New to Skinks

[Lestette]

I'm getting them from Fatal_S.

Now I'm confused slightly, lol. We'll see how things go when I first bring them home.

[phaemas]

Just go wit ur gut and post lots of pics:D Or elseXD I had no idea but at least you fall into the second catagory here:
1)Asks no questions only answers
2)asks one or two mabey 5
3)anoys every one by asking over 50+(meXD)

[Lestette]

Lol, I guess that's a good thing. I just want to make sure that I'm doing everything right and doing the best I can for them.

[Katrina]

Certain species of reptiles eat their shed. Blueys generally don't, there is no need to leave it in there. It likely won't eat it - it is just keratin, structural proteins. They get protein from a healthy diet.

And asking questions is good. Always good to make sure you are doing things right and get others opinions.

[Fatal_S]

In the wild I've been told that most reptiles try to get away from their shed as quickly as possible. Keep in mind a wild reptile's shed is often dirty, smelly, and has mites on it, so leaving it behind is safest.

In captivity with a healthy reptile it doesn't matter. I don't go immediately cleaning everything out, but I remove shed as I find bigger pieces, and the little pieces get cleaned out in the next full-tank-cleaning.

If your reptile had mites then removing shed immediately would be important, but in captivity we just treat the mites to keep everything safe and healthy.

[Lestette]

That makes a lot of sense!
Good idea.

Oh, are mites common? I've never had them before with my snakes *knock on wood* and would like to keep a clean track record with that, lol.

What could cause a skink to get mites?

[Fatal_S]

Mites are not common in captivity. You generally get them if you don't quarantine reptiles and/or buy from poor suppliers/pet stores. Even things like bringing animals to the expo is a bit of a risk for getting mites (if one place has them they tend to spread quickly). I try to keep my reptiles away from unknown vendors/stores for safety.

Thankfully mites are quite easy to notice and treat safely (I've had them 2x with new reptiles). Worse illnesses are internal parasites or respiratory infections. Thankfully buying from good breeders minimizes your need to worry about things like this. You'll learn more about it if you stick around the forum, but for now just worry about setting up and having fun

[Lestette]

Sounds great! I'm really looking forward to getting them home and such!

I'm going to keep reading about mites though... would rather be prepared before they happen, in case they do, lol.

[phaemas]

Your so lucky-You get one of Fatals northerns!

[Lestette]

Yes, she has been great with answering my questions! So excited to bring the little guy home... Going to be hard to leave him alone for the first little while, lol.