BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

This is Jorge, my new blue tongue skink. The library at my school had him, but didn't want him anymore, , so I got to take him home. He is the first lizard I've ever taken care of, and would love tips that may not appear on the care sheet here, which I've read twenty times. Any and all comments would be nice. ty!

They only fed him cat food and bananas for four years!!! I don't think he got out of the cage much, or had much interaction and mental stimulation, he seems stressful around people and I haven't been able to pick him up. Well Jorge, welcome to the Skink Rehabilitation Center.

That is a heat rock, but it is already long gone, thanks for the concerns and advice.






In the last two you guys might be able to tell, but he's a little on the chubby side . He'll definitely need a new diet.

Btw, I don't think you can see it in the pictures due to the quality of the photos, but his nose is a little crusty and red. Any ideas on what this is and/or what I should do?

welcome and congratulations on your new skink friend

(to upload a photo, either link by inserting the direct link to the image between the "Img" thing, you see it above the writing message screen so just click it and insert the link. second option is to upload the image straight from your computer by using the "upload attachment thing right below the message writing)

(no url, click Img ;D )

Welcome to another New BTS Caregiver (we never own them).

The caresheet really covers all areas - best one I have ever seen. I have mine as a favorite when something comes out..I check there first. On the rare occassion I did post questions here - everyone here is very nice about asking "stupid" questions....

But isn't that why this forum is here?

Once you figure out how to post pics - if you have any bird's eye view - you BTS can be IDd (type of BTS) and maybe even sexed.

skeetersmom wrote: - everyone here is very nice about asking "stupid" questions....

A less knowledgeable person asking simple questions will become knowledgeable, whereas the knowledgeable person who never does will have a hard time.

skeetersmom wrote:Welcome to another New BTS Caregiver (we never own them).

Very true! No one can "own" another life.

Pretty skink! Just wondering if that is a heat rock with the cords there...if so it would be best to change that as soon as possible, to light overhead and just a rock/slate/or something for him to bask on. Plugged in heat rocks can be dangerous, with no control of the temps and could cause burns. If you want to post the size of your tank and such, many people will have other suggestions as well, if you like, about how to set it up well. You also need water dish, not sure if you just took it out for pic or not. Very nice of you to take him. Make sure to read the caresheet again, it will tell about tank size, lighting and heating, what the basking temps should be, the cool side temps, diet and all kinds of goodies. More pics when you can

He is very pretty (speckled and seems like hes quite yellow?), but he definitely needs to cut his food intake a lot, it is quite dangerous otherwise.

avoid cat food (taurine can mess with hormone levels) and no treats.

skink diets take a lot of time, but i think since he is so big the first weight drop will be quick and noticeable, helping the spirit quite a bit

also, make his protein intake a little lower than regular, add more veggies than usual, till hes under a kilo. not excessively but 40 prot/60 veg. he will most likely not accept vegetables, but he can take weeks without eating so never give in.

other things:

- if that is a heat rock, throw it out. blueys severely lack sense of heat from underneath and can get very badly burned. the rocks are well known to malfunction.

- the tank size? it looks like he might need a very much larger one.

- make sure to check if hes got layers of stuck sheds underneath. a bath is good for helping with that.

good luck the other, more experienced owners will hopefully help you more >.<

Krippschick wrote:Pretty skink! Just wondering if that is a heat rock with the cords there...if so it would be best to change that as soon as possible, to light overhead and just a rock/slate/or something for him to bask on. Plugged in heat rocks can be dangerous, with no control of the temps and could cause burns. If you want to post the size of your tank and such, many people will have other suggestions as well, if you like, about how to set it up well. You also need water dish, not sure if you just took it out for pic or not. Very nice of you to take him. Make sure to read the caresheet again, it will tell about tank size, lighting and heating, what the basking temps should be, the cool side temps, diet and all kinds of goodies. More pics when you can

Thanks for the tips, and I took the heat rock out right after I noticed it. He has a water bowl off to the side, and sadly I haven't found a larger tank just yet. I'll go looking soon, but this one should suffice for a while.

Linnea wrote:He is very pretty (speckled and seems like hes quite yellow?), but he definitely needs to cut his food intake a lot, it is quite dangerous otherwise.

avoid cat food (taurine can mess with hormone levels) and no treats.

skink diets take a lot of time, but i think since he is so big the first weight drop will be quick and noticeable, helping the spirit quite a bit

also, make his protein intake a little lower than regular, add more veggies than usual, till hes under a kilo. not excessively but 40 prot/60 veg. he will most likely not accept vegetables, but he can take weeks without eating so never give in.

other things:

- if that is a heat rock, throw it out. blueys severely lack sense of heat from underneath and can get very badly burned. the rocks are well known to malfunction.

- the tank size? it looks like he might need a very much larger one.

- make sure to check if hes got layers of stuck sheds underneath. a bath is good for helping with that.

good luck the other, more experienced owners will hopefully help you more >.<

I just got him today, and the previous owners probably didn't do any research, so he's going to be on a strict diet for a while > : P If he'll let me pick him up, he's a little wary of me for now, I'll definitely bathe him. He does have some left over shed.

sounds all good n__n just feed regular amounts of food at regular times, doesnt need to be less that this or he might loose some nutrients he needs to fend off illness that is stress related when moving and such. id say, go for 2 feedings a week, but i may be wrong on the skink diet topic.

let him be a little while in his new home (apart from new water and when feeding), a week or two is regularily said to be a good settling in period, but it varies so much from skink to skink and the different situations. if your new skink requires some old shed to be removed, id from an inexperienced point of view help him with the shed in two to four days time before leaving him be yet again.

Thanks Linnea. You've helped a lot already

Jorge is cute and chubby and it sounds like he has a new loving owner. Congrats on your new BTS.

Cat food is fine in small amounts - it isn't known if the added taurine will have any negative effect, but they don't need it, so it is generally advised to stick to dog food. Not sure about it 'messing with hormone levels'.

Jorge looks great, but definitely chunky! You can feed sparingly for a while. Congrats on the new addition, you've already gotten great advice so there isn't much else to say.

After two tries, he finally ate out of my hand, sadly it was only a slice of banana. I'm gonna try to wean him off his strict banana diet. So far I'm trying to put grapes and such on the banana slices. Any suggestions?

Maybe a dollop of dog food on the slices? Some dog food has the chunks in gravy, might try putting a chunk on top of a banana slice and seeing if he'll take it off a plate. Seems like most skinks also like egg, you might want to try scrambling an egg.

To make them change diet is simple. Stop offering junk food. If a kid always get chocolate when it refuses to eat normal food, it's never going to decide to eat the healthy food on it's own. For the good of everyone, simply stop all non-healthy food. Offer only a healthy meal (meat/green/vegetable) maybe once a week. Eventually the skink gets hungry and will eat it. Once it's eating healthy food regularly, you can re-introduce occasional treats. The only requirement is that you don't give in before s/he does.

X 2 what fatal said, just offer it the good food,you have a fatty so no harm if it takes a while to switch

Welcome to the forum,nice looking bluey

Fatal_S wrote:To make them change diet is simple. Stop offering junk food. If a kid always get chocolate when it refuses to eat normal food, it's never going to decide to eat the healthy food on it's own. For the good of everyone, simply stop all non-healthy food. Offer only a healthy meal (meat/green/vegetable) maybe once a week. Eventually the skink gets hungry and will eat it. Once it's eating healthy food regularly, you can re-introduce occasional treats. The only requirement is that you don't give in before s/he does.

I'm responding a month later, but that's actually a very good idea. Besides, he's got plenty of chub still, and wouldn't starve for months. I think your plan will do wonderfully!
thanks for all the help guys!