Worried About New Blue Tongue Skink

[lguevara]

Hey I recently bought a baby Irian Jaya BTS. This would be my first Skink so I am new to the species. I am concerned about his breathing, I did my research; I know their breathing patterns may seem abnormal. However, since I got the little guy I've noticed heavy breathing, specially in front of his legal and behind his jaw. This being my first BTS I am unaware of what regular breathing is. Is this breathing normal? I know they might do this when they feel scared or intimidated, but this is the only type of breathing I have seen him do.
I am keeping him in a 10 gallon with ReptiEarth. I know there are some issues with this type of substrate but the store I got him from (East Bay Vivarium in Berkley, CA) suggested I keep him in this because a change in substrate might cause him to not eat. His basking spot is at 87F (ish) and his cool side is at 75. At night the temperature does drop to around 60F, I have his lamp on a timer and it stays on for 12 hrs a day.
He is eating well. I feed him once a day. His diet consists of Meal Worms or Crickets, Collard Greens, Carrots, and blue berries. He eats just fine. I change his water dish every day, he occasionally drinks water. I have not seen him soak in it or anything.
My main concern is his breathing, I hope it is nothing serious and I'm just being paranoid (Like every reptile owner is after getting a new pet ).

PS if anyone can help me figure out how old he is I'd appreciate it I asked the lady who helped me at the store she said a month and a half but she sounded a little iffy about it

[Susann]

Welcome to our forums and congrats on your new little friend!

If you could show us a picture of him, we might be able to take a guess, as well as make sure it really is an Irian Jaya.
THIS is a thread showing you how to upload photos.

If your BTS is only a month and a half then there's a very high likelihood it is a baby born to a newly imported, wild caught female --just judging by the time of year he was born; it may be a good idea to have an exotic vet do a fecal test on him to check for parasites. Just a precaution I would personally take.

You may also want to have a read-through HERE --it's a collection of easy links I've put together to some reading that'll give you a good grasp on the basics. I think you should especially check out the food chart and start feeding him some better protein, like some wet dog food.

Your basking spot sounds a little bit too low, but I'm reluctant to have you raise the temps too much in a small 10 gallon tank as that may make your cool side too warm for him; just keep it in mind when you move him into a bigger tank. If he really is an Irian Jaya, with the night time temps getting that low, I'd worry about inducing brumation for him, and in my opinion, if he is that young, that might make it harder to get some good weight on him during his biggest growing period. You may want to think about supplying some nighttime heat for him, like a red- or a moonlight globe, an under-tank heater, or a ceramic heat emitter --although, you'd have to put a dimmer on a CHE if you're using it on a tank that small.

OK. Now to your breathing question.
It can be nerve-wracking in the beginning before you know what "normal" looks like, but from your description it sounds OK.... HERE and HERE are two (long and boring ) videos I shot just to show how different and seemingly erratic their breathing can be. I hope these help. (On the first video, you can see some of that breathing movement between the front legs and the jaw on the third skink; I know it's maybe not as much as what you're seeing, but it's quite normal for them to breathe that way.)
If you do take him in for a fecal test, the vet will listen to his lungs as well, and that might make you feel more at ease too.

Keep us updated on how things are going for you.
....and get showing us some pictures..... we LOVE pictures!

[lguevara]

Here are some pictures. Thank you for the reply! I just got back from the pet store and got him a 30 gallon with UTH. So he will be moving into his new tank soon I am also planning on getting him some wet dog food to replace the worms and crickets.

[Susann]

I am seeing a bit more Merauke signs than I do Irian Jaya, but if he's truly only a month or two old --and if that's a 10 gal tank, then that's probably a pretty good guesstimate-- then it may be easier to tell as he grows a bit more ...but for right now, I for one would guess Merauke...