

[Princeofpita]

Hey all!
My bluey has been acting a little strange the past few days. I’ve had him for about 9 months and haven’t changed anything in terms of care, habitat (aside from rearranging some things after cleaning for enrichment), etc. Normally he stays hidden all day and rarely comes out if I’m in the room. He is super huffy and fearful of people, which is okay as I’m working with him as much as possible, but the past few days he’s been exhibiting weird behavior. He constantly surfs the glass at the front of his tank and moves all around inside just about all day as opposed to staying in his hide and being cryptic. He hasn’t been eating as much and recently shed (the exploration and glass surfing came right after his shed). I’m not sure if I should worry about this or how to combat it. He sleeps at night and yesterday I took him out for quite a while and let him run around on the bed for a few hours but no change. Any ideas or thoughts?

[IvanDanko]

Hi there,

Is your skink confirmed to be a male? If so it sounds like classic mating season behaviour if your skink has matured early - but this depends on where you are located (in Australia it is currently spring time so I am starting to see some of this behaviour)

As you mentioned during your last enclosure clean you didn't modify any elements of the husbandry? (Change of substrate type etc.) A sudden shift in environmental conditions could stress out the skink if that was the case and cause this behaviour. Could also be a behavioural change if he is becoming more relaxed however typically this is much more gradual.

[Princeofpita]

Hi there,

Is your skink confirmed to be a male? If so it sounds like classic mating season behaviour if your skink has matured early - but this depends on where you are located (in Australia it is currently spring time so I am starting to see some of this behaviour)

As you mentioned during your last enclosure clean you didn't modify any elements of the husbandry? (Change of substrate type etc.) A sudden shift in environmental conditions could stress out the skink if that was the case and cause this behaviour. Could also be a behavioural change if he is becoming more relaxed however typically this is much more gradual.

That’s kind of what I was thinking in terms of potential mating behavior. He isn’t a confirmed male and I live in America so we are going into fall so that was why I was hesitant to dismiss it as such.

As far as changes nothing drastic, moving one of his hides or water bowls to give him a little enrichment. Substrate, temps, humidity, food, etc. have all remained the same. What really threw me was how quickly his behavior changed but no clue. He has seemed to calm down slightly today but still cruising around and digging for a large part of the day. Thank you for your input though!

[splashy07]

If he's a Merauke and male he's possibly in season.

[Princeofpita]

If he's a Merauke and male he's possibly in season.

He’s a halmahera :/ but again no clue as to breeding seasons so maybe?

[splashy07]

Possibly. I can't be sure when those go into season.