How to end brumation if necessary??

[Katydid11]

I have had my skinks for about 7 years and had never had a problem during brumation. This year, my rescued Northern started out fine in November but is losing too much weight. I'd like to try to convince him to wake up a bit early so I can get him eating asap. I know that I should raise the temps and increase the amount of light he is getting...but what else? Soak him? Other ideas? I'm worried that if I raise the heat and he doesn't start eating, his metabolism will speed up and he will lose more weight. He is definitely too thin... with hipbones starting to show. What to do? Conditions are the same as last year and he seemed in good health in the fall...not sure what went wrong. He is rescued, so I am not sure of his age.

[Coomassie]

I don't have any advice for you except take him to the vet. Skinks don't just lose weight until their hipbones show. Have you tried offering food? Either way, definitely time for a vet trip...

[Katydid11]

My skinks almost never eat from November to March. He is not currently interested in food, but I haven't raised the temps yet. I wanted to ask for advice before I did.

[Jeff]

In my opinion the first step is to raise the temperatures, then start offering food. There is a good chance that he will start eating right away. I would raise the day time temperature to normal fairly quickly, probably over 4-5 days since you are not intending to breed him. Many males aren't interested in food coming out of brumation though. This isn't normally a problem if they are holding their condition, but if your guy has already lost significant weight, you don't want to wait too long to get him checked out. Since he has this issue though, he might not be in breeding mode, so I would at least give him the chance to eat before taking him to the vet.

If it was a new skink it would be different, but after having him this long that's the way I would handle it.

[Scotts1au]

As Jeff wrote but even males in breeding mode can often be tempted to pick at snails, egg only scrambled egg, or a few bits of raw meat.

[Richard.C]

If your night room temp is low id also warm him up abit at night to ,being tropical of origin they can brumate just with cold nights but still day heat,so to trick him into thinking it is spring,thats pretty important to as well as day heating

Nights dont need to be super hot but if u can get background temps in the 22 to 24 degree celcius range that will get him out of brumation mode

Losing weight over winter is often a sign its cool but not cool enough to shut down but not warm enough to remain active which results in there fat reserves being used up

[Katydid11]

Thanks for all the advice! I will get out my temp guns tonight and start moving/adding heat sources to raise the temps gradually. If he doesn't improve, I will take him to the vet. Unless it is a medical emergency, I generally like to try advice given here first, as I'm not all that happy with my exotics vet (Cornell). I was a vet tech for an awesome exotics vet in RI, so maybe I just have high standards.

[Spindown]

Nothing wrong with switching vets if you are unhappy with your current vet (if that is an option where you live). Nothing wrong with having high standards.

[Katydid11]

Thanks for all the advice! He responded to the increasing temps yesterday and housed his dinner, gobbling up the chicken, picking out the red peppers, leaving the carrots and greens and violently attacking the bowl, which is typical behavior for him. He has also been drinking plenty and soaking himself in the water dish. I'm weighing, monitoring and planning on giving him extra feedings. His weight is not too bad, just thin. Most of his body looks good but he is "narrow" and "boxy" at the base of his tail, instead of nice and plump. The temps must have gotten too high for efficient brumation and he started burning calories and using up his reserves. I only use the temp guns and rarely check them once the skinks are brumating. I guess this is a good argument to also have static thermometers in the tank as well, so one can notice at a glance if all looks good at all times of day and night... Lesson learned!