New Baby Blue Tongue Really Caught Me Off Guard!

[tbets]

Hello!

I joined this forum a little while ago before I purchased my BTS. I've wanted for a few years now and finally after months or research decided to purchase one, he arrived 6/21/17. He/she's a Northern BTS and is nearly 3 weeks old, just started shedding on the first day I got him/her. What really caught me off guard was the fact that almost right away he started exploring his enclosure with me right there watching and talking to him/her. He/she also started eating right in front of me right away as well which I thought was great as well, along with the little bath he took in his water dish (I have a big water dish for him but don't fill it up all the way because I don't want him/her to get stuck and drown). Another thing that really caught me off guard, me being the paranoid owner that I am, saw that his/her little feet still had some skin yesterday so I picked him/her up out of the enclosure to help a little bit with the skin on the feet. At first the skink wasn't happy at all, huffing and puffing as I tried to pick him/her up, but once in my hands the skink was great. No thrashing, nice and calm, peed on me a bit but other than peeing seemed quite happy. He/she even started rubbing their feet against my hands which removed a lot of the skin stuck there.

So that same day, me being paranoid once again, saw what I thought was something weird on the skink's back. He/she was actually out roaming around so I slid the lid off the enclosure (I have a 40 gallon breeder Zilla critter cage) which caused the skink to huff and puff a little bit. But once I showed the skink my hand the huffing and puffing stopped and he/she actually let me pick them up! Then upon further inspection it was just a spot that looked weird in the light and angle I was looking at lol. So as a little apology I gave him/her a little piece of banana before putting the skink back, it was happily accepted

I know 100% that you should really let the skink settle in for about a week or 2 which is what I'm going to do now, but I'm amazed at how well he/she is coming around. Eating and roaming the enclosure while I'm around, and even responding super well to the 2nd handling. I've read that babies can sometimes take awhile to eat and come out but mine seems to be doing amazing and making progress fast! Not bragging or anything, just super happy that I have what I believe to be a happy skink so far! Thanks for reading!

[tbets]

Just realized all the photos are sideways sorry about that!

[BlackR0se]

What a cutie, i just got mine a week ago too (a month old) and except the shedding part, mine is doing the same thing. I've had her for about a week and she ate a full meal day 1. but she does hid a bit and is terrified of the vacuum. but comes right out for food and was happy to clime into my hand last night for a treat of pineapple bits.

[tbets]

What a cute looking Skink! I love how they look when they're babies! Ah the vacuum... pretty much every pets worst enemy and biggest fear

[kingofnobbys]

None of my BTs like the sound of the vacuum , it terrifies them .... I usually take them into another room and close the door and sit with them on my lap or on the bed next to me or on the lounge next to me and pet them , or let crawl inside my shirt .... this settles them down , and they enjoy closeness and warmth and safety (I'm their safe place). I don't know why they are scared of the vacuum , being captive bred you'd think they'd never have a scary encounter with vacuums unlike wild BTs and other skinks who would soon learn to give edgers, lawnmowers, garden blowers a wide berth and vacuums sound like these to a lizard.

Baby BT are goofy looking and cuteness incarnate. Mine as babies loved curling up in my open up turned hand , on my tummy snuggling unto the crook of my elbow and in my poo-shirt or t-shirt chest pocket. Soon grew too big to nap in the chest pocket or my hand.... But I've nearly always had smaller skinks who liked it there too ....

Think you are off to a good start.

Only try to avoid coming to his tank quickly and suddenly opening the lid and looming over him,..,, this is guaranteed to scare the heck out of any small lizard , very much all he sees is a looming scary looking beast overtop of him.

Please - no picking at his skin when shedding , 99% of the time a skink will get the old skin off inside a day without any need for a human to intervene. A shallow luke warm bath (33oC) and bathing gently using a soggy bit of kitchen type paper towel is nearly always enough to get shed off even the more difficult areas (toes and fingers), other than that some bits of rough surfaced timber with bark attached and rough textured rocks will do the job just fine.

[alichamp]

Aww these skinks are adorable.

Agree with kingofnobbys about the shedding - another suggestion I have is to switch from aspen to another substrate that is better at holding moisture, like coconut fibre (see thread in frequently asked questions section). I have also given my blotchy's enclosure a light water misting while in there on the days leading up to a shed. Like Northerns, blotchies don't need high humidity like the Indonesian species do, but a light bit of humidity around shed time can help boost sheds along.

Watch the toes and tip of tail after shed to make sure it has shed properly, if not use the bath method with soggy paper towel that kingofnobbys described, and once the shedding skin has softened a light rub should do the trick.

[tbets]

Thanks for all the input! I think I'm going to make the switch from aspen to something that holds more moisture, the aspen is a bit too dry. Oh and don't worry, I didn't ever pick at the skin by helping him/her shed I meant just giving a little bath to help out which is what I ended up doing (I used to own a corn snake who just right before shedding I'd give a nice bath to help out).

The only part of the body that still has any skin left on it is the tail of the skink, and it's a little more than just the tip but I completely get making sure about the feet/tip of tail, had to check the tip of tail for my corn snake as well after sheds. It's been a couple days since the shedding started and everywhere has no old skin left on it, so I'm going to use the methods provided to remedy the skin on the tail, thanks again!