my first skink..Mordecai

[Scincoides]

Haha whatever you say Dakota. Ill go so far as to say that i believe that YOU believe its an Ij. Thats it

[Dakota]

[theDregs]

I have no idea what you guys are going on about. I think it's probably good, though.

[Dakota]

Uhh.. they were saying an IJ was a New Form Merauke, in which it clearly wasn't..

Your Merauke is very pretty. Reminds me of the skink Gucci Maine here on the forum with the grey-ish tones. Very pretty.

I'm in need of silvery Meraukes, so... if you don't want him... message me.

[theDregs]

Talked to my son. He shot me the death glare when I mentioned trading or selling his new pet. He is in love with the guy. It is chilling on his shoulder as I wrote this. More pics! Still looks pinks instead of light light grey. I need to get a better light on his tank. Also, his tank looks bare right now, we will be fixing that this weekend. We snapped him up as soon as we saw him, we weren't quite prepared.

[Dakota]

Yeah, definitely looks boy IMO.

And I would have gave you the same look, if I were your son! You have a beautiful Merauke. Clean pattern, pretty colors, looks pretty sizable.

[theDregs]

My son was dangling his hand in front of Mordecai (name change as of 20 minutes ago) and Mord leaped up and chomped on his pinky. Drew a tiny bit of blood. My son was crushed, thinking the lizard hated him. We put him in a tub, thinking he might be hungry. He promptly crunched down 5 dubia. Hopefully that's all it was.

[Dakota]

Probably so, he probably trigger a feeding response.

[Susann]

From the new pictures I may want to change my guess to female...

Mordecai may well be a wild caught skink. It may not have anything to do with being hungry or a feeding response, and may have everything to do with him being very scared and not used to being handled.
In either case, tell your son that Mord does not hate him he may just be a very scared skink.
And as his father I might suggest quickly getting used to correct handling techniques, and if your son is old enough, teach them to him. Because if Mord is scared and unused to handling you might count on him biting again. And if it happens while your son has him chilling on his shoulder, the bite may be directed at your son's face or neck. I'm not out to scare you here, or to make you overly nervous, but I don't want your son to get terrified of his new pet.

The first advise I would give you would be that, if he has lunged and bit, don't put your hands in front of his face. And until you get to know him better, I wouldn't let him put his face up against any part of your body.

Most skinks don't like to be "petted". Some tolerate it better than others, but they are not like dogs or cats who like to be stroked --it can really put a skink on edge. I usually advise to not touch your skink unless you are picking him up, at least until you know each other's behavior better. You can let them crawl on you, that's another thing, just don't reach your hand out to pet him.

Always try to reach for your skink from the top, back, or sides. Close one hand around his front, where the space between your thumb and index finger is over his shoulders and the rest of your fingers support his chest. As soon as you have his front raised off the floor, slide your other hand underneath him. With a large skink who is unruly, I like to pin their back legs back against their tail. It may sound harsh, but you'll notice if you just close your hand around his back legs and gently slide your hand toward the tail, that it is a very natural position for the legs, and in my opinion, a very humane way to restrain a thrashing skink.

We can probably give you a few more techniques if/when you need them, but I don't want to bombard you if in fact Mord was just hungry, and is now a calm, tame skink who can be dangled every which way.

And I will tell you what I usually tell people: in my opinion, you can not go wrong with giving him time and space in the first few months. Watch him and get to know his body-language. I know how hard it is to just look and not play when you have a new pet, but when you are dealing with a reptile instead of a dog, slower is better. Especially if you have a nervous reptile, and your child's relationship with his new pet is at stake.

This is just my 5 cent's worth, certainly not anything you have to take to the bank and live by.
Good luck.
And congrats again on your awesome pet!

[theDregs]

We actually have looked into the best ways to handle the skink. My son wasn't really holding Mord at the time, the lizard was chilling out on his lap. My son had his elbow up on the side of the couch and was dangling his fingers down about a foot above Mord's head. That's why i think he was going after food. If he was frightened I think he would have tried to at least try to hop off first. I could be wrong.

We were probably guilty of handling him too much at first too. It is an easy mistake with an excited kid and a very docile animal. The previous owner said he was handled regularly, and he may even be telling the truth. He seemed pretty well informed and into reptiles (He breeds cresties).

He may very well be wild caught. I am at the very least the fourth owner. I got him from a guy who has had him 2 years, who got him from a friend, who got him off Craigslist. Who knows what he went through before that.

[Fatal_S]

Try not to do anything above the skink. Above is where birds come from - a blueys most feared enemy.

But I agree he was probably thinking it might be food. My guys always seem to think my toes look delicious...

[Richard.C]

Probably thought yum hes dangling a pinky,they often respond to hand movements,when i used to dig for waterdragon eggs in my outside cages the blueys would hover and watch,often biting my fingers thinking they could be food,hard to keep them away when ten or more keep coming back when u try moving them away,lol

[theDregs]

Forgot to mention that my son and I had just spent the morning fishing..using crickets, superworms, and nightcrawlers as bait. Being a gross 9 year old boy, I just know he hadn't washed his hands before he decided to get his new skink out. We do make him wash up after he handles the skink, though.

[donkeybuff]

Forgot to mention that my son and I had just spent the morning fishing..using crickets, superworms, and nightcrawlers as bait. Being a gross 9 year old boy, I just know he hadn't washed his hands before he decided to get his new skink out. We do make him wash up after he handles the skink, though.

Probably a feeding response then, that sounds like the bluey equivalent of turducken

[Richard.C]

Turducken

Any luck on the fish,been to long since ive wet a line,having serious withdrawls

[theDregs]

We caught 2 little bluegills. I don't know why I even bother with that lake.