New Baby Blue Tongue Question

[bch1988]

Hey all,

I am new here, and new to BTS in general. Not new to reptiles (I have 2 BD's and 2 Jackson's Chameleons).

Anyways, I just purchased a Irian Jaya and it was shipped to me from California on tuesday. I'm assuming the little guy had a really bad trip, because he was NOT happy when I took him out of the box on tuesday. He essentially jumped out of the box and into his cage and ran over to his hide. He hissed at me when I went near him, so i decided to give him some space.

Within minutes he had completely burried himself in this aspen shavings substrate, and disapeared. I have been leaving him food and changing his water, but did not hear or see him until Thursday when he made a..slight appearance. I tried to place my hand near him and was met with lots of hissing and nipping (managed to get ahold of my finger at one point). So I decided to leave him alone again and let him re-bury himself.

I suppose my questions are, is it normal for him to be upset or in culture shock for 3+ days? And how long should I leave him alone before I can start trying to handle him.

I know I will be asked, so here is his current setup: He is in a 20g tank atm (too small for an adult I know, I usually have a spare 40g, but my gf just claimed it for her BD. I am currently building the BTS a 4x2x2 to stack on top of my BD setup, and it should be done within a few weeks). His temps range from ~90-95 on heated side to ~75-80 on cooler side with a hide on cooler. He is on Aspen Shavings, and is being offered food regularly. I havent checked humidity, but he has a fairly large/deep water dish in the cash that should be providing at least 25-30% humidity.

Any thoughts or "newbie care" from all you masters of the BTS?

[Nae]

Welcome!

The behavior you described is very normal. Just give him at least a week or two to settle in, go about the normal changing of water, place food in every second day or so, just normal stuff~

[bch1988]

Thanks,

I'll leave him alone for a while longer. Just very different behavior than my BDS.

[WanderingChai]

What Nae said.

In most cases, the skink will be scared to death and should not really be bothered for at least 4 days. Remember you'll have at least 15 years to cuddle and love them, so dont rush it!!

I also reccomend reading "your new BTS" in the FAQ section, if you haven't already. It has some really good tips!!

As soon as the little IJ is settled in, snap some pics!!

[Richard.C]

x 3,very normal

young blueys are especially timid,but with some patience,they get used to you pretty quickly