Rescued BTS

[BluberryOwl]

Hi everyone!
I have a rather unusual situation. The wildlife rehab organization I volunteer with got a call today from animal control. They were called into a home about a weird lizard in a house that was hissing at the home owners. Animal control realized it wasn't a native species, but we don't have any reptile rescues in the area. Our director called me to see if I could pick it up since I have experience with reptiles, so I did. It turned out to be a young blue tongue skink. So now I have a new little guy in my house. I've put out calls to the local herp vets to see if anyone is missing a skink, but until then, I'm taking care of an unexpected skink.

Right now I'm mostly at a loss on how to proceed. I've never taken in a found in the wild lizard rescue. I'm planning on taking him to the vet for a health check and deworming. Is there anything else anyone would recommend? I don't know if he's captive bred or wold caught, but he doesn't look beat up at all. Is there anything I would need to do if he were wild caught? Can the vet sex him, or can they be "popped" like some snakes? How would I tell what type of blue tongue he is?

I have him in a Rubbermaid with paper towel right now, but I'm setting up one of my spare tanks for him. The spare tank is about 4x his body length, is that enough space for now? I have a lot of aspen bedding because I have several snakes, so that should be okay.

Also, I raise dubia roaches for my leopard geckos, would those be safe for him, or would he have problems with the thicker exoskeleton?

[Spindown]

READ THE CARESHEET.

They can NOT be popped or sexed by a vet, and if the vet tries, it could SEVERELY damage the skink. Sex doesnt really matter if you arent going to breed it.
To tell what type he is, post pics and we can help ID it.

Get a fecal test, for sure. Dubias are great for Blueys, they go nuts for them!

Quarantine him away from your other reptiles if possible! Check him for mites also. Paper towels or newspaper is what I prefer for quarantining any reptile, but Aspen isnt a bad substrate for later. I'm using it for the meantime until I can find something I like better.

Blueys usually need the equivalant of a 40 gallon tank, but I have a huge sterilite tub that I QT new blueys in that works great, and is super easy to clean.

[Katrina]

Welcome!

How unusual - I've never heard of a 'found' BTS in Canada. Lucky for him that you're taking him in.

They are very difficult to sex and probing is not recommended. Most people stick with the unisex names for that reason! Other than a vet check, just read over the caresheet or the FAQ section and it should answer most of your questions. They are fairly easy to care for, but feel free to ask any questions that you can't find answers for. There are lots of people around to help!

Can you post pictures? I'd be very curious to see it!

[BluberryOwl]

Thanks for the replies, I'm a bit more confident about taking him in now.

I read through the care sheet a couple times, it seems like taking care of a BTS isn't very difficult. If no one claims him, I'm probably gonna keep the little guy. I honestly think he was dumped. The house is right next to an apartment building. It was pretty warm last week, he could have crawled over from there. Not sure though.

I have a vet appointment scheduled for Friday, so I'll get him all checked out then. I'll make sure he gets a fecal done, thanks. I'm going to keep him on paper towel until after the vet check for ease of fecal collection I think. He's definitely in quarantine until next week at least. I'm fortunate enough to have a multi story house, so he's on the first floor. Everyone else is upstairs in the library.

I'm not worried about breeding, but are there any differences between the sexes? Should I be careful of any mood swings or territorialness or anything if he turns out to be a she? Or does it vary from skink to skink?

Last question (sorry for so many!) I have short tail opossum and frequently give him a similar veg diet to what a BTS needs, but I often supplement fresh veggies with some baby food for veggies that are harder to find or out of season. The baby food is the organic stuff, all that's in it is water and the veggies. Would that be okay for the BTS, or should I just suck it up and make more frequent grocery visits?

Thanks again guys! Oh, and I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow for you Katrina. He's acting a little stressed tonight, so I was trying to stay hands off until tomorrow.

[Katrina]

There aren't many differences between the sexes except at breeding times. I find females to be a bit more relaxed while males are more energetic and active when out exploring, but from a pet perspective either will make a great companion. Personality varies more from skink to skink than from males to females.

Organic veggie baby food is ok, but there are some concerns with feeding a very wet, mushy diet -their teeth and gums should get some work too. So it would be fine to feed on occasion but I'd feed as many real veggies as possible. Lots of people will make large batches of food and freeze them, so that's an option. They also eat a huge variety of veggies so I find it pretty easy just to throw in stuff I have on hand since I try to eat a lot of greens and veggies as well. Adults don't need to be fed more than once or twice a week, so pretty soon you won't need to make very frequent shopping trips. This thread might be helpful: viewtopic.php?f=24&t=20387