Defensive Skink Question

[yetareau]

Hi, I recently picked up a northern blue tongue skink from Craiglist. The skink is supposedly captive bred and was kept in a relatively small 1.5x1.5 ft enclosure. The skink itself is 9-10 inches long currently and I've had it for a week now. Now I've kept schneider skinks in the past and have a good idea of the calm social nature that a content skink has, but my new blue tongue displays a different behavior. The blue tongue spends almost all day hiding, hisses when touched, and defecates on me if out for a short period of time. I only started trying to socialize my skink and get it used to me the past two days by taking it outside into the sun and feeding it, then letting it roam around me trying to allow it to get used to my presence and scent. Basically what I'm asking is that is this normal behavior for a younger blue tongue skink? Will he/she become more social and spend less time hiding or does it sound more likely that I was sold a wild caught skink? Lastly what other things can I do to allow my skink to get used to socializing?

Some more information: The encloser I'm currently keeping the skink in is a 1.5x3 ft and the warm side ranges from 95 degrees in the day to 90 degrees at night. I have several branches and until recently had a 2 caves in the enclosure, 1 on the warm side and 1 on the cool side. I took the caves out though in an attempt to get the skink to spend more time watching the people around it's cage and get used to them.

Any help would be great, thanks.

Thanks.

[Dakota]

Yes, it is normal! For babies, I hold maybe 10 minutes every 2-3 days.. not much time at all. It is much easier to tame a baby, than that of an adult- trust me. Just check out the different ways to tame located here:
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=20375

For adults I go with the tough love method, but babies I take a much slower approach.

As the skinks gets older, he will become a more workable animal, you will be able to take him places, ect. I used to take my first BTS to the pet-store and watch people stare at me like I've got a 10ft crocodile with me. But the exception to this is, you can't just assume he is tame all his life, and stop holding him. He has learnt that you are not trouble, and he knows he relies on you- don't break that trust.

Just read, read, read all over the forum. And if I may ask, could you post a picture of your "Northern" so we can confirm that he is what you bought him as? CL is the world's worse at misinformation.

[yetareau]

Thanks very much!

[Linnea]

I have further advice on this topic

bringing the skink outdoors can cause it to be a lot more alarmed and ready to run. My sweetest and most tolerant skink will turn into a nervous animal outdoors, and i do not think it is the best method for first steps training.

Also, what species/subspecies is your skink?
If you wish to know if it is wild caught or not, we can at the very least say with certainity that some species are captive bred and born in the states regularily. Should your skink belong to any of these, you will know for sure
Generally, gigas species are imported wild caught, while northerns are captive bred.

More tips for taming is to let it go much slower, treats and food are great ways to make your skink used to you. I put out a small plate with treats on when i bring my skinks out of the tanks sometimes, to make certain they look forward to the event opportunity. I do not handfeed treats anymore since i have a very food oriented skink that will bite faster than he thinks.

Another thing is to make a small skink hide, like a small bag that looks like a pocket. It feels safer for them to observe the world from a safe distance, and can work very well for some.

[Susann]

If it is a Northern it is, like has been said, a 100% sure CBB skink.
The behavior sounds very normal for a baby, or even a new adult for that matter. Some skinks will always huff when you first touch or reach for them, but most adults will calm down once you have them out of their tank.
Some skinks will always prefer to hide, some hardly ever do --it can be a personality issue rather than a defensive issue.

The size cage you described he was in is fine for a little baby, but I am very happy you are giving him more space as he grows.
I also would advise against removing his hides at this point. He is a little baby, and new to your place, and in my opinion, needs to learn that his tank is a safe place where he can relax. Some older skinks will do well being socialized by removing some of their hides, but I would not recommend this practice with a baby or a young skink.

Tough love is, again my opinion, fine when you've tried going slow teaching your new skink that he is safe in his new home and has nothing to fear from you. I don't think you have anything to lose by going slow and gaining his trust. I do think that your chance of set-backs increase when you go with tough-love right away. There is nothing wrong with taking your skink out once a day, especially if there is a treat involved (--but that's only if he's eating his meals well, otherwise I would not go with sweet treats), but I think you may be stressing him out unnecessarily by removing his hides.

Welcome to the site by the way, and congrats on your new awesome pet!

[yetareau]

Thanks for the info and the welcomes !

[Dakota]

Don't forget to post them pictures.