Brand New Owner with some husbandry questions

[exoticmedfan]

Hello from NC!

On January 19th I got my first BTS from Repticon in Raleigh. I’ve named her The Aminal after a favorite childhood book and I’m very excited to have her home! I fell in love with BTS about a year ago when I met one at a vets office and have been waiting to get one ever since. She’s my first reptile pet (although I’ve been working with various herps for a few years now) so I have some (probably pretty basic) questions that I wanted to ask about.

Here’s a little bit about her and her habitat to put everything in context:
She’s 5 months old (we’re calling her a “her” because that was the guess of her breeder based on the size of her head - not necessarily concrete, I know) and is currently in a 10-gallon tank on about 3 inches of shaved aspen. It is definitely small for her but I didn’t expect any skinks to be at the show and was so excited that I bought her a little before I had everything ready. I’m in the process of building her a custom made 4X2X1.5 feet enclosure, and she should be moved into it by next weekend, so the tiny tank is only temporary.

She has a piece of slate for a basking spot on one end (temps 95-105) with a 100watt heat lamp and a UVB bulb over it and the cool end has a half-log hide and a fake plastic plant (temps mid 60’s to mid 70’s). I’m using an infrared temp gun to measure temperatures. I have a small ceramic water dish in the center (not big enough for her to soak in, but that will change when she goes to her permanent tank). I have been having a little trouble getting her humidity up past 15%, but I figure that will be easier in her permanent tank with a larger water dish too.

Her tank is currently in my bedroom, which is off the main living space, so she does probably hear daily living noise but doesn’t have much traffic back and forth past her tank. It is a little dark in the room during the day (apart from her heat lamp).

I did not feed her the day she got home, but she has eaten Monday the 20th and Wednesday the 22nd. I gave her Blue Buffalo brand chicken flavored cat food both times (1tbs the first time, 0.5tbs the second because she couldn’t eat it all) and 1tbs mustard greens the first time and 0.5tbs baby kale the second time. She ate well both days and finished all her food the second day. I gave her a blueberry as a treat Tuesday the 21st. The only reason I’ve been giving cat food is because that’s what she was previously eating and I didn’t want to shake her up too much. I will not be keeping that as a staple long term.

Sorry for the novel, I’ll get to my questions now finally!

1. Sneezing – she seems like she sneezes a lot, mostly when she first wakes up or when she’s being handled. Maybe 3-8 times over the course of 5-30 minutes. Doesn’t seem to do it much when she’s just walking around in her tank. She doesn’t have any discharge from her nose or eyes and it’s definitely not the same as angry hissing. Is this anything to worry about?

2. Raised scales – she has a small patch of raised scales about the size of the tip of a pinky finger. It’s right in front of one of her back legs on her side. Nothing else about her seems to indicate mites. She isn’t itchy and I don’t see any black specks or white mite dust on her as far as I can tell (she moves too much for me to really closely examine the spot). Again, anything to worry about? Or just an old injury that will shed out?

3. On the 22nd/the night of the 21st she buried herself under her aspen shavings and stayed there for most of the day. I uncovered her head to check on her and she was grumpy with me for disturbing her and hissed at me a bit. When I put food in front of her she crawled out partially to eat (she ate everything) and then hid again when she was done. I got paranoid after reading about brumination and food rotting in their guts on Thursday the 23rd so I dug her out (she was mad at me for bugging her) and soaked her in warm water for about 15min to try to get her to poop. She drank a lot of water while in the water and did bask and pee after I put her back in her tank. She did “poop” in her tank but it honestly looked more like just a urate with next to no dark poop attached to it. She pooped normally before all this started (on the 20th or 21st). She stayed active for the rest of the day and then burrowed back under her bedding and I haven’t seen her come out again yet today. Is this normal? Should I worry about her food consumption if she isn’t coming out to bask without me bugging her? Or does she know what she’s doing and I should just leave her alone? Oh, also forgot to mention that on the days she has been out and active my family and I have held her probably two times during each day, the first time for only a few minutes and the second time in the day more like 30minutes. Don’t know if maybe that was too overwhelming for her and she’s hiding now, but she didn’t appear visibly stressed by it at the time.

Anyway, much thanks to anyone taking the time to read this huge essay and offer advice! I’m still very new at this and just want to make sure I’m doing everything right and that her behavior is normal. I want to do right by my new little addition to the family!

[donkeybuff]

1. Sneezing is okay, they get a lot of dust in their noses from digging around. If there is no discharge, your skink should be just fine!

2. Could you post a picture? It could be an injury or a humidity issue. 15% will definitely cause problems with Indonesians, Meraukes, and IJs. Do you know what type of skink you have?

3. You don't need to worry too much about feeding during brumation if her weight is okay. If you do, it's probably best to leave her alone. As long as heat is offered, she will utilize it when encessary.

[exoticmedfan]

Thanks for your reply! I'm kind of embarrassed to admit this but I was so excited when I was talking to her breeder that I don't remember what species he said she was. I'm about 60% sure he said Irian Jaya. He said she'll get lighter orange in color as she get older. That's what she looks like to me too, though I'm certainly no expert.

I don't have any pictures of the raised scales, I'll get one next time she comes out again. Is it normal for such a young skink to bruminate?

Oh and of course here are some pictures!

[donkeybuff]

You have a Merauke (commonly misidentified by sellers as IJs). You'll definitely need to raise humidity; I recommend switching substrates as aspen is too dry for Meraukes. Cypress mulch is a great option!

[Dakota]

Yup, a Murook.

[Susann]

Welcome. What a little beauty!

[exoticmedfan]

Thanks everyone for the help and warm welcome! Just for the sake of learning, how did you all identify her as a Merauke?

Also, should I wake her up and pull her out of her tank again to switch substrates to Cypress mulch? Or will she be okay with the aspen until she stops bruminating? And are there any additional ways I can increase humidity without buying an all out humidifier for the whole room? I've found that my house is very dry this winter.

[Dakota]

Dark front arms, and single stripe down the nape of the neck.

[Katrina]

She'll be fine on aspen until you can switch or until you notice dry scales or issues with shedding. It really depends on your climate / humidity, aspen can work fine for meraukes. It's usually a lot cheaper and more enviromentally friendly than cypress as well.

Mine are all on aspen and it works great for me.

[Dakota]

I also use Aspen, but there was a time or two when mine were inside when they got a dry-belly (even during our wet-season with no AC). A simple spray to the substrate and the skink cleared up the problem well.

[Dakota]

I have heard nothing but good with coconut bark. When I move my guys out in my yard this summer, I would like to lay down a bunch of coconut bark.. just need to find a place that sells them in big bags! It is also something you can consider if Aspen doesn't do the job well enough.

[donkeybuff]

It's not so urgent that you have to pull her out, but with 15% humidity, I strongly recommend that you do it soon. Good luck with her!

[exoticmedfan]

Okay fantastic! Thank you all again so much for the help. I think I will keep her on aspen for now, at least until I get through the bag I bought or until I see problems. After that I may try coconut bark or cypress mulch, just to compare at the very least. I am very excited about my new addition!

[exoticmedfan]

Is it safe to mist her tank to get the humidity up in the short term or does that risk bacteria growth if the substrate gets damp?

[Dakota]

If they drink a lot of water, the hydration will increase the production of oils that help shed skin come off easier, regardless of ambient of humidity. In the bluey bible, it even states that they do well in both low and high humidity. It is mostly depends on the substrate, if it is blocking the production by absorbing it, causing the skin harder to come off then it is not good -- reason why Care-fresh is like the worst substrate out there for Tiliqua gigas since it like sucks the life out of the animal (LOL).

And to encourage hydration, replacing the water everyday will do the job, since they prefer clean water to drink.

[Dakota]

Is it safe to mist her tank to get the humidity up in the short term or does that risk bacteria growth if the substrate gets damp?

If you do not make it soaking wet, yes, that is completely fine.

[exoticmedfan]

That's good news! I have been replacing her water and cleaning the dish daily, and she was drinking a lot before she started burrowing and sleeping all day. I will mist to keep things humid while she bruminates and before I start experimenting with different substrates.