BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hello! I am brand new to the world of BTS's, but I've been wanting one for a while! I got my first baby yesterday afternoon! He is a Halmahera and is only a baby. (:



He's a very pretty boy, but I'm a bit nervous about his behavior. I've been reading up on BTS's huffing or hissing at new owners, and I know it's pretty common. My boy was shipped Tuesday night to my reptile store, and I picked him up Wednesday afternoon, brought him home. But I did carry him around a bit prior to putting him in his tank. He does have a small cut on his nose and looks like he may have just finished shedding also. And yes, I made sure I asked the store manager a bunch of questions before buying him; and he is not wild caught!

I know the pretty much 24 hours of travelling could've stressed him out, and I haven't really tried to pick him up much because of it. I even spent the night in the living room away from him to let him have some alone time. (As much alone time as you can get with two rats and an axolotl in the room, too!) He's been eating, but whenever I check up on him, he's sitting in his hide and tries to move out of my way when we make eye contact. He only huffed at me once when I was holding him prior to putting him in the cage, once or twice when I tried to pet him, but what is bothering me is that I placed a small piece of banana just outside of his hide as a sort of peace offering, and he still huffed at me.

This could be me just being a little crazy, but I'd like the validation that he's okay! I want to have a good, long, happy relationship with my new friend.

Thanks in advance for the answers and thank you for reading!

What a cute skink!

I got my first skink two months ago, also a baby. For the first couple weeks he mostly hid in his hide, and huffed at me. I started gaining his trust by luring him out with food, and putting him on my bed to feed him. Overtime I'd give him head rubs, which he loves, and hold him for a bit. Two months later, he loves being pet, sitting on my shoulder, and today, he has been sleeping in the pocket of my hoodie for a couple hours lol. Just takes some time of gradually getting them comfortable with you

Hey kinda looks like my little Indonesian Indie.
Indie when i first got her was huffing and puffing too, i have now had her for a couple of weeks she or he is like a little angel, She cuddles, lies under the blankets and eats out of my hand but this was not all of a sudden, it took a lot of time and patients to do this. I also had the problem of my skink huffing when i put food near so i opted for not placing food near her but just talk to her instead. It does get easier and they become loving little critters
Just carry on doing what you are doing and you should have a happy little skink on your hands. Good luck with the little skink

I got a Northern baby, she is about 6 months old now and gets handled just about every day and she still huffs and tries to take a bite of my fingers but this behavior is only in the tank. Heck, my two year old still huffs at me from time to time.
Once settled he/she should calm down to where he isn't huffing and puffing all the time, but of course time will tell. Every skink has a different personality, but once the settling period is over try to handle the little stinker as much as he will tolerate. He/she is a cutie though, congrats on getting your first BTS!

Thank you guys all for your replies!

I'm going to give him a few more days of being alone and unbothered before I try to handle him again! I want to see him wandering around the tank and looking at least a little comfy before I drag him out again, lol!

I actually just gave him some boiled eggs and blueberries for dinner; so we'll see is he comes out to eat!

(also, my peace offering banana is still there. lil stinker.)

Months after I had my older one, he was still huffing at me. Even when he started to come around a bit, he would still huff to let me know he was tolerating me but not happy.
A few years later, he still huffs when he's annoyed. Sometimes his whole body will pop a little...I call it his hot potato tantrum. The other day, I moved a burrowing bed to another spot in the room and he sat there doing his tantrum in the spot where the bed used to be lol. My younger one isn't much of a huffer but maybe a handful of times (like when I'm trimming nails or cleaning food off his face) he'll do more of a sigh.
The other day I got frustrated at my son and didn't even realize I actually huffed at him until he said "Did you just huff at me?! You're not Mushy!" Mushy is our older bts.

I've got a six year old that does it when she doesn't want to be bothered. It is just their nature, and a natural thing for them to do. Especially if you have a cage that you have to enter from the top. That's where predators come from, in their eyes. A few of mine have never done it, specifically my males. They don't seem to be afraid of anything. I don't really think it is a behavior that can be changed, but hey who knows. Like a dog barking. They just do it.

Hi! We are new to the blue tongue world also. Juneau is a northern. We have had her for 3 months now and she is 5 1/2 mo. old. She almost always hisses when we reach in her tank still, front opening. But she's always great as soon as she's out with us. We hope she gets more comfortable with the initial contact. We are really enjoying her! Should we be handling her often?

Couldn't hurt to try for some more bonding time, and some tasty treats to let him know you're his friend.

Thanks-we will!!!

splashy07 wrote:Couldn't hurt to try for some more bonding time, and some tasty treats to let him know you're his friend.

Hey man, so a HUGE question is this.
Is your bub HISSING, Huffing, Humphing or sighing.
Now I know this seems like a lot, but I have 2 blueys. One is my little rescue boy with a big attitude who is snappy. He hisses BIG TIME. (Maybe because we thought He was a She for a while and called him her?)

My other blue, my first one, is a 9 year old girl who was an ex breeder. Very docile and sweet. She huffs, humphs and sighs DEPENDING on the situation. Example, if something doesn't move out of her way, she kind of humphs. If startled, she huffs. When petted or relaxing, she kind of sighs. I panicked when I encountered these things about her and rushed her to the vet thinking breathing issues. after the medical checks, she came back all healthy. Its just a quirk of her personality.

Babies are often more huffy though, since they are a lot smaller and still learning. When you're a giant of your world, nothing phases you, but as a bub who is target number 1 you get a bit more uppity.

BD99 wrote:Hey man, so a HUGE question is this.
Is your bub HISSING, Huffing, Humphing or sighing.
Now I know this seems like a lot, but I have 2 blueys. One is my little rescue boy with a big attitude who is snappy. He hisses BIG TIME. (Maybe because we thought He was a She for a while and called him her?)

My other blue, my first one, is a 9 year old girl who was an ex breeder. Very docile and sweet. She huffs, humphs and sighs DEPENDING on the situation. Example, if something doesn't move out of her way, she kind of humphs. If startled, she huffs. When petted or relaxing, she kind of sighs. I panicked when I encountered these things about her and rushed her to the vet thinking breathing issues. after the medical checks, she came back all healthy. Its just a quirk of her personality.

Babies are often more huffy though, since they are a lot smaller and still learning. When you're a giant of your world, nothing phases you, but as a bub who is target number 1 you get a bit more uppity.

This is a big question, lol!!

I don't think he has ever hissed at me. He never opens his mouth when he does it. I always try to pet him first before I take him out to see if he even wants to be bothered with hanging out. If he is quiet, then I'll usually take him out. That being said! When he IS out and being pet, he is silent. He has only ever made a noise when I pet him and he huffs/jumps a little bit. I just assume that means he isn't in the mood for company and leave him alone.