BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hello,

I recently picked up a couple sub adult Merauke and it seems they only want to eat boiled chicken and dog/cat food
I tried fruits, spaghetti squash , escarole, collard greens, carrots, and they do not seem interested. I wanted to see if anyone has Merauke blues and what their good preference is?

Thanks,
Bill

I do not personally own a merauke but I would recommend finely mixing up the protein sources with the fruits and veggies. I just made some skink chow today and I combine all my ingredients (today's recipe was minced turkey, butternut squash, pear, bok choy and raspberries) in a food processor so that my girl will have to eat everything if she wants anything. You don't need a food processor of course, you can get simple, inexpensive devices that finely chop food from most appliance stores.

Hi and welcome to the forum! We'd love to see some pics of your new skinks

How often are you feeding?

I don't own a Merauke either (I have a blotchie) but have you read the diet chart http://bluetongueskinks.net/foodchart.html

And here's also some info on fussy eaters viewtopic.php?f=24&t=20387

Many of us with fussy eaters process the veggies nice and small and mix a small amount through the dog food, building up until they are eating good mixes. It is also recommended to use a calcium+d3 supplement and don't rely on chicken and poultry for meat, they need red meat varieties.

I'm not sure that there would be food preference differences between types of kept bluies, over say individual preferences between skinks. But this is an interesting question that I haven't thought of before so will see if anyone weighs in on this.

Hi! Congratulations on your Meraukes, they are wonderful pets. Mine is not at all fussy, and I mix everything together finely chopped also for all of my skinks. As a baby and sub-adult his favorite was dubia roaches. Used to hold one in front of his cave on a tweezer and he'd come flying out like 'Jaws' shark. Oddly enough, he doesn't seem to care for them much anymore, he got lazy and spoiled and would rather have a plate of food placed before him that he doesn't have to fight with. My Halmaheras, on the other hand would chase you across the room for one. They are literally garbage pails, they eat like stray dogs. Going to have to cut them down a bit! Try mixing stuff together, as others mentioned and they'll eat it, BT's are not known for starving themselves! Best of luck with your Meraukes!

Hello and welcome.Try hiding the greens in the dog/cat food and they'll most likely eat it. I chop up green beans into little circular pieces then press them into the dog food, my Merauke eats the whole thing. I've noticed he does not like squash much unless I really hide it and even then he finds a way to eat around it. Another thing I do is lightly sprinkle some Pangea fruit powered mixes (feed the mixes to my gargoyle gecko and have a lot extra) on the food and I guess the smell of the fruit entices him, plus it gives a little extra nutrition to the food. I also feed Reptilinks, which have an omnivore blend, that have a 50/50 ratio of meat to vegetables packed into an 8-12 gram link. They can be a bit pricey, but definitely work. Good luck.

Thank you! I will definitely try mixing everything together this way they will get a bit of everything.