Picky Eater

[xstray]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and have a slight problem maybe someone can help me with.

I recently acquired an adult blue tongue skink from an expo. When purchasing her I asked a lot of questions one of them being what exactly was she fed regularly and the guy told me cat food most of the time and occasionally a small mouse or some chicken. I of course would rather improve upon that diet, but so far it isn't working.

When I brought her home I got her into her set-up and left her alone for three days, she was definitely more then hungry after that and I gave her a mix of some thin, small chicken pieces, mango, and to entice her with a strong smell I mixed that up with a tiny bit of warmed up high grade canned dog food (like the stuff that's almost $5 a can, ha!) and all she did was pick out the chicken!

Then I tried some greens mixed with some small beef pieces and all she'd eat was the beef, then I tried only giving her fruits and veggies and she didn't eat any of her prepared meals for over a week, I tried various mixes and combos of many things over that week and she flat out refused all of it: strawberries, blue berry, mango, banana, apple, squash, various greens and she wouldn't have any of it.

So after about 8 days of her not eating I mixed some blueberries up with some scrambled egg and yet again she only picked out the egg.


I'd really like to get her eating a more varied diet rather then just meats because almost everywhere I read says they should eat plenty of veggies and fruits but like I said it's like she'd rather starve herself rather then eat anything that wasn't once alive...

She also won't touch insects and I've tried a variety of those too.


Does any one here have any experience with getting such a picky eater to be less picky? I mean she went 8 days without food and she STILL turned her nose up at her food since it wasn't meat.


I don't think it's her cage set up, she doesn't seem stressed in fact she seems to have become much happier from when I first got her a few months ago, she doesn't seem ill in any way, and she doesn't seem out of 'shape' - she's definitely not skinny but she's not overly obese like some of the BTS I've seen pictures of...

I don't know I'm just very confused, maybe she's only been fed meat type foods all of her life? The vender I bought her from said he very rarely would offer her veggies so maybe that's why she's so picky?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[PlinkoPachinko]

My little mushball is thankfully not picky, but have you tried blending up all the food in the blender? If it's a little more fine, and a little more sloppy, she might get some of the greens and fruit in along with the meat that she so adores Also I've heard that fruit isn't as important, but I would definitely get her to eat her greens and veggies!!

[Linnea]

you were on the right track for about 8 days there, then you went back to "nice feeding the starving reptile".

a bluey can take several months without food as long as they have a water supply, so you really have to be very mean to starve a reptile xD it is much more important that you get your bluey to eat veggies as they are life - essential.

mix dogfood properly with the chopped veggies and some good salad. mix very very well.

and you also need patience and strong nerves.

A bluey that prefers meat/high protein will definitely pick it out given the chance.

remember that fruits and berries are like snacks, they arent essential for their health, but i think its good to at least offer something fruit like when youve started up with the veggies. it will probably take a while, just as people need time to start liking new types of food.

my bluey hasnt eaten a single meal for ~4 months (2 was brumation), and he is doing great. next proper food try is tomorrow, wish me luck.

and good luck to you too.

[Richard.C]

no need to warm the dog food either,just keep trying to add veg to the meat u feed,at least its eating if just picking out the meat,otherwise try adding mashed banana on a bit of the veg ect
some dont like to eat veg,especially when used to dog/catfood based diets,and another option is to blend it all up like plinko mentioned,dogfood and veg/fruit mix make like patties for them,u can freeze excess for later feeding to

[Gail]

My first skink was a IJ that was fed exclusively canned dog food before I got him. I never could get to him to eat chunky veggies or fruit , I had to resort to blending everything into a paste for him. I froze the extra in ice cube trays then stored those in a ziplock baggie. It worked really well.

[NennaMeerkat]

My blue was fed a really odd diet of live goldfish before I got him and at first he wouldn't touch anything, dog food, cat food, veggies, nothing. It took about a month before he was really eating good but I find what works best is mixing up canned mush dog food (blue buffalo's small breed canned dog food) with finely chopped veggies (usually kale, brussle sprouts, and dandelion greens) and a few cubed pieces of squash or sweet potato. Then with everything hand mixed very good (don't be afraid of getting hands dirty) you throw the entire mix into the nuke for about 20 seconds. It really brings out the "stink" in the dog food and causes a good bit of the "fat" or "liquid" in the dog food to coat the veggies. Hand mix again to get the juices over everything, and pile it all up in the center of the dish. If the veggies are chopped up fine enough and mixed good enough there is no way the skink can just get a mouthful of dog food.

My BTS now dives head first into the clump of food and with head buried will munch away pretty quickly, sometimes "licking" the juices on the dish itself too. Since I have been heating up his meals a little he seems to be stimulated more about the food and will eat a bit more. Regardless of my mixing. Sometimes he will also just get a mouthful of veggies without thinking twice. The "stink" of the dog food is on everything and covers the smell/taste of the veggies.

[xstray]

After I posted the original post I took the mushed can dog food and a handful of finely shredded dandelion greens and kale and rolled it into little balls, with a blueberry in the middle and tried offering her that. She seemed more interested, a lot of tongue flickering, but when she bit it and it started to moosh down in her mouth she instantly started spitting it out and rubbing her face on her hide log to wipe it off. She then retreated under her bedding.

However she did at least give it a taste! So I think I may try the blended food rolled into little balls method for awhile to see if I can get her eating her greens more willingly.

I actually get a lot of fresh, chemical free fruits and berries and such so that's why I already had so much of it in stock and decided to try and have the skink eat some, my rats can only eat so much of it! I also figured maybe the smell and taste of the fruits or berries would be a little more inciting in comparison to the greens which don't really smell and kinda taste well... like greens lol.

I'm going to try again in a day or so with some of the middle moosh food balls I made and see if she'll take them, if not I'll just keep on trying. She might be stubborn, but when I'm determined I'm unrelenting xD

Maybe I could also try taking a small chunk of chicken or turkey and stuff it with some fruit/veggie moosh and get her to eat it that way...


I really appreciate all the advice! It's also nice to find a board where people just don't jump down your throat for asking a question!

Anyone mind telling me some greens and veggies they feed their skinks? I knew they could have kale and the dandelion greens, but there are a lot of lists out there about what they can and can't have and they often contradict each other and I'd rather heard from actual skink owners then a random list compiled on a sketchy site.

Thanks again for the blended food idea! I'm hoping it'll work with time

[Alioop]

Keep it simple. Feed as others have suggested: canned dog food + chopped greens. She will eat it when she's hungry. Mother nature doesn't make food balls or stuffed turkey for them in the wild. An adult skink only needs to be fed once per week, my adult IJ eats once every two weeks.

[Katrina]

Welcome!!

As for food suggestions, have you seen the diet chart? http://bluetongueskinks.net/foodchart.html It isn't an all encompassing list, but it has lots of ideas. Any of those greens are good, Asian greens / veggies are also good. There is lots of options, but like it has been mentioned - tough love is usually the best. An adult in good condition can go months and months without food, so just offer a healthy meal with lots of greens / veggies that they can't pick out once or twice a week. If they spit it out, they can wait until next time.

The fruits and berries will make great treats.

Feel free to ask any questions, you should never feel like people are jumping down your throat for being new and having questions, especially when you just want to do what is best for your new pet.

[sarah]

Have you considered baby food veggies?I bought veggies and made them baby food thin and he would lick it up.Once we were used to the taste I slowly made it more thick and now he is good with veggies.

[Richard.C]

alot seem to like chopped up mushrooms to,button mushies,i use them a bit for the land mulllets so give the blueys some occaisionally,they do say mushies are vegetarians equivelent of meat,lol

[StaceyLeigh]

alot seem to like chopped up mushrooms to,button mushies,i use them a bit for the land mulllets so give the blueys some occaisionally,they do say mushies are vegetarians equivelent of meat,lol

I have never tried feeding mushroom, I keep them in the house frequently. Would portabellas be ok too?

[Katrina]

alot seem to like chopped up mushrooms to,button mushies,i use them a bit for the land mulllets so give the blueys some occaisionally,they do say mushies are vegetarians equivelent of meat,lol

I have never tried feeding mushroom, I keep them in the house frequently. Would portabellas be ok too?

Yeah, portabellas are overgrown regular brown mushrooms which I feed all the time. Most of mine love mushrooms.

[StaceyLeigh]

Oh good, something new to add in for variety! Thanks!

[Richard.C]

yep they love mushies,well most do,some are stubborn,lol,i mostly use good quality tinned dog food