Newbie Intro!

[BlueRow]

Well I suppose it's about time I finally introduce myself after having stalked around the forums as a guest for a month and finally joined yesterday.

So my real name is Cassidy and I am a former chameleon keeper who just transitioned to bts and am still learning so please bare with me! Definitely a change going from a visual tree dwelling reptile to a burrowing species haha.

Anyway I finally got my first BTS on Wednesday and am already a sucker for this puppy face when I get to see it.

This is Rowie (R-OW-ee), not sure how old he is but I am assuming around 6 months to a year and is also not sexed so I use male specifics as general terms.
The enclosure is a 48 inch long by 24 deep converted screen enclosure that sits in my room -so low traffic besides me-, basking rock area sits at about 95ish degrees and everything else in the 70's. So far Rowie is very shy and spends most of his time hiding burrowed in the bedding but I am sure after a while he will come out more, I also try hard to constantly talk to him when I walk in the room to get him accustomed to me. So pictures are limited right now except for when I pulled him out yesterday for 30 minutes to practice proper handling and picking up (first time I have picked one up myself).

If you guys want to give me advice or have questions, ask away! I want to learn and keep this kid happy and healthy as long as I can.

Thank You!

[alichamp]

Hi Cassidy and welcome!! Does Rowie like Iron Maiden too?

Is that a black ceramic tile in the enclosure? That's a great idea to help get the basking temp nice. I'd suggest putting the heat globe at the end of the enclosure - so swap the heat globe in the middle with one of the end lights - and put the tile directly under the heat so you have one hot end and then the temps gradually go down to the cool end. Another tile at the cool end is useful to put water and food bowls on. A couple of hides would be nice too, don't have to be fancy, even an empty tissue box or similar would work.

How's the feeding going? If you have been around a while, I assume you have checked out the Diet chart and other threads on feeding?

Nice to see you and Rowie are having such a chilled time getting to know each other.

[BlueRow]

Hi Cassidy and welcome!! Does Rowie like Iron Maiden too?

Is that a black ceramic tile in the enclosure? That's a great idea to help get the basking temp nice. I'd suggest putting the heat globe at the end of the enclosure - so swap the heat globe in the middle with one of the end lights - and put the tile directly under the heat so you have one hot end and then the temps gradually go down to the cool end. Another tile at the cool end is useful to put water and food bowls on. A couple of hides would be nice too, don't have to be fancy, even an empty tissue box or similar would work.

How's the feeding going? If you have been around a while, I assume you have checked out the Diet chart and other threads on feeding?

Nice to see you and Rowie are having such a chilled time getting to know each other.

I like to think he is a fan too! Though I have tried hard to give him his own time to settle in which has helped with activity level. Now instead of hiding all day he gets super active around 4pm and runs around his enclosure till lights off at 7pm.

I will move the light over to one side when I clean the enclosure and rearrange the decor here soon. Will definitely be fun to see how that changes his behavior too!

Feeding is still a process I am getting used to. I made the mistake of having the pieces too big when I first fed him but luckily they were squishy and easier to get down. So I have been putting his greens and veggies in a good food processor that I saw someone reccomended at one point to make them way smaller chunks. The diet chart has been super helpful and I have much more to try out from there such as squash. I did find he is very fond of cantelope as a great though, prefers it over papaya.
It's still hard to get him comfortable to eat around me, though I have been trying to hold the dish by hand so he associates me with good not trying to eat him! So feedings happen every other day without my presence of he refuses the other method (can't have him going hungry). We have been getting close but no success yet.

Still working on my confidence handling him though. I took a good week to two weeks of not handling him so he could acclimate and he has grown hissy even when I cover his back up if he is under the substrate. So it's the initial picking up that I am hesitant on. Should I just suck it up and do it or keep up my association tamimg/bonding technique? I have read several things of people saying don't pick them up when hiding as it makes them hide more and be fearful so I am just unsure how to approach this.

Thank you for responding by the way!
Cassidy

[Susann]

Judging by his size, I'd say he's closer to a year old than 6 months...
If he's OK once you get him out of the tank, then I'd say he seems pretty tame already. Here is a thread I made on picking up your skink; my suggestion would be to just pretend you are very confident and have no fear of him, and just plain pick him up any time you need to. It's best if you can wait until he's out and about before getting him out, but sometimes it can't be avoided. However, and I know there are lots of people who usually have an issue with my view on this, but I'll give it to you anyway:
Pick him up, hold him, handle him, carry him. But don't pet him or stroke him. Don't cover him up with substrate. Understand that your hand near him very likely is making him very uncertain, uncomfortable, and stressed. In their world, if something bigger than them comes close, and especially if it's touching them, is akin to a scary giant rubbing you with the muzzle of a gun. Over time, you may learn to relax somewhat and live with it since there's not much you can do to stop it, but I'd highly doubt you'd enjoy it.

Whenever a BTS huffs, it's them saying "Stop doing what you're doing". The more you can respect that, and the more you confidently handle them without needlessly touching them and moving your hand near them, the faster they get used to it and feel comfortable with it.

A BTS will generally give you LOTS of warning signs before they bite. Have confidence in that. Decide to reach in to pick him up and don't let him back you down. But don't reach towards him unless you are moving him or handing him something yummy.

We'll want to know how things are going.

[BlueRow]

Judging by his size, I'd say he's closer to a year old than 6 months...
If he's OK once you get him out of the tank, then I'd say he seems pretty tame already. Here is a thread I made on picking up your skink; my suggestion would be to just pretend you are very confident and have no fear of him, and just plain pick him up any time you need to. It's best if you can wait until he's out and about before getting him out, but sometimes it can't be avoided. However, and I know there are lots of people who usually have an issue with my view on this, but I'll give it to you anyway:
Pick him up, hold him, handle him, carry him. But don't pet him or stroke him. Don't cover him up with substrate. Understand that your hand near him very likely is making him very uncertain, uncomfortable, and stressed. In their world, if something bigger than them comes close, and especially if it's touching them, is akin to a scary giant rubbing you with the muzzle of a gun. Over time, you may learn to relax somewhat and live with it since there's not much you can do to stop it, but I'd highly doubt you'd enjoy it.

Whenever a BTS huffs, it's them saying "Stop doing what you're doing". The more you can respect that, and the more you confidently handle them without needlessly touching them and moving your hand near them, the faster they get used to it and feel comfortable with it.

A BTS will generally give you LOTS of warning signs before they bite. Have confidence in that. Decide to reach in to pick him up and don't let him back you down. But don't reach towards him unless you are moving him or handing him something yummy.

We'll want to know how things are going.

Thank you Susann! I have only personally picked him up once and it was the day in the picture. I did notice he huffed when I touched his head but stopped when I moved to his back. Also wasn't too huffy once I sat on my bed and let him do his own thing so I believe in your theory of maybe less petting.

He also seems to be getting better about my hand being near him as I usually drop a goodie in front of him. I will give your suggestions a try though! I have already stopped trying to pet him so once I get the confidence thing down it should be great!

Kinda funny and random but he seems to be most reactive when I call him sweetheart. Tilts his head, flicks his tongue. I also did add some New hides in there and he went crazy curious for them. Was pretty cute to watch.


Thanks again for your suggestions guys!

[BlueRow]

Pretty exciting update: we have gone from bolting and hiding under the substrate at the very sight of me and not being very active to taking cantaloupe treats from short tweezers with me watching pretty close at eye level and even coaxing out of the hide without huffing and being pretty relaxed.

I went in to see him in a more open hide today and decided to see if he would be willing to take some treats from me 'by hand' and he did! I think we are getting pretty close to him being comfortable around me. I didn't try picking him up though just because I set my hand in their after the treats in front of him and just let him look to show this hand brings good things and isn't trying to eat you, figured that would be enough stimulation for today. So successful association 'training'! He seemed to be a little less bolty when I walked in on him wandering around too and is getting better about coming out with me watching, so I think next week will mark the start of pulling him out and playing outside the enclosure. Fingers crossed at least.

[BlueRow]

Update:

I got to experience some predatory behavior when hand feeding some hornworms the other day. The first one I gave him he pinned it to the ground and raked it through his substrate, then proceeded to carry it dangling from his jaws and parade around his enclosure all proud of himself. Was absolutely hilarious.
He still waits till about 4pm to actually come out and wander but I just did a new revamp according to suggestions on here so hopefully it will encourage him to come out and explore more. I would love to know what you all think about it too.

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What is hard to see in the picture is a rock hide behind the log (his favorite hide) as well as his log hide on the in basking end and a box hide on the far cool end. I also brought his soaking dish back in on the hot side since he seems like he is going into shed and I wanted to give him some humidity increase as well as something to soak in to help him shed. Or at least until I get a humid hide set up for him.
I think I will try to rearrange it again once he picks a new hiding spot so I can move the rocks and add maybe more hides (those rocks take up a ton of room!). But for now I didn't want to disturb him and his beloved rock den.

[alichamp]

Yay! You guys rock! You are doing a great job with him!!
What temps are you getting at basking and cool ends now?

Something I do is give the enclosure a gentle misting now and then around shed time. Even though I keep an Australian blotchy, which don't have high humidity needs, I find that giving him a light misting just helps around shed time. It's not enough to make anything wet or soggy, just a little extra.

Here is a great thread on making humid hides and building humidity: Lets see your humid hides.

[BlueRow]

Yay! You guys rock! You are doing a great job with him!!
What temps are you getting at basking and cool ends now?

Something I do is give the enclosure a gentle misting now and then around shed time. Even though I keep an Australian blotchy, which don't have high humidity needs, I find that giving him a light misting just helps around shed time. It's not enough to make anything wet or soggy, just a little extra.

Here is a great thread on making humid hides and building humidity: Lets see your humid hides.

Hey alichamp,
Thank You! I take pride in how far we have come in such a short amount of time keeping him.

I am going to do my first full scrub down today or tomorrow and will be switching him into coco fiber substrate just to how he likes it so that should hold humidity as well. Also gonna be making some platforms to raise his soaking dish and basking area up to give more places to both hide and wander as hopefully it will give me some more floor space and get him more ways to exercise (He is growing quite round from when I first got him! But still seems normal as he seemed a little underweight when I got him.)

His basking area gets anywhere between 90-98 I have seen but averages at 95 and his cool end stays around mid 70's. Just finished a humid hide for him as well using sphagnum miss so he should be covered. But I am sure he wouldn't mind a little misting!

[alichamp]

Sounds great! Have you seen Susann's platforms that she builds?

Making a second level
Making platforms

[BlueRow]

Sounds great! Have you seen Susann's platforms that she builds?

Making a second level
Making platforms

Those are awesome! I tried doing pvc legs on the bottom of my soaking dish and it didn't work out so well so I was gonna try wood legs. One tile basking platform and a few wood ones on top of wood legs. Should get those done tomorrow, hopefully.

Gotta find the scrap/spare pieces for it first, recycle, you know

[BlueRow]

Another Update:

Cleaned Row's enclosure today and got him switched over to coco fiber and he seems to love it! Had him out socializing with me while it dried out and he did great. Gave him some black berry pieces as treats and even got to weigh him. He runs around 309 grams right now and if my pictures were to right size I would post them to show you how he is looking!

The little bugger peed on my bed though! Lifted his tail to try and see if he was willing to show me his sex but that is where my next question comes into play.

Will males evert their hemi' s only when they poop at times or would they do it when peeing as well? I am hoping to catch him in the act one day to officially sex him.

I will hopefully get the recent pictures sized right and get them posted for you all to check out.

Cassidy

[alichamp]

I'm sorry, but

That's what you get for lifting his tail.

It's actually pretty tricky to work out their sex, even experienced keepers on the forum here have stories of being fooled. The easiest way to be sure is if they are male they may leave you sperm plugs at certain parts of the season. Otherwise, they are only confirmed female if they actually give birth.

A few experienced keepers can take a guess if they have an overhead shot of the entire skink, but it would only be a guess. Don't hold your breath watching and waiting for 'him' to evert hemipenes either.

Unless you intend to breed it sex makes no difference anyway.

[alichamp]

Oh and a trick I use for resizing pics is to mms them to myself then upload. We'd love to see more pics.

[BlueRow]

:rofl: I'm sorry, but

That's what you get for lifting his tail.

It's actually pretty tricky to work out their sex, even experienced keepers on the forum here have stories of being fooled. The easiest way to be sure is if they are male they may leave you sperm plugs at certain parts of the season. Otherwise, they are only confirmed female if they actually give birth.

A few experienced keepers can take a guess if they have an overhead shot of the entire skink, but it would only be a guess. Don't hold your breath watching and waiting for 'him' to evert hemipenes either.

Unless you intend to breed it sex makes no difference anyway.

Haha, that is totally what I get for lifting his tail. But if I hadn't I would have had no idea the stinker was peeing on my bed! And I would have just found a big wet spot near my pillow with a urate! So at least I caught him so I could wash my bed sheets haha.

I am merely curious as to sex though, so no breath holding. I wouldn't hate to try my luck breeding in the future someday though, but I am not ready for that

I am slowly working on pictures of just Row but so far I have this poor one of the new enclosure with the kiddo basking. I am really fond of how aesthetically pleasing the inside of the enclosure looks now that I switched to cocofiber though. Plus it's so much softer to work with and I noticed he doesn't try to bury himself as much! Though that could be because of all his hides now. Spent a ton of time in the humid hide on his basking tile this past week or so.

[BlueRow]

Wow, much to my surprise Row decided to approach me and come out all by himself today while I switched his basking tile out! We socialized for a good 30 minutes or so before I put him back in his enclosure and the whole time there was no huffing or displaying, just him crawling around and exploring. Guess my efforts of bonding using mango bits has been paying off!

He also got to feel real sunshine on in his scales for the first time while I stood in front of the screen door so he could look outside, and I think he dug it

Also I do support his body completely any time I hold him and my grip around him is secure so he wont jump or fall, I promise. Just with pictures I have to sacrifice one of my hands temporarily xD

[alichamp]

Also I do support his body completely any time I hold him and my grip around him is secure so he wont jump or fall, I promise. Just with pictures I have to sacrifice one of my hands temporarily xD

Haha we believe you!! You guys look great together. I see a beautiful friendship forming! Nice work.

[BlueRow]

Also I do support his body completely any time I hold him and my grip around him is secure so he wont jump or fall, I promise. Just with pictures I have to sacrifice one of my hands temporarily xD

Haha we believe you!! You guys look great together. I see a beautiful friendship forming! Nice work.

Thank you Ali. He is truly a sweetheart. Scared the hell out of me though as I put him back in his enclosure after those pictures then he didn't come out from under his wood hide on the cool end, I thought he had started to brumate! That is till I came home yesterday and found the enclosure turned completely upside down with plants flipped over and half a skink laying outside the humid hide opening, the little kid apparently is having his first shed in my care! Seems to be mostly done today minus his feet and tail tip.

But I have his humid hide up and going and also a soaking dish in there for some options to help with the shed.

[Edward]

Cassidy, I know I'm late but ...

Welcome to the addiction!

[BlueRow]

Photo Drop time! He has gotten comfortable enough with me he now allows opportunity for photos with the big camera

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