New Blue Tongue, please help.

[harrog50]

Hi Everyone,

I am the lucky new owner of a beautiful juvenile Eastern Blue Tongue Lizard and have a quick question about his first few days/weeks in a new home. I have had him now for just over 48 hours. As soon as he was brought home from the pet store I put him in his enclosure, he walked around for a few minutes then went and buried in the substrate under his hide. He has NOT moved since then. He has not eaten nor ventured out to bask. Is this normal behaviour? I’m hoping he is just stressed and is trying to acclimatize to a new environment and I’m hoping he will poke his head out soon as I’m starting to get a bit worried. Reptiglo 5.0 UV-B Lights on 8 hours a day, temps range from ~25c cool end to ~35c basking end, feeding fruit and veg.

Thank you for your assistance!

[Jeff]

Welcome to the forum! Congratulations on the new eastern!

It's very normal for them to do that when they first get home. As he gets more comfortable, he will most likely spend more time out in the open. It's good to give him a little time to settle in without disturbing him much, but after awhile it is fine to take him out when you want to see him.

[Richard.C]

welcome to the forum,

first off he/she may have eaten at the shop not long before purchase,so may not be overly hungry

he /she more likely is just settling in to a new environment,juvies can be timid till they get used to the hand that feeds them,your temps sound fine,what end is the hide,hot end or cool end?
with the cool end at 25 it may be able to get warm enough with out the need to come out to bask,also it may not be used to just eating veg and fruit,sometimes its good to add some meat to the mix,if u have dogs or cats a bit of there food mixed into the veg can work wonders

do u keep those temps day and night?if so it could come out then when its quieter,i like to cool them over night,i generally turn all heating off at night,buy a little warmth wont hurt them,when cooled over night they usually come out to bask in the morning not long after lights come on

hopefully its just nerves though,which i think is most likely,once they settle they should be out often,keep us posted on its progress

[Kbell31]

I think no one will be able to know for sure unless you post some pictures of the skink....

[harrog50]

Thank you so much for your replies, it really is appreciated I think he must have came out today for a little nibble as im fairly sure some of the food is gone. Hopefully he is starting to become braver! I will post pics up of him once he decides to brave the big wild world. Here is a picture of my set up for anyone thats interested. Its 4x2x2, has a Reptiglo 5.0 UVB light, 2x 75w Exo Terra Infra Red Heat Lamps, 1 large basking rock directly under the heat lamps, a hollowed stump, the hide, and food and water bowls. Please let me know if you think anything should be changed. Again, thanks for your input

[Katrina]

Welcome! Sounds like you're doing everything right, it can be frustrating at first when you want to see your new acquisition and they just want to hide... it might take a little while, but he will get curious and as long as you keep the stress to a minimum he will soon figure out that you aren't anything to be afraid of. They are very curious creatures, he will start to get used to the new home, sounds and you in no time. Good luck!!

[WanderingChai]

All sounds perfectly fine to me.