BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Before I explain my inquiry I just want to say how much I appreciate this forum and the people who post in here. Your advice and knowledge have answered many of the questions I've had I never needed to post a question on here till now. So thank you. I bought my first reptile on June 12, 2013, it is a baby Halmahera island BTS (Aurelia) who is about a month old now. I researched BTS for months before I was finally able to get her and in that research I read that hand feeding (I use feeding forceps) is a great way to get your baby BTS to learn to trust you. So I've been hand feeding her and she's doing really well but now that I know she has a good appetite I want her to eat on her own. But she refuses to eat on her own, unless she is particularly hungry that day. So my question is how do I get her to eat on her own? Do I give her tough love and make her to eat on her own and eventually she'll eat because she's has too? Any help is greatly appreciated!!

your bluey can most certainly eat on its own already.

just put the food in a bowl and let her be alone, and that will do the trick.
a baby bluey eats ver small portions, so you may not actually see if shes eaten, but if she poops, you will know.

i think you mightve misunderstood the concept of hand feeding for trust a liitle. its no harm of course, but with hand feeding for taming, they mean treats inbetween the regular meals.

if not hungry, she will not eat, and that is how its supposed to be~

You can also stretch the feedings out a little. If she's not eating the food you put in for her, then take it out and offer nothing the next day. Then the following day, put some healthy food on a plate and place the plate in front of her. With some skinks you almost have to touch the food to their nose before they get enticed to eat. Leave the plate for a few hours, and then remove it if there is no interest, but offer nothing else for her. Repeat the next day. They can go several days without eating, so don't worry about starving her. Just repeat this process, touch the food to her nose and put the plate down, until she figures out that this is how the food comes.
AFTER she starts eating the healthy food regularly, THEN you can start back with offering her some treats by hand.