BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hey there! I've been stalking the forums for a while now, and I guess this is a good time to introduce myself and Puff, and bring up some things I'm stuck with. I've owned Puff since mid-November of 2014, where I bought him from a girl looking to rehome him. She told me he's about five years old and originally from the people of Backwater Reptiles. Up until very recently it's been a pretty rocky new start for him. I had some trouble getting everything together and organized, so a friend of mine kept him at her place with her reptiles while I got myself put together. It took longer than I wanted due to the holidays and other issues, but last week he was finally able to come home with a brand new tank and set up waiting for him.

The only issue with Puff is that he doesn't want to eat solid food...Not unless I hand feed it to him. Even then it takes some effort to get him to willingly open his mouth and take actual bites. My friend could only get him to eat meat and vegetable baby food, and when I visited I was only able to get him to eat things like green beans and berries. At first I was afraid that there was something wrong with his mouth or jaw, but I don't think that's the case since as soon as he realizes it's food he's more than happy to take what I give him. But if I put a dish in front of him, unless it's mushy and easy to lick up, he won't even look at it. And besides that he's really, really picky. >_<

I was planning on seeing if I could work with him and get him to eat more solid food without me having to hand feed it all to him, but all he wants to do is hide. He only comes out when there's no one around, and as soon as he sees someone he disappears. I'm not sure if it's him needing more time to adjust, him trying to brumate, or both? This is kind of where I'm stuck...If he was just shy or doing what nature says he needs to do, then I would just put food down and leave him to it if he wanted it. But I don't want to keep him on mushy food, anymore. And since he won't take it from a dish...I'm not sure if I should keep disturbing him to get him to eat, or leave him alone, or...?

I would greatly appreciate any advice! I'll be honest and say that Puff is the first and only adult blue tongue skink I've actually seen in person. I only know one other person in my area with bluey experience, aside from his previous owner, and she's hard to get a hold of. So I'm kind of only going with online research, pictures, and what other people say. I'm still in contact with his last owner, but it sounds like she had a hard time getting him to eat solid food, too. At this point I'm really lost, haha.

Here's some basic info:

- Tank size is 36x18x18.
- Has a 100w basking bulb, and 10.0 Reptisun UVB (tube)
- Temps range from 95-101 on the hot side, mid-80's in the middle, down to 73 on the cool side. (I'm trying to get the cool side a little warmer, but for now I think it's okay?)
- Humidity stays at 30-35. I've been trying to get it higher.
- Substrate is coconut fiber mixed with cypress mulch. There's a small amount of coconut fiber mixed with sand from the set up my friend had him in, and I placed sphagnum moss in a few places.

And some pics! They're too big for me to post comfortably, and I can't figure out how to resize them, so I'll post links. And I don't have a real camera...just a Kindle that doesn't have a rear-facing camera. So the angles are a little funky, haha.

http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah284/RaccoonCoon/IMG_20150217_161657_zpsfc6e8e73.jpg

^ Best pic I could get of Puff. When he's out, he won't stay still. I'm pretty sure he's a Merauke? His previous owner wasn't sure what he is.

http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah284/RaccoonCoon/IMG_20150217_163612_zps0218e80a.jpg

^ From above.

http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah284/RaccoonCoon/IMG_20150217_164238_kindlephoto-179400920_zps3ad0a81c.jpg

^ The best shot I could get of his tank. I turned the heat lamp off, but now I'm thinking I should have kept it on, lol.

http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah284/RaccoonCoon/1424220336198_zps267c0dc8.jpg

^ His basking rock, and where he spends his time hiding. I put moss inside it to make a somewhat of a humid hide, same with the log that's in there.

If any more (or better) pics are needed, I'll be more than happy to give picture taking another shot! I think I've given all the necessary basic info, but if I missed anything I'll post it as soon as I can. Please and thank you for any help!

And it's very nice to meet all of you! I've been stalking this whole site since before I got Puff, and I don't think I could have found a better community.

(Oh gosh, I wrote a book...Short posts are just not my thing. xD )

Your skink looks to be in excellent shape.

I suspect he is brumating and recommend weighting him weekly to be certain he isn't loosing weight.

Starting in October my skink Scatha has only been eating once every 10 to 21 days but hasn't lost an ounce as she is sleeping all the time usually in the cool end of her tank

I wouldn't try and switch food just yet but wait until he is more settled in and his brumation is over. Canned dog food is recommended by most people so that is likely all he's use to. Personally I feed ground raw meat and bones with finely chopped fruits and veggies which I would not consider "solid food". Skinks would rather not chew or tear apart their food but Scatha loves to crack open snail and quail egg shells to get at the goodness inside.

My Indos have been on and off sort of semi-brumation also, starting around November. Lately there has been a bit more activity and they have been nibbling at the dry food I leave in there, so they should be coming around shortly. Hiding at cool side also, but when I come home from work I see things moved around a bit so I'm assuming they are becoming a bit more active. Looks like no worries, he looks great, as Dood said!

Welcome! And congrats on your gorgeous Merauke!

My advice. Stop offering him food for a week or two. He is an adult, looks to be slender for sure, but can easily go for long periods of time without food with no ill effect, especially this time of year. Let him get hungry. I think you and your friend have been so worried about him not heartily polishing off a full plate of food that you have fallen into the habit of constantly trying to get him to take various food items, in effect letting him just choose his favorites, so he's constantly "nibbling" his intake. Let him get hungry. Wait a week or two without offering him anything. Then I would suggest you offer him a helping of plain dog food. Not his favorites, just dog food. Any kind. Up to you whether you want to just place the plate in front of whatever hide he's in in his tank, or if you take him out for feeding. If you take him out, I suggest you pick him up and place him right in front of the plate, put him down so that his mouth comes in contact with the food. Then stop talking to him and fussing with him and let him do his thing. If he doesn't start eating or if he walks away, pick him up and make his mouth touch the food again. Do this a few times, but if he doesn't eat, just put him away, and wait a week, and then do the same thing again, not offering him anything in between.
After he starts eating, and consistently eats the offered food, then you can start giving him some of his favorites again, as meals or in between as snacks or treats. I would also start finely chopping veggies and greens (see the food chart) and mixing them into the dog food.

It is up to you to make him eat healthy meals. If you don't have a problem with hand feeding him his meals then there's not a problem, but you can absolutely make him eat his meals on his own.
Believe me, I know what it's like worrying about your new skink not eating. I also got a new adult skink the same time of year, and she went 5 months before she did anything more than occasionally nibble the plate I offered her once a week.
Meraukes don't brumate per se, they just slow down, eat less or stop eating. But where he has had two new homes since November, I would maybe just leave him be a bit more and let him figure out in peace that his tank is his home and you are the bringer of food and fun exploration. I might just leave him in his tank until you try feeding him next, then take him out to offer the food, and whether he eats or not, let him do some exploring afterwards, then put him away and leave him for a week. When you start seeing him out and about more often, start taking him out in between feedings.

Your temps seem fine, no need to get the cool side warmer. It's good for them to have a place to cool down as long as they are offered a place that's hot enough for them to digest their food. It's perfect to have a gradient that goes from 'a bit too cool' to 'a bit too hot', that way it's very easy for them to regulate themselves to their needs.

His tank looks great and seems like you've got all his needs met; now I think you just need to leave him alone to get used to his new home, new surroundings, new owner, and new healthy diet.

(Sorry for the late reply!)

Thank you so much, everyone!

The most I've been doing with him this past week is misting the tank, checking temps, etc. I'd occasionally go to check on him to see him sticking his head out of his hide (which he would then go back in once he saw me.)

It's been a little over a week since I brought him home, so I figured it was time to give the dog food a try. I put a little in his dish and left it in front of his hide, just to start easy, and it didn't take long before I looked over and saw him licking at it! I think he mostly just nosed it around, but some of it is gone. I'll leave the rest there until it's time for lights out, in case he wants to nibble at it some more. I'll take him out to explore in a little bit Thank you so much for the suggestion, Susann!

Should I wait another week, or try to get a regular feeding schedule going? Next time I feed him I'll take him out. But for now I'm also worried about him still hiding. The hide he's in is on the hot side, so would it be warm enough in there for him to digest the food?

Also, a little off topic, but I've been wanting to find a new hydrometer for his tank. I have a temp gun, and am currently using an Acurite thermometer/hydrometer. The Acurite is a little old, so I'm afraid it might not be as accurate anymore, and I want to replace it. Any suggestions there? I was thinking of getting a digital hydrometer or two and just placing them in the tank to avoid having a bunch of wires in there. But would that be safe? Are they even waterproof?

Thanks again!

I would wait a week before offering him food again, yes. Just a suggestion though, you're free to give it a try again whenever.

I don't use hygrometers so I can't answer that for you.