do some skinks require a "hands off" approach to taming?

[Spindown]

I ask this because when we first got my indo 2 years or so ago, we tried all the tips and tricks the forum could give us to tame our little guy. It made him more defensive and untouchable. He'd flip out, pee and poop on us, and huff and huff and huff. However, after we decided to have him be a "hands off" skink because being held was stressing him out too much, and just occasionally coming up to pet him (even though he hated it for the longest time) and talking to him, now hes great being petted and will even come and look at us in the front of the cage. He runs to his food and eats even with us in the room, and we've even been able to pick him up a few times.

I find this strange, as all of my other skinks flip out without attention, especially Creep and Overlord. They noserub in Overlords case, and Creep gets very antisocial and skittish if left alone for long periods of time. Zergling on the other hand is THRIVING on his own. Hes calmed down SO much! He's such a goof, we love him so much, and I'm hoping someday he will be ok to come out and be ok with being held.

Does anyone else have a skink like this?

[Linnea]

isnt it good to start slow while taming and then gradually increase when the skink accepts it - as you said?

this is what i would do.....if my skink had needed it. mostly since i have no experience previously so it is an easy way to work slow for the owner too.

as you say i think skinks have different levels of acceptance from the beginning, due to personality/instincts and not previous treatment. different approaches work equally when when applied on skinks on whom theyre the most effective

[Fatal_S]

I definitely use a hands-off approach with some of my skinks, and I find it's made for much better human-skink relationships. Of course you and I have other skinks we can dote on, which makes it easier on us. For people with only one skink (and without the space/means to get more) this option is less than appealing. I feel bad for the people who end up with an antisocial skink, but then at the same time if they'd done their research and gotten a CBB, hand-tame skink...

Anyways, I'm pretty hands-off with my Tanimbars especially, and that's made them more trusting overall. I still have one WC Tanimbar that wants nothing to do with me, and I have Jenga the Caramel Northern who is possibly evil-incarnate. I just go with whatever the skink seems to prefer, and am thankful I have so many personalities in my care

[supersnakeman101]

blaze at first was kinda skittish was to be expected but gradually calmed down over a few months to my appreciation but as you said i do feel bad for those who get antisocial skinks but i guess you adjust over time to them and they eventually learn to trust you a bit which is nice

[Richard.C]

i like to leave them be,let them get accustomed that way,alot are pretty mellow to begin with so can handle them,but the terrors seem to settle alot faster if u leave them be and let them learn you arent a threat that way,they dont see u as something big and scary trying to catch them that way