BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hi, I recently got a tank for my blue tongue skink and he has settled in quite fine with a hot side of 27 degrees. Yes, I know the temperatures are quite low, but I'm scared to turn them up to 30 because I feel that my tank has not enough ventilation. Once, my skink was not pooping and only receded to poop when i accidentally turned the temps up to 29, but he seemed to be trying to breathe out of the vent as if it was too stuffy to roam around the tank. (I accidentally installed the heat light the wrong side, so the heat light is above the vent on the bottom and the top vent is on the cool side. ;-;) What should I do? I've been thinking about turning the temperatures up to 29 and closely watching it, then turning the temps up to 30 eventually and seeing if my skink starts to try and breathe out of the vent again. What are your views on this? BY the way, the reason why i am posting this is because whenever I handle my skink he always feels cold but always stays on the cold side, sleeping in his fave hide (which is basically a box with shredded newspaper)
Main information
type: eastern
age: 8 months
substrate; newspaper but has some shredded newspaper on the hot and cool side for burying
tank: melamine, 4 ft
diet (idk why i am writing this); butternut, squash, bok choi and the occasional apple or mango
help would be very greatly appreciated and taken into notice.
SUNNY YEAHHHHHHHHHHHH

Temps you should be getting up to 35-38 on the basking spot the reason why he just sleeps on the cold side could be due to the fact he isn't getting enough warmth to get active.
I use 4 ft melamine enclosures for a couple years and i am yet to have any issues other then sometimes the air can get a bit stale but when i take out one of my lizards to roam around i leave the enclosure door open to help air it out.

I have 2 little vents like this random image shows for the melamine enclosures, if you could post image(s) of the vent(s) can say if thats enough or not, see here for info on how to post images: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=28657
If it comes down to it and you are still concerned with the venting i would recommend along the top side or somewhere just getting a drill and doing a grid of drill holes to help with airflow

While newspaper is usable for bedding i would recommend going down to your local bunnings and getting some sugar mulch, cheap as and you get so much a single bag would last an enclosure dam near a year because it is compacted.
https://www.bunnings.com.au/sweet-garde ... h_p2961137

As for the diet i would change that as well, while the Butternet, squash is part of a good staple it should be used in conjunction with some wet dog food aswell, fair few of us here use Pedigree it goes on sale for $1.50-2.50 for the 1.2kilo tin regularly at Coles, i use the 5 kinds of meat one mixed with the beef and gravy one, gives them a nice varied amount of meat and they absolutely love to lap up the gravy.
It's best if you get a cheap food processor from kmart or target, about $15-30 if memory serves when i got mine to use on the veggies and mix it about half and half with the dog food in a big batch and freeze it in easy ice cube trays, once its frozen just pop them out the tray and into freezer bags and then pop the next batch of food into the tray to freeze and repeat til its all done, doing it this way only have to prep the food a handful of times a
year.
Heres a good guide for diet app.php/page/food-chart

If you are using one of those hopeless dial type analog thermometers you really don't have clue what the actual temperature in the viv is , they can be out by 10 degC , I recommend visiting Ebay and Investing in a few of these digital thermometers http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Aquarium-LCD ... 1577608563 .

If you visit Bunnings , you can pick up a hole saw for an electric drill and round slipin cabinet vents , so it's dead easy to add more ventilation to your timber viv if you think this is needed. Some down low on one end , some up high on the other will encourage good ventilation rather than the pooling of stale air you a likely seeing in your viv as-is.

How old is your BT ?

A baby and a juvenile has different dietary needs to an adult.

Sorry guys, I forgot to mention that I also add some boiled chicken to the diet. NickBraz, my tank vents look similar to the ones shown in the picture. I'll try and post a picture. I don't really want to spend money on dog food because I think there is too much fat and it is smells horrific
Thanks for the help guys. Also, m skink seems to be having runny poop a lot. Why is this so? I don't feed eggs. Could it be because I am feeding frozen and there is a lot of water?
My diet is %30 protein (chicken ) %10 fruit %50 vegetables and %10 bok choi and other greens like kale.
About the heat issue, I'll turn the heat up to 30 this afternoon and see what happens. I'll watch my skink carefully. And, no. I don't have one of those old-timey clicky thermostats, but however my thermo will only turn up to 35 and no hotter. I got it from a guy who had bearded dragons, and they seemed to survive fine, although when come Christmas I might change just in case.

Sunny_Skinks wrote:Sorry guys, I forgot to mention that I also add some boiled chicken to the diet. NickBraz, my tank vents look similar to the ones shown in the picture. I'll try and post a picture. I don't really want to spend money on dog food because I think there is too much fat and it is smells horrific <<< join the club .... no doggy food for my skinks either , BTs living wild in the bush don't have dog food in their natural diet (unless they live near a farm house where there are dogs - and then it's only eaten because it's there and easily (though riskily) available.
I too provide lean boiled chicken mince (this was suggested many many many moons ago by my reptile vet as a good source protein along with egg and insects and lizard pellets (Vetafarm and RepCal Beardie Pellets (softened by soaking them in water or unsweetened apple juice). Must be doing something right as George and Mildred will be 8 years old in September.


Thanks for the help guys. Also, m skink seems to be having runny poop a lot. Why is this so? I don't feed eggs. Could it be because I am feeding frozen and there is a lot of water?
My diet is %30 protein (chicken ) %10 fruit %50 vegetables and %10 bok choi and other greens like kale. <<<< the runny poos are from the veg (esp if they very high water content)
About the heat issue, I'll turn the heat up to 30 this afternoon and see what happens. I'll watch my skink carefully. And, no. I don't have one of those old-timey clicky thermostats, but however my thermo will only turn up to 35 and no hotter. I got it from a guy who had bearded dragons, and they seemed to survive fine, although when come Christmas I might change just in case.

I simply swap out from Philips 80W par38 incandescents (bought at Bunnings) mounted pendulum style (so I can easy tweek the distance from the bottom of the globe to the skink's basking spot by slipping a loop in the power cable) in summer (that are often simply turned off all together if it's a hot day, leaving just the 26W UVB150 , gives required UVA and UVB) to a Osram Halopar 100 W 30° Halogen Reflector Lamp from May to Aug to get a bit more heat.
I don't bother with oversized a dimming style inline thermostat for my floodglobes, essentially I use trial and error to get about 34oC at the basking spot and simply have a digital thermometer probe (from Ebay) glued in place on the concrete paver that passes for the basking spot (gets warm and holds the heat nicely at night as concrete does).

I use course grade Kritters Krumble mixed liberally with twigs and dry bluegum litter and fallen bark in each BTS viv and my two love it , often completely burying themselves in it. Means I have had to set up an area where the water bowls and food dishes are and where I deposit their superworms , big silkworms , crickets and occasional French snail (I buy these live by the dozen as treats) 'that's simply lined with loose floor tiles and has a bug blocking ridge .

Vent looks the same as mine and about same size, is there a second one on the opposite side near the top? if so the ventilation will be fine to bump up that temp nice and high mine have been in tanks similar to yours for years without any issues.