BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hi there,

Hoping for some insight on 2 things.

1. At what age should I begin clipping my skinks nails?

2. Canned cat/dog food is recommended as a protein source- can someone recommend me specific brands to try? I can't seem to find any that are pure meat- most have wheat gluten, rice, or additives like guar gum. I havent read anything about feeding skinks these items so im just wondering what I should look for specifically? I'm in canada so any canadian/US brands if anyone has suggestions.

Thanks so much!

krystlep wrote:Hi there,

Hoping for some insight on 2 things.

1. At what age should I begin clipping my skinks nails?

2. Canned cat/dog food is recommended as a protein source- can someone recommend me specific brands to try? I can't seem to find any that are pure meat- most have wheat gluten, rice, or additives like guar gum. I havent read anything about feeding skinks these items so im just wondering what I should look for specifically? I'm in canada so any canadian/US brands if anyone has suggestions.

Thanks so much!

Welcome!

1. Any age that they get too long / sharp. If you have lots of rough surfaces in the enclosure to wear them down they likely won't need to be clipped.

2. Try Nature's Variety for grain and guar gum free. There aren't many that are grain, guar gum and carageen free. You might want to look into raw pet foods as they are generally just meat, organ and bones ground and don't have addetives.

Don't know if they have Pedigree in Canada but that's what I feed and has worked out great so far. I clipped my skinks nails shortly after I purchased them they were bout a month old. It's also a good idea to place a piece of basking stone/slate/rock where by can naturally file their nails on while walking on it. Hope this helps.

I also use pedigree as my go-to dog food.

I've used Natural Balance LID and Blue Buffalo Grain Free for dog food. You can also boil fresh meat like chicken hearts, livers, ground beef, etc, if you're worried about any additives in dog food.

When I use dog-food, I use the non-gravy Pedigree, as well.

I feed raw (not cooked) and add extra veggies and fruit to get to the 40:60, animal:plant ratio recommended by those in the know

You'll have better luck finding meat only cat food - stay away from any with fish in them - and you can just add extra fruit and veg yourself.

PS juviniles can have more protein