BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

My baby bluetongue skink arrived on Wednesday. I purchased him from Mel, and he is a Northern from her FlukexJenga litter. I got Jaxom, and decided to keep the name Mel gave him because I'm terrible at making decisions, it makes my life easier, and its a really cool name. He is doing well so far I think. He spends most of the time hiding in his hides, but did spend a lot of the first two days exploring his new home. I made him some food which is dog food mixed with some finely chopped collard greens and some grated carrot ( I had no other vegetables available.) but he doesn't seem to want to eat it. I tried to feed him some on the first day, and he might have taken a small bite (it was hard to tell) I tried again on Thursday, but he didn't even touch it. I also put some blueberries in on Thursday as well, and he took a bite of one of those but didn't eat it. Maybe the blueberry was too big for his little mouth? I did feed him some scrambled eggs yesterday, and he gobbled it up. I know its not exactly the best meal for them, but I wanted him to eat something. I think ill message Mel today and ask her what she feeds her babies ( unless she sees this first and answers me)

Anyway, I hope he likes his new home. He is still very shy, and pretty scared of me, but I'm hoping he'll get used to me.

I want to start handling/bonding as soon as possible so any advice will be appreciated.

Edit: I'm trying to add pictures but its not working

i just went to check on him ( I tried to pick him up, he hissed at me so I left him alone) and I found two poops with urates in his terrarium! that's a good thing right?

Go into the full editor and near the bottom, click the "Upload Attachment" tab.

From there, click browse and it will open a window.

Go to where your pictures are and select one and click open. The file name will now be in the box and then click "Add the file" button to the right. You should now notice a new section appear under the editor labeled "Posted Attachments". You can add a file comment which will appear under your picture.

Now, in the editor, move the blinking cursor to where you'd like the picture placed and click the "Place Inline" button. Your picture should now be visible to all.

Use the "Preview" button to test your post before submitting it.

Good luck!
--------------------------------
Urates with poops is a good thing!

As for handling, some let their new skink acclimate for a week or two before handling while others go at it right away. It really depends on how the skink and your confidence. Some are easy going and others are feisty. When handling, be sure to have a treat [blueberry, raspberry, some banana, or even worms (not meal worms)] to feed. Whatever you decide to do, keep the initial sessions short. Like 5 minutes. Over time, start increasing session times and before you know it, your skink will not mind being handled. Heck, mine "tolerates" petting to a certain degree. He'll at least close his eyes in anticipation of it, lol.

When I got my guy, any time my hand entered the enclosure, I hand a treat for him. At first, he was huffy, but settled down quick. Once he got used to my hands and quit thinking they were food, I started holding him. There was a learning curve for both of us. He would wriggle around as Iwas trying to figure out a good way to support him. But, that soon faded and he's pretty comfortable in my arms now. I still have some trust issues letting him roam around since he makes a bee line to the first place he thinks is a hide.

Anyways, it is a process and a learning curve for both ends. Take it easy and slow and soon your skink will be a your new lap buddy.

Good luck!

thank you! how do you get your skink to eat the berries from your hand?

Also what kind of treats would be appropriate for a one month old baby?

ReptileLover567 wrote:thank you! how do you get your skink to eat the berries from your hand?

I just placed the treat between my fingers and wiggled it in front of his nose. Once he starts flicking the tongue, it wasn't long before he took it. He's pretty careful now about taking food from my fingers. He'll slowly open his mouth and approach cautiously and take the food in his mouth.

ReptileLover567 wrote:Also what kind of treats would be appropriate for a one month old baby?

I would guess items no bigger than the space between its eyes. Basically the same rule for bearded dragons. Since I haven't raise a BTS that young, I don't really know.

After having a bit of a tough time settling in, I am pleased to say the Jaxom is doing very well. He started shedding on Tuesday, and had his first full meal (YAY!!!), other than the eggs, since he got here. It was my dogfood mix with collard greens, and carrots. He also ate half of the food I offered him today, which was the dogfood again. He still has alot of shed on his tail. Dose it usually take this long to shed. He still won't let me hold him, so I haven't been able to check his toes and ears yet for stuck shed. I'm gonna try to pick him up tomorrow, since I haven't tried since the last time, which was a week ago.

Pictures!

He's so tiny compared to the deco! I miss the short time my guy stayed that small.

A happy skink is a good skink!

Great pick up! Those little guys are so fun. Keep us posted as he grows!