BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

I just recently (yesterday) purchased a BTS from a petstore in Florida. Because I live in Santa Barbara, CA, I had the reptile shipped via Fed Ex. The Skink is alive but he huffs and puffs like the big bad wolf whenever I try to pick him up out of his cage. I would like to know if this is due to stress from being shipped 2,100+ miles in one day or if it is due to another reason.

Oh yeah, that can definitely be stress. Or it might be his personality too! My BTS is quite the huffer every time I handle him. He's almost 2 and still does this and I've had him since he was about a month old (he has calmed down more though). Any animal that's shipped that far is going to be stressed for a while and I would recommend as little handling as possible for the first few days so they can get comfortable in their new environment.

Is he in an aquarium type cage or one with front opening doors? If it's an aquarium type and you access the inside from above that will be stressful to your skink as well. Skink's have a "third eye" that is sensitive to changes in light. It's called a Parietal eye and can be seen on the top of their head. If you're coming from above and cast a shadow over they'll detect that change in light and assume it's a predator coming to eat them/maul them/whatever the predator wants to do.

The best thing to do is give the skink space. Some people will suggest a week or more and some will say just a few days. Use your best judgement and do what you think is best for the animal. When you do get around to handling you can leave your hand in the cage and let them approach slowly. When you pick them up try to "scoop" up the animal from the side and be sure to support their chest, belly, and hip area so they don't feel like they're going to fall. Start with only short handling sessions and slowly work your way up. It's extremely hard to resist handling them as much as you want to but remember that it's to the animal's benefit to wait and go slow. If you want to earn bonus points with the skink give them a little treat after each session after they've calmed down. My skink is fond of pieces of bell pepper, cucumbers, or snails. The diet chart is a GREAT resource and can give you ideas for their main diet and for treats.

Thank you so much for your help, I am going to wait a while until handling my Skink. I was worried that he would bite me but I am sure glad I got your advice

I've never been bitten by my skink but my mom has and she says it hurts! Good luck with your new friend

All very good advice given. Absolutely give your skink time to settle in and get used to it's new environment. Being shipped and placed in a new home is very stressful.

Thank you!

mitchell.a.88 wrote:I've never been bitten by my skink but my mom has and she says it hurts! Good luck with your new friend

Oh yeh they pack a whollop !!! very powerful jaws , fortunately not lined with razor sharp teeth....

None of mine puff at me , and I've only ever been bitten by accident when hand feeding mine treats .... always my fault as I was not paying enough attention and the skink never followed through with a really hard bite or the dredded crocodile role .... I've received that a few times as a kid from barred grass skinks , some even drew blood.

Only times my BTs open their mouth at me are when they are expectiation of a nice yummy food treat that they know I have in my hand and they are saying "Gimme Gimme Gimme" to me .... or they are yawning....

Hey man. I had the EXACT same fear as you did when I bought my girl. Fortunately for me, I got her locally so no shipping.

My girl, Gidge, is a HUFFER. I sometimes even call her hufflepuff when she's really talkative. Usually received with an indignant huff, probably due to my laugher and how my body changes from when I am calm.

I went through the WHOLE nine yards getting her vetchecked in a panic her lungs were bad, or she was pregnant and I wouldn't be able to handle babies. The vet thought my panic was funny, considering she was healthy even though she is scarred from her rough days as a brood lizard before I got her. Turns out, that is just HER. She huffs. She has various huffs too. She'll have the grumpy "**** off" huffs to the small sighs. A BIG thing here, I'd say, is to read their body language as best you can and determine when there is general tension vs just a noise.
A soft huff when she wiggles her nose into my arm, I take as a sigh as she settles or a "HUMPH why won't this move?".
A Huff when I stick my finger in to pet her when she was asleep. Annoyance and warning.

Hisses, I've found, are open mouthed and generally DARKER in nature. Its a deeper sound, a lot throatier. Raspier, perhaps. Also your lizard will show their bodies differently. Puff up, curl around, literally narrow their eyes and glare at you.


That said, in shipping it is very stressful. days without food, and likely days before with no food so that they won't get indigestion. Days of not knowing WHERE they are. Days on or near icepacks so that their body temps are cooler and they are less active. Then unloaded into a brand new area with no home comforts. I'd be furious too.

It could also be your tank. If you have one that you reach in from above for then you are coming down to them as a predator, which is hugely threatening in a strange land. Even to deliver food, this reaching from above can always be intimidating.


You're also a new person too.

The recommendation is to let them settle into their home undisturbed, which I was unable to do. I actually from day 1 sat beside the cage and talked. I didn't poke and prod at her, but I spoke and left yummy food for her nearby the glass. I have sliding doors on my enclosure, both new and old, so it wasn't difficult for me to open the glass and pop a berry or piece of banana in for her.

After she was ok with me nearby, I loaded her into a bucket and went upstairs. I let her roam, kept the food near me, and did online gaming.

Every time I interacted I STUFFED her full of what I was told were favourite foods. Within 3 days, I was hand feeding her. 2 weeks, we were napping together. 4 weeks, she was scratching to come play.

Yeah I named my lizard Reptilcus after the terrible Finnish take on Godzilla. I'll try to not swoop down from above when I pick him up but that may be difficult

BD99 wrote:Hey man. I had the EXACT same fear as you did when I bought my girl. Fortunately for me, I got her locally so no shipping.

My girl, Gidge, is a HUFFER. I sometimes even call her hufflepuff when she's really talkative. Usually received with an indignant huff, probably due to my laugher and how my body changes from when I am calm.

I went through the WHOLE nine yards getting her vetchecked in a panic her lungs were bad, or she was pregnant and I wouldn't be able to handle babies. The vet thought my panic was funny, considering she was healthy even though she is scarred from her rough days as a brood lizard before I got her. Turns out, that is just HER. She huffs. She has various huffs too. She'll have the grumpy "**** off" huffs to the small sighs. A BIG thing here, I'd say, is to read their body language as best you can and determine when there is general tension vs just a noise.
A soft huff when she wiggles her nose into my arm, I take as a sigh as she settles or a "HUMPH why won't this move?".
A Huff when I stick my finger in to pet her when she was asleep. Annoyance and warning.

Hisses, I've found, are open mouthed and generally DARKER in nature. Its a deeper sound, a lot throatier. Raspier, perhaps. Also your lizard will show their bodies differently. Puff up, curl around, literally narrow their eyes and glare at you.


That said, in shipping it is very stressful. days without food, and likely days before with no food so that they won't get indigestion. Days of not knowing WHERE they are. Days on or near icepacks so that their body temps are cooler and they are less active. Then unloaded into a brand new area with no home comforts. I'd be furious too.

It could also be your tank. If you have one that you reach in from above for then you are coming down to them as a predator, which is hugely threatening in a strange land. Even to deliver food, this reaching from above can always be intimidating.


You're also a new person too.

The recommendation is to let them settle into their home undisturbed, which I was unable to do. I actually from day 1 sat beside the cage and talked. I didn't poke and prod at her, but I spoke and left yummy food for her nearby the glass. I have sliding doors on my enclosure, both new and old, so it wasn't difficult for me to open the glass and pop a berry or piece of banana in for her.

After she was ok with me nearby, I loaded her into a bucket and went upstairs. I let her roam, kept the food near me, and did online gaming.

Every time I interacted I STUFFED her full of what I was told were favourite foods. Within 3 days, I was hand feeding her. 2 weeks, we were napping together. 4 weeks, she was scratching to come play.

I've had this experience with all my pet lizards and also with my two injured wild skinks who I rescued and nursed back to health.