New bluey, Help please

[Princess_chorizo]

Hello everyone I got my first bluey the 28th from someone who was Gering rid of her on Craigslist, there wasn't much info on her and to be honest I didn't ask bc Craigslist is sketchy and she/he was free with tank and everything.
He says it's a she so anyway, I got her and she was very active the first night , but Since I got her lights all set up and uth all going plus extra bedding, she's pretty much disappeared.
I've read about brumation so assumed it was that, but she came out yesterday to eat, drink and poor, then back to tunneling down.
Then today she popped up and pooped again but then back down she went. My question is this, if she's in brumation is it OK to try and handle her? Or best to wait til she's completely awake? I will for sure be taking her to the vet, just wanted to be sure I wasn't doing something wrong by letting her be a ghost lol
Also! Advice on light? What is your set Up? I want her to have the best
Thanks!!

[Ohgeez]

My guy kind of disappeared for a good few weeks when I first got him. I realized that he was burying in his hide, with a good few inches of substrate in it and not leaving at all. Maybe try thinning out the substrate till she settles?

[splashy07]

If she's coming out daily to eat and drink my guess is it's not brumation. Mine brumate for months at a time and I do not see them. They do not eat during this time. I'm thinking this one was not handled or interacted with much, and is just doing her own reptilian thing, just as she would in the wild. To suggest on lighting I'd have to see the set up, how large and how far away from basking area lamp is placed. How about posting some pics of the setup and the skink? And welcome!

[Laceflower]

I've got to agree with splashy - it doesn't really sound like brumation. It could be that she realizes she's in a new place with a new person and is just acclimating, or, as splashy also noted, it could be that she wasn't handled regularly and this is her normal behavior. However, with you saying she had initially been active, that leads me to think she was checking out where she'd been moved to and is now doing what all new reptiles do best - hiding. If that's the case, she just needs some time to get used to everything, so I would delay handling for a week or two.

Also something to consider are your temperatures; if it's too hot or too cold, your bluey will stay under the substrate more than she normally would. What species is she? Pictures of her and your setup would be really helpful!