Advice? Is my skink too fat??

[Krissymaree]

Hi all!
I am new to the forum - I have always read posts from here and found them to be really helpful but this is my first time posting, so please let me know if I have posted in the wrong place

I have a blue tongue skink (Bruce) he is 4 years old next month and is a beautiful soul, he is the most friendliest lizard and such a beautiful big boy, I have been scolded by a vetenarian at one of his checkups as she told me he is classified as being obese.. Now I know that he is a big boy but am unsure if that was just her opinion and or if she has only seen wild reptiles who are mostly more underweight than ones in captivity (she wasn't specialised in reptiles) so I just wanted to get some opinions from other blue tongue skink owners as I have seen people with skinks who are the same size and sometimes
Even bigger..

I'll give you a little bit of a background -
Had him for 4 years. When he was a juvenile he would eat cockroaches, crickets, meal worms, salad, vegetables etc. but for the past 3 years he refuses to eat any salad or vegetables ( only way for me to get them into him is via baby food which he absolutely loves, other than that he eats grapes and bananas fruit wise.

He literally only eats max once a week and sometimes will go weeks without eating but never has lost any weight , if anything he has just gotten bigger, even though he is not eating, his tail is also huge so he has stored fat in there but that doesn't even thin out when he doesn't eat .
He goes through phases where he will snack but then a few days later won't eat for weeks.

I've never constricted him to just his tank it is always left open for him to roam around my room/the house as he pleases and always puts himself back in tank if he wants to bask, or lets himself inside/outside house as he pleases.. But for most of the year he just refuses to bask and has always preferred being cold, I have
Googled and no one seems to have a skink who prefers to be cold. It's strange.

Every time I have taken him to a vet (other than the one who said I'm neglecting him by allowing him to be obese) have always said he is tje most immaculate condition and friendliest lizard they have ever met and that o obviously look after him really well

I'll summarise my questions to help make it easier to understand and will attach links to some photos so you can see how he looks

- does he look obese?
- anyone else have a lizard who rarely eats but never loses weight?
- any tips to help him lose weight if he is obese?
- any one have any skinks who prefer to be cold?


This ones a video- hopefully will help with sizing him ( introduced him to my New kitten for the first time haha. http://vid1104.photobucket.com/albums/h ... w44y2r.mp4

Photo: http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/h32 ... jdxkj.jpeg

Photo: http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/h32 ... igcu5.jpeg

Photo: http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/h32 ... hb7wu.jpeg

Had to share this photo as I think they are super cute- I made him a hat and moustache :p
Photo: http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/h32 ... rtz3n.jpeg


Thankyou all for taking the time to read this. I look forward to hearing from you guys and getting your opinions! If you want more photos I'm happy to take more - just used ones I already had as he's sleeping under a table and don't want to disturb him right now :p

[NickBrahz]

Cute guy he does look to be on the chunky side, not sure if classed as obese or chunky though, could you post what his diet is that might help us determine why he is putting on that weight.

[Krissymaree]

Yeah I feel that he definitely is chunky I just don't know why ..
I offer him snails about once a week (2-4 at a time depending how eager he is for more) - that's basically the only thing he never turns down- snails

Other than that once a week I'll feed him some banana and grapes: his favorite food, if he doesn't eat that I offer him some baby food with fruits or vegetables in it - whatever I feed him he eats small portions.

Every now and again I offer him some chicken breast or a raw egg.

He doesn't eat a lot in one sitting either, So I'm just so confused at why he is so big, maybe he is just big boned? Lol

He doesn't do too much in the way of excersize apart from walking around the house, i bath him when I get the chance so he gets to swim but he's not a Fan..

Basically I just don't want to be doing anything to cause him to be unhealthy /uncomfortable I love him to bits and do my best to make sure he is well looked after I would hate to learn I am harming him by letting him be this size, I don't know what else to try so am keen to hear any suggestions

Also he drinks lots of water almost every day and his pee and poop are always healthy looking, smell absolutely disgusting but always healthy- he is toilet trained and poos outside :p

[NickBrahz]

From the looks of it his main diet is made up of stuff which is more of an occasional treat then a staple.
I would move him to a dog food/veggie diet (roughly half and half more towards a bit more veggie then meat) and feed a tablespoon of that a week, once he gets down to a less chunky size then introduce snails banana and such as an occasional treat.
Because he is big and spoilt he may refuse to eat the new food for a while, but a picky skink is not a hungry skink and when he starts to get hungry he will cave in and eat it, i would leave the dish in until its empty or after the second day, say put the dish in Monday morning/arvo, take out Tuesday arvo/night.
Also recommend having a look in here viewtopic.php?f=18&t=29005 for food preparation.
And here for what veggies to use http://www.bluetongueskinks.net/foodchart.html

[Krissymaree]

Ok awesome! Thankyou I will definitely check out those links and will start that tomorrow

Thanks for your help )

[Susann]

He does not look obese to me, just a healthy, spoiled Eastern(?).
Yes, the diet could be improved. I agree with introducing him to wet dog food, but I would skip the veggies to begin with. Unless he just loves the dog food, I'd just give it to him plain until he's eating his serving once a week; after that, start finely chopping up some greens and vegetables and adding a little to the dog food, increasing the amount as he gets used to it.
Snails are actually a very healthy staple, but since it's so loved and preferred, I'd hold off on feeding them while you're getting him used to eating dog food --it'll be like keeping the candy away from a child until they learn to eat everything on their dinner plate first.

[Krissymaree]

Hey susann!
Thanks for your reply!
Yep he is an eastern and very spoilt haha :p

He has eaten dog food before I used to feed him that when I first got him to fatten him up haha
I will feed him dog food like suggested I just hate feeding him that stuff as it gets really messy and he's so used
To eating solid food/being hand fed hahaha (spoilt) but I will give it a go!!

Yeah the vet told me snails are a perfect staple as its always best to feed them what they would find in the wild, which makes sence.. But am happy to try anything suggested.
Yep he is very fussy with vegetables so I'll slowly add them in and see how he goes, I really want to make a huge paste of lots and lots of vegetables and eventually get him to eat that, would love if he ate healthy but I know that starts with me giving him some tough love :p

I will keep you guys updated! And let you know how is doing )

Thankyou all again

[Susann]

would love if he ate healthy but I know that starts with me giving him some tough love :p

That's exactly it. A healthy diet, and especially losing weight, is never easy, but when we're dealing with beloved pets who have their favorite foods, I swear it can be even harder....