Jaxom and holding

[ReptileLover567]

I've been super slow in the bonding process with Jaxom. Things are definitely progressing, but he is still hard to hold. When I pick him up, he writhes and wiggles constantly, and I can't seen to calm him down enough to hold him. I feel like I'm just stressing him out. Am I holding him wrong? I try to support his front and back legs, but its hard when he's constantly moving. I have been interacting with him more lately,because I'm on break for the holidays. He now tolerates petting, and will happily accept food from my hand. I just wish I could pick him up without all the stress. Any tips?

Another thing is, he has noticed his reflection, and keeps bumping and hitting the walls. He will also lean against the glass, and stand on his hind legs and smack the wall with his front legs. He usually loses his balance and will fall over onto his side. I'm scared he's going to hurt himself. What can I do?

[Susann]

I don't know if this was what you were looking for... but a while back I make a kind of photo-collage on how to safely pick up and hold your skink:
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=25118
It's very basic but hopefully something there will be helpful.

As far as Jaxom climbing the walls and glass of his tank, one school of thought is that he isn't feeling secure enough in the tank and is constantly trying to find a way out.
Adding more places to hide would in this case be the easiest first step. Getting some silk-plant garland for example and laying it on top of the substrate might 1) give him something to do while he's checking it out and 2) provide ample hiding places in the exact temperature zone his body needs.

Checking the temperatures thoroughly in the different spots in the tank were he tends to spend his time might also be helpful.

Adding more things to the tank (if you have the room) for him to check out, crawl over, hide under, push around, etc. might help.

They can hurt themselves by constantly trying to climb walls, but there isn't always a whole lot we can do about it.
Dented backs are probably the most common thing we see with these "wall climbers", but the skinks don't seem to take any notice of it; it doesn't seem to slow them down in any way.

I would suggest trying to do what you can to discourage Jaxom from climbing the sides, and if you find something that worked you'd better tell us all about it.

[ReptileLover567]

I just put in a nice new hide into his tank, because he was getting too big for his old hides. Hopefully it helps. I'll see if I can get some more plants to put in. He definitely seems like he's trying to escape. This might seem silly, but is there anything skinks like to do for fun? He just seems really bored.

[Sebastian]

What kind of substrate do you have in the tank? He may appreciate having something he can make tunnels in (like aspen shavings for example). This would help him feel more secure and also give him something to do. As far as holding i'm afraid I have nothing to add that Susann doesn't cover.

[sacs4010]

My BTS tries to climb up the plants I have hanging off the glass in his enclosure. lol