A little introduction and some advise wouldnt go a miss :)

[hannah2016]

Hi everyone,

My names Hannah and i have been keeping reptiles for only a little over a year now. I went out and bought my new bluey yesterday and i thought some people would like to know her story.
Okay first of all, i know nothing about her. i dont know her age, gender (even though iv been calling her female), if shes WC or CB, what sub speciecs she is ect. All i know is she was rescued from a very bad home that had let her starve and become dehydrated. at one point i think she was also housed with other animals as all her little toes have been chewwed off. After that she was rescued by a woman that fatteren her up and did her best, but still didnt interact with her enough. I took her off their hand (for a price) and shes been with me since yesterday.
Since then iv been trying to just get her setteled. shes extreamly 'huffy' when someone goes near/in her viv and doesnt like being touched at all. At the moment iv desiced the best stragy for her would be to leave her alone and only go near her for feeding while shes settling in. I thought this way should would get used to the noise and associate me with her food. other then that iv jut been siting outside her viv, opening and clossing her viv doors every now and again to get her used to me being there.
Any other advice other then this? i fed her a small bit of food this morning to see if she'd eat it and she even tryed eating the plate!! she was very messy and so to make sure she didnt try to eat what was left around in the substrate i put her on my lap very shortly and she was fine with me (even if she did hide straight away). since then shes been alot less 'huffy' and it might sound like a stupid idea but iv put the tv on so she can her voices. i didnt know if this was a good idea or pointless haha. Anyways any more advice would be great and enjoy the pictures





Also, could anyone tell me what sub-species she is?



Sorry for bad spelling - im writing this on my phone

[hannah2016]

Forgot to add, her name is saffie as in short for sapphire

[Rhianimal]

I am no expert, but she looks like a Merauke (or other gigas) to me! Which means she would likely be wild caught, or be born from a wild caught mother.

My skink came about in a similar way. Give her a bit of time to get settled in, then be sure to regularly interact with her. Best thing to do is keep her comfortable and happy and get her used to being around you. She will likely calm more and more with frequent handling, though don't push too much too soon. She could end up not liking handling at all, though from what you said it sounds very promising that she will be pretty tolerant.

Takes time, patience, and consistency. This place is a very good resource so don't be afraid to ask! Even better is to share happy progress with Sapphire.

[hannah2016]

Thank you for the reply. I thought she might be when i looked around for clues.

I opened her viv door and after a minuet or two of hestance she came striding out, sticking her blue tongue out at everything. i got slightly worried about her wondering around but thats proberbly because my beardie gets in a world of trouble as soon as he comes out of his viv haha. she was fine exploring and it was quite a joy to see. weirdly, more then anything else im really looking forward to feeding her again - i loved watching her the last time, making a huge mess

Does anyone find that there bluey is a complete fidget? iv heard people were able to just chill out with theirs and although iv only had her for a few days, but she just never sits still!! All shes done today (and most of last night was dig in and out of her subsrate and make her water spill every where. i guess this is just because shes not used to being able to dig as much as she been.

[Spindown]

at first glance she seems merauke. Probably wild caught. I'd get a fecal done ASAP. probably has worms, but they are easy to treat

She is probably just settling in, it can take quite a while. Some eventually calm down enough to be snugglers, some dont. Most of mine dont cuddle, and if they do...its short before they get the itch to go exploring.

[Alioop]

It sounds like you're off to a great start with her. As far as handling goes- some people say to leave them alone for a few weeks to settle in... some say to start handling right away... short periods... longer periods... I honestly don't believe that it makes a difference whichever way you do it. These critters have a ton of personality and some just tolerate handling better than others. The important thing, no matter how you choose to handle her, is to watch for obvious signs of stress like flailing around when being held, peeing on you, etc... then you know you're doing something wrong and the skink needs to go back in his house!

My IJ is not a snuggler, he would much rather rome the house on his own and hide out in a nook or cranny somewhere, then sit on my lap. As I said before, tons of personality, they're all different.

[hannah2016]

i really appriciate all the replys and advice, it really helps.

yeah i dont think shes gonna be the sit down and watch tv type haha i guess if shes happy to just go ahead and explore i should just let her.
when you guys let your blueys lose (if you do), how long do you let them roam? also have you made like a bluey prove room for them to just wonder? id be fully preperd to do this, i just get a little worried when my beardie even goes out of sight, let alone my new nervous bluey - am i just being over paranoid?

i think shes really calmed down already. she really doesnt like being held, and with whats shes been through im perfectly happy to respect her space. shes stopped being huffy completly and has never peed on me or anything like that.
i think id like to work on her being still long enough to be held from one side of the room to anouther - just so i can get her back in her viv with out her squriming to jump off

[LarissaLurid]

Definitely a merauke, we can try to help determine gender if you get picks from straight above her so we can see proportions. Definitely a Merauke :3 very cute.

I'd read up about their diet and housing in the BTS articles on the forum. They will be very helpful :]

here's a diet chart. they should have about 60% veggies/greens to meat
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=20345

Many people will let them be in their cage and not bother them the first week, let them calm down and get used to the environment. At least a few days would be helpful, but it's up to you.