BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Ok so I got my first blue tounge(pazuzu) from a friend who had gotten him free as a baby from a breeder that was going to put him down do to a birth mark or bite on his head so after i adopted him about a week ago knowing he is agressive at first it seemed he was only cage agressive(huffing,biteing lunge biteing atacking the glass ect) My friend had him in a very simple cage on the back porch and only feed him because he had gotten so agressive she use to hold him all the time when he was a baby but then she got busy and befor she knew it he was a agressive juvinal.When I went over to her house a few weeks ago for a wedding shower I was able to take him out and he chilled on my lap for awhile.I ended up adopting him afew weeks later when they came over for the wedding and ive been working on tameing him it is starting to go well as he is not as agressive as he had been a few days ago still huffs and hissed but is trying to bite less.but i noticed he is kinda people aggessive when today i was sitting with him watching tv and he starting licking my face alot then tryed to bite it but once i said no he stoped.I would just like some edvice on how to tame him properly if its any diffrent then any other reptile.


I help train and care for service dogs and working at a dog bording center im curently working on finishing high school online and getting my dog training certification.I also own a 2 1/2 year old arginane tegu,cats and a bearded dragon,rainkins bearded dragon hybrid,albino leopard gecko and my new blue tounge skink and my 55gal fish tank&25 gal fish tank.Ive all so owned/cared for multiple leopard geckos and bearded dragons,iguanas,horned toad lizard and a turtle and fish.

You sound like you're already off to a good start. I commend you for that, and for being willing to sacrifice to give him a better life.

I myself have not dealt with anything that agressive, just 3 wild caught adult Meraukes who were not used to being handled much. So keep that in mind when I give you my advice. Maybe someone with more experience can give you something more to work with.

I would suggest you try to handle him for shorter periods of time, maybe once a day. Hopefully you know how to grab him without him being able to turn around to bite you?
I started out with just grabbing them out of their tank. Once they calmed down in my hands I would lower them down to the floor and just let them explore for a while. I would grab them back up and turn them around whenever they were on their way to some place I didn't want them to go, and they would after a while stop fighting me when I repeatedly would handle them for this; it's like they figured out they would be allowed to keep exploring. After a while of this, I would then end the session by lifting them up and placing them in my lap. If they crawled off, I would place them back on my lap. After a short session of this, I would place them back in their tank.
They always seem to fight more if I'm moving while holding them, and I would always make sure that, before I put them down, they would calm down first. My thought is that they wouldn't associate fighting with being put down--which is what they ultimately want.

I would also suggest that you take him out of his tank to feed him. This is one more way for him to associate you, and being grabbed by you, with something good. I have a large, see-through bin, that I place mine in with the food to eat. They also seem much more amenable to handling after they have eaten.

It has now been 7 mos since I got these three, and two of the three are now very handleable. They huff up a storm when you first grab them, but once in your hands they no longer fight nearly as much to get away. And after being allowed to explore for a while, they are quite nice. I'm even able to let other people handle one of them now.

Only the feistier one do I at times still need to grab behind her head so she doesn't whip around to get me, but it's getting much more rare, and usually I just have to be really careful and attentive to her moods. Most of the time, all three still try to fight to get away, but it's rare that they try to bite.
Mine are a bit older than yours, they're around 6 years, but they are also Meraukes, and known to be calm in general. So hopefully, with lots of PATIENT, gentle handling, you can get yours to come around too. And hopefully also, we will both have "lap-kittens" one day in the future!

Do you know what kind you have?
And it is also a must for new people to post LOTS of pictures!

Im guessing northern by the way he looks and pics comeing soon camera replacement part is in the mail thanks for the advice

Do you know what kind you have?
And it is also a must for new people to post LOTS of pictures! [/quote]

here are afew pics I got after I gave him a bath

Sorry this post isn't going to be long, but I highly recommend getting a 50 gallon wide tank, a 55 gallon has lots of verticle space but like NO floor space. It's much too thin for reptiles and gives no room to move around.

That is indeed a Northern, and a gorgeous one at that!

thank you

First off, I think that was awesome of you to take him in like that Adopting a new animal, especially one that will need extra care, is very selfless and noble of you!

As for taming, I am really not an expert to say the least, but what works for me is definitely routine and positive association. Before I pick Boon up I always tell him, "Here I am...reaching into the tank...It is just me...etc." and I go on to just narrate what I am doing so that he is not surprise to see my hand all of a sudden reaching for him. That way he can see and hear me and if he still gets hiffy, at least he is aware that I am there and what is coming toward him. After a few weeks of the same training, he realizes that it is me and is less hiffy and more apt to run if he does not want to be held

Another thing that works for me is I will take Boon out and put him on a table where there are no hides or things for him to be distracted by, and then I just talk to him. If he comes close I give him a treat like a small piece of fruit and then he knows that if he comes up to me good things will happen as part of that positive reinforcement. After a few weeks of this he is coming up to me freely and looking at my hands for food.

Just make sure you move slow and non-menacingly and eventually he will see you as a food provider and not a threat. I think you are definitely on the right track though, and it sounds like you and him are going to be friends in no time. I wish you both the best of luck and thank you for your kind heart.

All of the above are really good constructive comments and the methods stated are encouraged. However I personally found that feeding them outside of the enclosure worked best for me, feeding fruits (keep in mind the dietry requirements) and silkworms. I found this to work very well for me so I would reccommend it, but, also following what has been previously stated. Mine also has a tendancy to swallow substrate when hes chasing dubia too, so he now gets fed his roaches in a large box. This helped me when he needed to go to the vet, as he didnt assosciate the box as being bad anymore.

Best of luck with your skink, im sure in time he will become your new companion

You've gotten some really great advice so far. And that is a great looking Northern! The only thing I wanted to add was a response to your story about him almost biting your face. BTS are inquisitive and explore with their mouths (much like a toddler who puts everything in their mouth). When out exploring they will chomp down onto anything that they deem possibly edible- rocks, dead leaves, my dog's toes, my boyfriend's toes... etc. Licking is usually the precursor to a bite. So, licking your face wasn't him giving affection, he was exploring with his tongue and then had decided to explore with his whole mouth. Huffing is something many of even the tamest skinks do, sounds like you've just got a 'huffy', slightly scared, but tame bts!

Alioop wrote:You've gotten some really great advice so far. And that is a great looking Northern! The only thing I wanted to add was a response to your story about him almost biting your face. BTS are inquisitive and explore with their mouths (much like a toddler who puts everything in their mouth). When out exploring they will chomp down onto anything that they deem possibly edible- rocks, dead leaves, my dog's toes, my boyfriend's toes... etc. Licking is usually the precursor to a bite. So, licking your face wasn't him giving affection, he was exploring with his tongue and then had decided to explore with his whole mouth. Huffing is something many of even the tamest skinks do, sounds like you've just got a 'huffy', slightly scared, but tame bts!

Thats a good thing to know seeing how im uses to my reptiles exploreing by licking so do i always have to worry about him biteing me when I sit with him? he bit my finger already and it hurt amd drew blood and had teeth marks but im just glade it wasnt my tegu.

ilovelizards wrote:

Alioop wrote:You've gotten some really great advice so far. And that is a great looking Northern! The only thing I wanted to add was a response to your story about him almost biting your face. BTS are inquisitive and explore with their mouths (much like a toddler who puts everything in their mouth). When out exploring they will chomp down onto anything that they deem possibly edible- rocks, dead leaves, my dog's toes, my boyfriend's toes... etc. Licking is usually the precursor to a bite. So, licking your face wasn't him giving affection, he was exploring with his tongue and then had decided to explore with his whole mouth. Huffing is something many of even the tamest skinks do, sounds like you've just got a 'huffy', slightly scared, but tame bts!

Thats a good thing to know seeing how im uses to my reptiles exploreing by licking so do i always have to worry about him biteing me when I sit with him? he bit my finger already and it hurt amd drew blood and had teeth marks but im just glade it wasnt my tegu.

I wouldnt worry massively about him biteing. For now, I would just have him remain on your lap until the biting tendancies ease off. If you feel it is a little more than your comfortable with however, than using gloves can help, but this again may put you a step back because then they may become familiar with the glove, but not your hand.

Personally, I would just handle him on your lap, as Ali said, they explore with their tongues so often they are quite readable. Mine huffs when I pick him up sometimes (other times he jumps in to my hands to escape his enclosure ), I think its normal but just a way for them to winge, like when you get told something you dont like and sigh out of your nose kind of

Best of luck with your taming, sounds like there are a few things that need working on, but overall seems ok

PLeaaaaseee post some pics of your tegu in the Everything Off Topic section!!!! I love them so much and hope to have one someday.

ok i will post pics of my tegu there so everyone can see them

Kbell31 wrote:PLeaaaaseee post some pics of your tegu in the Everything Off Topic section!!!! I love them so much and hope to have one someday.

posted pics here
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=20946

Try not to think of it being aggressive,most are just scared,so react accordingly,using there natural instincts of defending them selves when they feel threatened

Yours sounds pretty calm,perhaps it sensed something that seemed edible in your face area,or just got startled,climbing up peoples bodies isnt the norm for them,i dont recommend letting them climb over you or sit on shoulders ect,there clumsy climbers,can easily fall and hurt them selves

More to the point you need to always remember they are all individuals,

Welcome!!