BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

So today I noticed Astro is unusually active, walking about in his/her enclosure and trying to look upwards, as if something on the ceiling of the enclosure caught his/her interest.

Usually Astro basks in relative peace, only moving about when disturbed or when moving to a different part of the enclosure. I have noticed Astro is peeing a lot more too, I've had to clean the basking tile a few times today to remove urates and pee. Astro even climbed into my hands a few times while I was trying to take these pictures, something that is fairly out of character for a Bluey that huffs when I open the door to the enclosure.

I've never seen this behaviour before and it is concerning me. Pictures below show what I am trying to describe.






Is this normal behaviour? Is a vet trip in order?

Astro ate raw kangaroo rump, a mix of vegetables and greens yesterday and had two snails three days ago (the snails were collected from the garden over four weeks ago, and were fed a variety of greens).
Astro is now in his/her hide, acting normal, is there reason for concern with this strange behaviour? Astro seemed fine this last month, settling in well - I don't know what's wrong, if there is something wrong.

Hmm.. can't give a positive answer, but it just sounds like he has come out of his shell perhaps?

And BTW, I can definitely tell he is getting darker! :-)

I hope that is the case, and yes, Astro is darkening. After a shed last week, Astro was about as bright as the first round of photographs I took, now though, Astro is noticeably darker.

Should I mention this occured at the same time we fed our cat? Her food bowl is in the same room as Astro and Ninja's enclosures. I know they can smell the food, as sometimes I see them scenting the air. Ninja didn't even emerge from his hide, (I think he's a boy, but I'm quite uncertain with Astro). Astro's been out and about for the better part of the day while neither Ninja nor Gizmo stayed out for longer than necessary. Gizmo's in a different room though, so I don't think he can smell the cat's food.

Bearing in mind that they were fed yesterday, I offered Astro 2/3 of a scrambled egg. Astro demolished the egg within a minute or two, and is again, acting normal, with his/her head poking out of the hide. Do Blueys act like this when hungry?

Could be the cat food,they seem to scent canned pet food well,how hot has it been up there lately?

Could just be curious to something up there,possably thinkinking of an escape route,not sure its a vet problem,some can be odd like that

I have a skink that usually prefers to be left alone but on a rare occasion will get quite active and display the type of behavior you are describing. I don't know the reason for the change but it's kind of nice as it allows me to spend some time with him without the drama he can display at other times.

Mine does all sorts of odd behavior. He freaked me out the other day when he made some little grunt-like noise and then while I was cleaning his enclosure this week he was fixated on a dresser. He then decided that the open drawer was scary and hid behind the enclosure for a bit and then walked over to me and then climbed into a shoe in the closet.

Temperatures have been reaching 38°C outside, inside temperature gets to around 33°C max. Inside enclosure temperatures range from 37°C on basking tile (directly under the lamp), 33-35°C on warm end to 30°C on cool end. Our cooling system doesn't work, however they are positioned beside windows. If I see temps get too high in their enclosures I turn heating off. They used to be on a diet of dog food so it could be scenting the similar smell, but I have switched them to roo meat for this months pre-made meals.

I think I might have to invest in a lower wattage bulb. Not sure if I can find anything under 40w though. Seriously considering using heat cord covered with a tile, with a uvb or led light for lighting.

I'm relieved it's something I shouldn't be too concerned about, I will keep an eye on Astro as normal, but the quirky behaviour is completely gone. I've just never seen a Bluey behaving this strangle or as active as this before, I know they aren't lazy all the time (and Astro is the most active out of the lot), but they way Astro was moving about, climbing the hide, walls and trying to climb the glass had me worried!

Gizmo's climbed the glass and walls before and Ninja has climbed the walls too, but they usually gave up after a few attempts (either I picked them up and moved them or they couldn't climb higher than having their back feet on the ground.

Wouldnt suprise me if its a catfood thing,they can definatly scent it from a fair distance