*** Raptor UPDATE *** & some questions

[EvoSolley]

Hey guys,

so i got raptor earlier this week and so far it seems everything is going great. I got a basking rock and "hot" area of the tank that stays about 95 degrees F during the day, with a cooler side on the other end with the water and all that.

he goes to sleep at 11:00pm and wakes up at 11:00am like clock work. ive been feeding him rasberries and mustard/collared greens in a disk once a day. ill be getting some lean turkey meat today as well to add to his diet.

He is shedding!! which is awesome! im finding pieces around the tank and found a "glove" today which is really cool. ive been checking him over for lingering shed but havent seen any, except for a bit left on his tail.


I am a little worried about his "droppings" though. I cant find them anywhere!? when i first got him into the tank he hopped in the water dish then got out a poo'd. i cleaned it up and ever since then i have not seen any in the tank. I was wondering if the skinks bury it or something. i am using repti-bark so i imagine it probably blends in with the bark pretty well but still cant find any. so far he has been eating good and basks under the spot lamp alomost all day.

With that, what is a good amountof food to feed him? i usually will get about 3 raspberries and cut them in half put them all in the dish with a small pile of cut up greens. do i need to worry about over feeding him or will he stop eating when hes full?

thanks guys, sorry for the long post and questions, just new to this and want to make sure im doing everything right!

Progress Pics:

(NO the prob thing does not stay there i was just checking the temperature while he was sleeping a couple nights ago)






i promise better pics to come and not crappy cell phone pics, and hopefully i can take him out of his cage tonight or tomorrow! and handle him for the first time since he moved in.

[MissMeg]

What a cutie! Have you checked out the care sheet in the threads at the top of the forum? Theyll tell yeah everything you need to know. In the pic is that all the food your feeding him? Dont quote me on this but I think his food should be 50% meat, 40% greens and 10% fruit. I could be wrong, but I try to go by this. Also becarful with any fruit with seeds. They cant digest them properly so Usally leave a few days inbetween feeding him seeded fruits. I usally wait a week just to make sure. Hes gunna need some Calcium aswell. You dont want your guy to get Metibolic Bone Disease. You should do some research on MBD if you havent already. Also, My Ruckus randomly poo's or I just cant find the poo lol. I am using kinda the same stuff as you, I usally just spot clean, and if I cant find it, I change his tank around every month - three months so I usally find some of his hidden treasures lol.
I hope this helps a bit. The care sheets will deffinatly help. It may take a while to read but definatly worth it

[SapphireTigress1]

Raptor is so cute!

Dont worry about not finding his poo...they definitely burrow and poo, resulting in "missing" poo. Mine do this all the time, but as long as you change out the substrate on a regular basis this isnt really a problem.

Sheds are always fun, but watch out for stuck shed on the toes and tail tip, as it can atrophy and cause them to lose those parts. Mine hate getting unstuck, but too bad

Definitely add some meat to his diet. Another good thing to feed them on a regular basis is Roaches. Mine LOOOOVE them. Snails with their shells on are a good source of calcium and Skinks seem to go nuts over them. Can of snails can be a good treat too.

Some fun fruits you can use are Strawberries (I've never had an issue with the seeds, but be careful i suppose) and even my picky diva Zergling LOVES bananas and blueberries. Just depends on what your skink likes, its trial and error, since they all seem to have different preferences, just like people.

I've never had an issue with mine overeating, i just give them what they will eat in one sitting, and then remove the dish at the end of the day. Both of mine eat what they want, and dont seem to overeat.

It will take some time to figure out how much to feed, just start out with a small amount, and if they eat it all, add a little more the next time. When you get to the point where they dont eat it all, cut it down a bit and you should have your portion. My 5 month old skink eats like a teenage boy, and my year and change skink eats a slightly smaller amount.

When I first got my baby at 3 months, I was feeding him everyday. Now hes fat, so when i have cockroaches I feed them every 3 days, one day food, one day roaches, one day off. That seems to keep them happy and a normal weight. But thats just my personal choice...i love to see them go nuts over Roaches

I would recommend reading, re-reading, and re-re-reading...heck just bookmark the caresheet! I have had skinks for almost a year, and i use it all the time even now. Theres always something else to learn! I'm still new, so this is just my .02 on how I care for my skinkers. Just find out what works for you

[EvoSolley]

So, just as soon as i posted this thread i walked in my room and saw a gigantic suprise waiting for me, so much for not seeing any poo haha

thanks for your alls help, I have read the care sheet or most of it atleast and already have it booked marked for easy access. it is very helpful for sure. when i have the chance to run to whole foods tomorrow ill be getting some lean turkey meat and more food supplies for him.

Took the skink out today for some social time and he seemed to love it! he crawled down the back of my shirt which i wasnt expecting untill it was to late haha. he then proceeded to chill on my back, under my shirt, for a bit. i guess it was nice and warm or somethin, had to lay on my stomach, on my bed for a while before he decided to come out haha:










more updates to come and hopefully a better camera haha!

[Coomassie]

Such a cutie!!!!!

[smsararas2]

great pictures.

Like in past posts the care sheets have a wealth of knowledge, but when in doubt just as on th forum.

This forum is very friendly and both senior&junior members always have great advice with very little negative judgment (unlike other forums where people focus on what you did wrong instead of helping you correct it)

my guy is not a daily pooper either, some times he goes a few days. As said before when you clean his enclosure you'll find "Hidden Treasures" for sure.

[Katrina]

Welcome!!

You've gotten great advice so far, definitely add some more variety and meat into the diet and look at calcium powder just in case. The cheapest way I've found to do this is egg shells - just clean them, bake them in the oven at low heat until brittle and crush finely or use a blender to powder. Egg shell is almost entirely calcium carbonate, so a nice, safe, and very economic way to add calcium to a meal where you are feeding turkey or chicken etc.

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

In the second pic you were being stalked by a fish... Better be more careful.

[missmacabre]

Such cute pics!

[EvoSolley]

Hey guys,

so i have looked at the care sheet but are still wondering what a good staple meat would be for Raptor?

I got some flukers calcium suppliment powder today and sprinkled it over some collared greens and strawberry slices (removed the outside skin with the seeds) in his food bowl. still trying to find a good meat item to keep in his diet. I went to a pet store today and found grashoppers/ mealworms/waxworms etc. both dried and living but didnt know if i should get some or not. what would be a good meat item to use on a daily basis, im just confused on what to get. i got rasberries, strawberries, mustard and collard greens, calcium suppliment, and now i just need a meat.

I also bought a can of "Authority" canned cat food, turkey and giblets, on an impulse buy (m really bad at that haha). havent fed him any yet because i wanted to check with you all to see if its a good choice or not to feed occasionally. if it isnt, then i wont feed him any. better be safe than sorry haha.

If anyone wants to give me some ideas of what you all feed your skink on a daily basis please let me know. Also, as you can see Raptor is a bigger blue tongue skink ( havent measured him yet) but are wondering if i should start feeding him every other day or keep feeding once a day like i am? I do not know the exact age for raptor but i do know he was couped up in a petstore tank for a little under a year no telling how old he was when they got him.


thanks a lot guys for your alls help, just want the best for Raptor haha

Pic:

here is a pic of Raptor chilling on my sisters head, he loves hair haha

[SapphireTigress1]

Lol at the head pic, my Zergling does that to me!

For meat for my blueys, I give them Dubia Roaches, Wellness Catfood, Cooked Ground Beef, and I also share some of my cooked chicken occasionally. Snails are excellent if you can find them, but if not, Can O' Snails is awesome too.

[Katrina]

No need to peel strawberries - just wash them.

All the meats Sapphire mentioned are great. If you can get grasshoppers those are good too. I've found that for adult blueys, mealworms and waxworms are too small to get much of a reaction, but young blueys might like them. Both would be fine as a treat rather than staple.

Canned dog food or silk worms are other good staples. If you do a search you'll find lots more info on this. You can definitely switch it up lots - feed some grasshoppers, then some ground beef the next meal, then cat food... variety is great and makes it a bit easier if you can feed what you have on hand rather. Same with veggies and greens - you can mix it up.

Fruits and berries should be treats only and not more than 10% of their diet.