First Skink

[leaveittoweaver]

I work for a local pet store with four locations and recently someone dropped off a Skink that they didn't want to care for anymore. After doing some research I decided to take in the skink. I'm pretty sure he's an Irian Jaya but I really am not completely sure. I named him Gamera. Gamera does not like his greens and seems highly addicted to his dog food. I have no idea how old he is but he's definitely an adult. Is there a way to encourage him to eat his greens? He's also very shy and scared. He makes huffing noises when I pick him up. I'm pretty sure it stresses him out. What's a good way to get him used to my presence? I've had him about three weeks now. I also noticed a weird mark that is only on one side of his body. It reminds me of a burn so I've attached a picture, anyone have any opinions on it? Thank you!

[NOP]

First off GREAT NAME too bad hes not a Turtle...or can breath fire but whatever. I usually mix in some meaty foods into my guys greens to entice him to eat some of them when he is eating. There is a great care sheet and food chart here on the site that can def help with what you could mix into his greens. He is an adult for sure and unfortunately i really only have experience with my little guy who is 8 months old now and mine is an Indonesian so i dont really know much about color variation or if that could be a burn or not.

[BlueGuy]

Good looking skink. Have your u tried throwing the greens, dog food and whatever else you feed him in a food processor? That way he won't have a choice but to eat it.

[LarissaLurid]

Yea I think he looks like an IJ. Very cute :]

Not sure what kind of dog food you have, but personally I recommend high quality ones without all the fillers and unhealthy additives. I feed my skink a meat mix right now (his current one contains very finely chopped mix of ground turkey, steak, chicken liver / heart/ gizzards) but used to feed him Merrick and Wellness canned foods. I've heard blue buffalo is another good one but havent used it.

Many skinks will start out not wanting veggies, just chop them into tiny pieces and hide it in the dog food all mixed together, or put it all in a food processor and he won't be able to tell there's any in there at all. Their diet should be 60% greens and veggies ratio to the meat.

Perhaps try some squash mixed in, it's very healthy to use as a frequent veggie mixed in and my skink loves it so much he will eat it without any meat on it! If not you can just mix it in with the meat. I often feed mine collard greens as well (never feed iceburg lettuce though)

Here is a list of foods they can eat to help you create a good mix of veggies with meat. :]
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=20345

[ManahShepard]

Its sad to hear about these stories, only because they happen often near where I live, too.

Someone just up and dropped off a cardboard box with a ball python in it just in front of the local pet store I go to when getting food for Taiga and Marbles. And he's been in that pet store for about a year now, in the same place, it just makes me sad.

Some people even drop off bearded dragons too - a pair was dropped off but, was quickly snatched up because of them being adults. They looked pretty bad - like they didn't get enough water. : /

But its awesome that you took him in! He looks so beautiful - but yeah, that weird mark does look a little strange. Personally to me it doesn't /look/ like a burn - I'd assume if it was a burn there would be scabbing and rough scales around/on it? Looks like its just part of his patterns - which are, again, so awesome!

I hope everything goes well for you! And Larissa is right, mixing them together or blending them won't give him much of a choice. xD

Good luck <3

[bella3]

Hi, and welcome! Really pretty skink you have there. I really don't know what the mark could be, but maybe someone else on here will have an idea. I don't think that many skinks like their greens. I would mix a little bit into his dogfood and then slowly start adding more greens and less dog food. That's the only way my skink, Juno will eat greens. Otherwise she spits them out.
Everyone has a different method on how to get your skink used to you. There is a section on this in the FAQ section, and it may be helpful to read. I would personally start taking him out to eat then putting him back and slowly start keeping him out for longer periods of time. He also may associate coming out of the tank with something good (food) Another method is giving him a while to settle in before taking him out.
Hope that helps a little-I am still learning what works best too.

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

IMO that is a mutt. I do see IJ in it, but I also see other species...

[leaveittoweaver]

Thank you for all the advice! I actually already use a food processor and he wouldn't touch the food. So I just gave him some plain dog food not mixed up and he ate it all. I only use brands without fillers. Generally I use Dave's Dog Food. Just as good as Wellness but at half the cost. But I plan to mix it up with brands and meat sources. I also tried The Honest Kitchen with him which is like a dehydrated raw diet? He didn't care for it though.

I will definitely try the squash idea. Maybe he'll like that. I've tried Spinach and Parsley so far I believe.

Any other ideas on that mark on his side? I hope it's nothing serious :/

Also, has anyone else heard their skink make the huffing noise when their nervous? Sometimes it worries me that maybe it's respiratory but he only does it when I disturb him.

Oh and how frequently do you all observe your skink go into the water dish or come out and drink from it? Mine never does(he's always burrowed in the aspen) and then I worry he/she isn't getting enough water :/

[BlueGuy]

Thank you for all the advice! I actually already use a food processor and he wouldn't touch the food. So I just gave him some plain dog food not mixed up and he ate it all. I only use brands without fillers. Generally I use Dave's Dog Food. Just as good as Wellness but at half the cost. But I plan to mix it up with brands and meat sources. I also tried The Honest Kitchen with him which is like a dehydrated raw diet? He didn't care for it though.

I will definitely try the squash idea. Maybe he'll like that. I've tried Spinach and Parsley so far I believe.

Any other ideas on that mark on his side? I hope it's nothing serious :/

Also, has anyone else heard their skink make the huffing noise when their nervous? Sometimes it worries me that maybe it's respiratory but he only does it when I disturb him.

Oh and how frequently do you all observe your skink go into the water dish or come out and drink from it? Mine never does(he's always burrowed in the aspen) and then I worry he/she isn't getting enough water :/

Mine I never see come out to drink water. But that doesn't mean he isn't coming out to drink. He is probably just doing it when your not around. I thought the same thing about mine too and was told just what im telling you. I've had mine for about 2 weeks now and is still looking very healthy.

[Rachael t]

My wild boy has funny marks on him like that too. I think it's just like a scar. His is mostly around his wound site where the vet had to amputate his leg so perhaps your little guy had an injury at one stage. He is a beautiful skink! Have fun with him

[Coomassie]

Don't be afraid of "tough love". If he doesn't eat the dog food mixed with greens, don't offer him anything else. Just keep offering the mix, eventually he will get hungry enough to eat it. It sounds mean but if you keep offering just dog food, he will never eat his greens and that isn't good for him.

As far as the huffing, that is completely normal. That means he is mildly annoyed.

I have seen my skink drink but I didn't for the first few years I owned him.

[bella3]

Don't be afraid of "tough love". If he doesn't eat the dog food mixed with greens, don't offer him anything else. Just keep offering the mix, eventually he will get hungry enough to eat it. It sounds mean but if you keep offering just dog food, he will never eat his greens and that isn't good for him.

I agree. If the skink is hungry and the only thing being offered is that, he will have no choice but to eat it. Maybe start with just a few greens and then add more and more? I would offer only that (greens with dog food) until he eats it, don't change your meal plan because he doens't like it. As BlueGuy said he is probably drinking when you are not there.

And the huffing is just like saying 'what are you doing?' kind of thing, nothing to be worried about.

It's great you are asking all of these questions! It shows how much you care for this guy.

[leaveittoweaver]

Don't be afraid of "tough love". If he doesn't eat the dog food mixed with greens, don't offer him anything else. Just keep offering the mix, eventually he will get hungry enough to eat it. It sounds mean but if you keep offering just dog food, he will never eat his greens and that isn't good for him.

As far as the huffing, that is completely normal. That means he is mildly annoyed.

I have seen my skink drink but I didn't for the first few years I owned him.

Sounds like a plan. I have no problem with the tough love method haha, I have a lot of Crested Geckos, and a few of them were rescues that were fed baby food so I'd have to just offer them their CGD until they ate it, even if it meant them losing a little weight. It was better for them int he long run. I'll just keep offering the mix once a week. Should I switch up the greens or stick with the same ones until he actually starts eating them? The only thing that sucks is because I don't really eat greens, the greens go bad quickly. How do you guys store them to keep that from happening?

Glad to hear the huffing is normal and not seeing him drink is normal. I'm using a tupper ware container for a water dish. It's a large shallow one. Is that okay?

My guy has now also decided that peeing on me is a great defense mechanism as well. I'm not quite as thrilled about it as he is.

Thanks for all the continued help everyone.

[Linnea]

beautiful skink

spinach and especially parsley, do not feed~ its not dangerous to have fed once or twice.
spinach since it contains a substance that is hard to break down, even for human babies,. and parsley since it, if i remember correctly, affect the calcium uptake.

mustard greens, squash, aragula....try them out ;D check out the caresheets food section and click on the link there to see all kinds of foods to give, and which to avoid and which to feed in moderation

as for the leftover veggies - i started eating them myself after a while since i spent far too much money on veggies that went bad quickly. theyre great smaller meals. if they come in a plastic package then try to keep it on. freezing food portions is an option but do remember the nutritional value of the veggies will go down quite a lot.