BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

I'm beginning to worry about my baby Dougie! I got him 12 days ago and he hasn't eaten or pooped since! I've seen him drinking and he pees with urates present but no poo I've tried crickets, snails, butterworms, cat food, rocket, apple, banana, carrots, pepper etc he just doesn't seem interested. He isn't at all lethargic and seems quite happy to be handled. He's also had twice daily baths with a gentle tummy massage for the past 3 days.
Am I doing something wrong or just over worrying?
Thanks in advance

No eating but drinking explains pee and urates,cant poop if theres nothing in there to poop out,more they eat the more they poop,less they est less they poop

12 days isnt long,may need time to adjust,may i ask why twice daily baths and a gentle tummy massage?

What are your cage temps?

Hot end,cool end and basking spot temps?

My suggestion is leave it be to settle in,no baths or tummy massages,check your temps to ,just to be sure

baths and tummy massage? what,why?
please, let your skink settle in. he is most likely terrified. that bath thing doesnt sound neccessary.

12 days of not eating or pooping is completely normal for an adult skink, and for a juvenile settling in it can also take a little time.

if you think about it, not eating means there will be no poop - so dont stare blindly at this xD

keep offering a nutricious and balanced diet every other day or so.

I Googled a bit before posting on here and saw the bath/massage advice given a few times but I'll stop doing that immediately! I would never do anything to distress him on purpose :,(
His basking temp is 98 and cool end is 75
I get that he won't poop if he isn't eating but thought he might have pooped what he ate before I got him??

Blue tongues are sturdy animals, try not to worry too much and definitely cut the baths out. He likely just needs to settle in. Make sure he's got plenty of hides, and it usually helps if you tape some paper over the back and sides of the enclosure (if your using a glass tank) they feel more secure if they can't see out from all sides. You only need to leave it there for a few weeks till he's settled in and feels secure. Also make sure to keep his enclosure in a room with little traffic while he settles so that he isn't stressed out by people walking by regularly. Again that's just till he's settled in. I am no expert by any means, this is just what we do over here and it works great I wish you the best of luck.

TracyMilew wrote:I Googled a bit before posting on here and saw the bath/massage advice given a few times but I'll stop doing that immediately! I would never do anything to distress him on purpose :,(
His basking temp is 98 and cool end is 75
I get that he won't poop if he isn't eating but thought he might have pooped what he ate before I got him??

Perhaps the bath and tummy massage would work with a full grown, tamed skink. But your skink is definitely scared, I'm glad you asked instead of continuing with it, you did a good thing. Your temperatures sound okay to me. May I ask, did the breeder tell you what they were feeding her?

He told me cat food and mushed up crickets. No veg or anything was mentioned.

Crickets are nutritionally useless, and can carry parasites such as pinworms. It was a very unhealthy diet for the skink to live on. Catfood is also very fatty most times. It might be a problem with nutrition, but just tell me how everything plays out.

Hello Tracy

it seems you have been partially misinformed about bluey diets from the breeder you met, it is suggested that you look at the forums food charts so you can get an idea what you could try as a staple instead.

a bluey has no problem eating live insects, but crickets as has been said are not really great food. dubia roaches are excellent if your bluey is big enough to eat them, snails too.

a diet of 60% vegetable matter and 40% protein is suggested for an adult skink. vegetable list can be found on the website, but mustard greens, kale, aragula, dandelion leaves are excellent to chop up to small pieces and mix in with dog food.
other vegetables such as bell peppers and squash are excellent too.

cat food is not bad BUT it contains added Taurine, which is added for cats health and not for skinks. we do not know how this affects blueys in the long run, so dog food is generally recommended over cat food. i buy cat food for my skinks on occassion if i find a particularly awesome brand for sale, but its not so often. cat food with fish is also a bit of a debate, since not so many skinks hunt underwater.

also, if your bluey doesnt eat his food, dont despair. they will eat when theyre hungry (as long as temps are correct and the skink is not ill)

Laurenk wrote:Crickets are nutritionally useless, and can carry parasites such as pinworms. It was a very unhealthy diet for the skink to live on. Catfood is also very fatty most times. It might be a problem with nutrition, but just tell me how everything plays out.

Crickets arent nutritionally useless,and all feeder insects and rodents ect can carry pinworms,amongst other nasties

The reason i quizzed about baths and tummy massages was because the skinks new,and they have to adjust to new surrounds,new people,a new territory ect,doesnt matter if there babies or adults,thats a stressful time for them,there in unfamiliar territory,so need time to adjust,hence best to leave them be to settle.

Your temps sound fine to,so i believe its just settling in,baths ect may stress it at the moment,just watch its weight,if it isnt dropping much it should be fine,it will probably get hungry enough to just suddenly pop out and start eating,but i find it best tolet them settle a bit first"let them feel safe in new surrounds

So, yesterday Dougie tucked into his first meal and today he's delighted me with a lovely big poop I was so excited I texted a photo of it to my husband...needless to say, he wasn't quite as thrilled with it as I was!

haha,thats great news

Laurenk wrote:Crickets are nutritionally useless, and can carry parasites such as pinworms. It was a very unhealthy diet for the skink to live on. Catfood is also very fatty most times. It might be a problem with nutrition, but just tell me how everything plays out.

Crickets and cat food aren't a bad diet for a baby. Lot's a protein for a growing skink. Definitely not a 'very unhealthy' diet. Crickets and other feeders can carry pinworms and crickets aren't much nutrition for an adult BTS (but make a fun chase), but nothing wrong with feeding some.

I see no issues with the nutrition and it doesn't make sense to further worry an already concerned new owner.

Richard.C wrote:

Laurenk wrote:Crickets are nutritionally useless, and can carry parasites such as pinworms. It was a very unhealthy diet for the skink to live on. Catfood is also very fatty most times. It might be a problem with nutrition, but just tell me how everything plays out.

Crickets arent nutritionally useless,and all feeder insects and rodents ect can carry pinworms,amongst other nasties

First of all you have said yourself that crickets are poor in terms of nutrition and that they are some of the most likely feeders to carry parasites.

ive never ever said they are the worst for harbouring parasites,i said all feeder animals can

ive never said they are poor nutrition wise either,they are much better yhan meal worms ect,easy to gut load ect as well,but i may have said they are poor to feed to bluetongues as a staple diet,plus you would need ten billion just to kerp weight on them

i keep dwarf monitors,they eat prrdominantly crickets and roaches,mostly crickets by the bucketful

op mentioned catfood with mashed crickets

i feed predominantly dogfood,sometimes i chuck the odd cricket in for the blueys to

back on topic though,blueys eat what they like,even if it isnt the best for them,i highly doubt the op,s issue was because its poor nutrition

Richard.C wrote::kw:
ive never ever said they are the worst for harbouring parasites,i said all feeder animals can

ive never said they are poor nutrition wise either,they are much better yhan meal worms ect,easy to gut load ect as well,but i may have said they are poor to feed to bluetongues as a staple diet,plus you would need ten billion just to kerp weight on them

i keep dwarf monitors,they eat prrdominantly crickets and roaches,mostly crickets by the bucketful

op mentioned catfood with mashed crickets

i feed predominantly dogfood,sometimes i chuck the odd cricket in for the blueys to

back on topic though,blueys eat what they like,even if it isnt the best for them,i highly doubt the op,s issue was because its poor nutrition

okay then somebody said it and im mixing up names then.

no probs,my point mainly was it isnt bad for them at all

dont allways take what is said as gospel,theres alot of incorrect things online

Richard.C wrote:no probs,my point mainly was it isnt bad for them at all

dont allways take what is said as gospel,theres alot of incorrect things online

Short term memory loss