Skink stopped eating. Any Ideas Why? Now Brumating??

[40colby]

Since my original post below, my Northern BT skink "Pupster" still has not eaten (last ate 2/13/16) and when I had him in his main aquarium with heat lamp, he was extremely active... doing much more than usual prowling his aquarium. I have a second aquarium with about 4 inches of substrate in parts and I let him go in there and he buried himself on Wednesday and I haven't seen him since. I live in Southern California and it has been around 80 degrees this week, so we're not in a cold spell. I spoke to the prior owner (who has 4 of his own skinks) and he said they MUST hibernate each fall. Prior to him telling me this, I was told that hibernating was optional and that it was up to me if I want to let him hibernate and that if I kept his aquarium temperature constant during the winter with his heat lamp (as during the summer), then he should be fine without hibernating. That is what I did during the fall of 2014 and he continued eating throughout the fall into Spring of 2015. Now, as mentioned above, he has stopped eating (still quite pudgy though) and now at least, it appears he wants to hibernate.

I'm just wondering if it possible that he just wants, albeit late, to hibernate for a while (even though it is actually starting to warm up here)? Thanks.
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Hi,

I have a Northern Blue Tongue who is about 4 years old and live in California. I bought him in May 2014 and from that time until February 2016 he would eat regularly... even during the Winter. He always loved superworms as a treat along with regular meals of dogfood(with veggies smuggled in) and banana mashed into a smoothie with blue berries. During the Winter of 2014-15 he ate normally as I kept his aquarium temperature at it's usual warmth when my apartment cooled down during the winter. I did the same thing this winter and he continued to eat normally. He last ate on 2/13/16. He is a plump good size skink, so I'm not worried about him getting too skinny, but he is not interested in anything I put in front of him. I even tried some quail eggs, but he is not interested.
On the other hand, he has become much more active, prowling about his cage much more often and looking up for a way out which he has not done before. I have a 2nd aquarium I put him in once or twice a week that has 4 inches of substrate which he buries himself under and also put him on my dinner table (which I don't use for dinner) with a large shag carpet mat in the middle which he winds through it like tall grass and chills there... so I try to vary his environment as much as I can in addition to holding and petting him daily.

Any ideas why he has stopped eating and become more active? Could it be a hibernation thing or mating season thing? Otherwise, he looks to be in the peak of great health. Thanks!

[Dakota]

Males tend to go off food this time of year — they have other things in their mind.

[Susann]

Yeah, this sounds to me like normal, "looking to mate" behavior.

[raisinjelly]

I've actually been having the same problem with my 9 month old skink and was considering posting about it! Normally my skink is a huge pig but the last two months "he" (still unsexed) has gone off his food to the point where he's not even interested in treats anymore, yet his activity level has bumped up and he always wants to get out of his cage to go zooming around my room like he's on a mission.

Is this really a good indicator of being a male or do females tend to do that as well?

[Susann]

I only see it in males, but I only own caged Meraukes --who knows if the sexes of different species act differently, or what all goes into it; maybe females outdoors, or at a different altitude, or who are cohabited, etc. act differently.