BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

I am getting my bluey very soon when he is ready for sale at my work,
He's a hissy, huffy little baby (can easily fit in my hand) and I'm
Just wondering if this will go away with time and handling...I'm just nervous
And overly cautious. What's the best way to start handling after he's settled in?
Do they get less grumpy as they grow?

In most cases this is just a matter of time, although they have their own personalities and some will be more docile than others. In general I find that blueys accept their surroundings pretty well. To the extent that a bluey picked up out of the wild will often be able to held quite easily within a few minutes, but even a captive bred one, in a naturalistic environment will quickly revert to hissing and even displaying if put into a naturalistic outdoor enclosure.

It is nothing personal :-) but they are instinctive animals - and in their mind you are a big hairy predator. Everyone will have their own opinions - you'll find many threads on similar issues on this site from doing a search.

Ok, I have been able to handle him. He huffs a lot in his tank but calms a little while in your hands. I guess I'm just nervous! Ha..he is quite little and young..i just need to be patient

Babies are typically very skittish. Best thing is to let them settle in for a few weeks once home. Keep interaction minimal durning that time. Do you know what species you're getting?

Looks Merauke to me. Take it easy, he'll come around with time!

I'm thinking dark variety Irian Jaya. Will need to see more photos to be sure; it could be a thick-banded Merauke.

Good luck! You sure did pick up a nice looking bubba!

Indo

I know the webbing and arms say Indo, but nothing about the body does.

Looks IJ?? Whatever he is he's adorable and best of luck with him. I agree with letting him settle in for a bit before interaction. IJ's, Meraukes and most of the Gigas types are mostly recent imports and may be a bit skittish at first, as even a captive born/bred baby can be. They're little and we are big, can be scary to them! Again, all the best, he is SO cute!

Thank you everyone!! And I'm not sure 100 percent...like I said in a newbie, figuring out the deffferences between each is difficult to me. I can take more photos when I'm back. I'm so excited he's fiesty and eating well and that alone makes me feel way better about all his sass ha

Hi, When I got my blue tongue skink he was very grumpy and the people I got him from did not handle him. What I did was I took him out every day a held him. Then as he knew me more then I hand fed him. I think the hand feeding and handling him really helped.

We may be able to give you better guesses as to the type he is if you take pictures from straight up above, as close to him as possible while still including the entire lizard, from tip of nose to tip of tail.

As you bring him home, I would recommend you put him in the fully set up tank and then leave him alone for at least a couple weeks. Since he's a tiny baby I would also suggest you not put in so much substrate that he can bury himself in it --I would rather you supply him with many hides throughout the tank instead where you can see enough of him to know he is breathing and moving; this way you will not need to dig him out in order to know that he is OK. You can make inexpensive hides by cutting up cereal boxes, plastic containers, fountain drink cups, or drape safe silk plants or vines (ones where he can't pull off leaves that can be swallowed) along the ground, etc. Also get an infrared temp gun so you can keep getting accurate readings of the temperatures in the entire tank, as well as the exact spots he is in.
Then leave him be.
Put his plates of food in front of whatever spot he's in right then, and then step away. Remove the plate at the end of the day. Make sure there's clean water at all times in an easily accessible bowl or plate. And make sure he has places where he can feel secure throughout the different temperature zones throughout the tank, but where you can still know where he is at, so you don't need to disturb him any more than necessary; this way he can move to whichever spot has the temperature he needs.

After a few weeks you can start picking him up whenever you see him moving about in the tank.

I meant Indo?, but yeah I can see why people are saying IJ.

Thanks that definitely sounds like a food plan! His tanks been set up for a long time now. I also already have a temp gun since I use it for a lot of my other animals and fish tanks..ha I'm gonna scour around for some more potential hides and ad them in. and I post another pic when I'm in again.

This is just another random pic. I'll post a more detailed one when I'm back at my work place lol