Enthusiastic Inquisition or Plain Aggression?

[WiFiber]

Hi everyone,

I received Oliver as a little tyke from James at about 2 weeks old. At first, he was very timid, only eating when I wasn't there. Then suddenly, about two weeks ago, he began opening his mouth and expelling air (hissing?) in a seemingly aggressive fashion. I didn't think too much of this as he was in his favorite hide and I was invading his space, so I simply just left him alone. On the occasions I would take him out, I would just grab him and he would seem to calm down immediately.

This last week, he has been very curious about my presence (probably associating me with food). But this led to a number other things that led to my concern.

1.) He will open his mouth nearly every time my hand approaches him.
2.) He now will walk towards my hand and try to bite it, even if it wasn't disturbing him.


Although I am happy about him being a bit more comfortable, I feel it is still a slight cause for concern due to the fact that he's my first BTS.

Is this just him being very curious with his mouth or aggression?

Do any of you have any advice on handling this situation (if this is a situation at all)?

Thanks!


And here's a picture of him just in case you wanted to see him.

[critterguy]

Let him bite your hand and realize it is not food and keep putting it right into his face. That should put a stop to that behavior-although it may be forgotten if the animal is very hungry or has not been handled in a while.

You could do that and then come back a little later and offer your hand. If he doesn't react then you can put actual food into the enclosure.

[Richard.C]

some youngsters do that,the open mouth display and hissing is them being a tad nervous still so they threat display,they may see an approaching hand like a bird swooping in to grab them,if he calms once in hand i wouldnt be to concerned

the biting your finger ,just cruising over sounds like classic mmm that might be yum behaviour,thinking it may be food,some of my last seasons ones will pop out of hiding to nip my fingers when im doing something in there cage,none of them do threat displays any more though,but a couple still run away from approaching hand

not a sign of aggression at all,sounds like a little nervousness at approaching hand if trying to pick it up ,but calm enough to to think yum fingers look tasty

[Zalder]

If I'm not mistaken, you should handle him a bit more. Start by just taking him in and out of the tank and letting him run around once or twice a day. Then start to hold him for longer periods of time until he's "tame." He'll warm up to you eventually.

[donkeybuff]

A good way to remove food related aggression is by spending time handling the skink without any food/food smell present. This should help him realize that your hand isn't just something that brings food to him. He may bite at first, but at this age it won't be very painful. People do this with tegus, but it's obviously more painless with a baby skink than a 4 foot lizard!