BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hello, i have a halmahera bts, i've had it for about 3 weeks now(gender is unknown), it is a bit feisty, likes to burrow every chance it gets and generally tries to avoid me, however the first day i got it i was easily able to handle and hand feed it but now its the opposite. it never lets me hand feed it so I end up just leaving the food on its plate and let it be, when i go to handle it, all i hear is hissing and constantly trying to strike my fingers. As much as i want to interact with it i'm afraid of getting bit. I also cant seem to find a setup that i can arrange mine similar to since i was on a budget when getting it. Is there anything i should do or just give it more time.

Halmaheras are 99.9 percent imported, and do not have favorable opinions of humans as result...just give it time, something may have spooked him a bit. He also may be preparing to shed, at which time they do not like to be bothered.

You probably getting the feisty one, each of them have different personality. Do you have correct temperature and humidity? People here tends to avoid Halmahera because they need both high humidity and temperature. About 30-32 celcius on the basking spot and 80%-100% humidity. If you dont get both right they will burrow. Also they bite me once when i tried to take its water dish and perform death roll but they are toothless so its not serious. It never bite me again despite its constant hissy fit.

lunarisx wrote:You probably getting the feisty one, each of them have different personality. Do you have correct temperature and humidity? People here tends to avoid Halmahera because they need both high humidity and temperature. About 30-32 celcius on the basking spot and 80%-100% humidity. If you dont get both right they will burrow. Also they bite me once when i tried to take its water dish and perform death roll but they are toothless so its not serious. It never bite me again despite its constant hissy fit.

i have the temp down, i have a problem getting up my humidity though. i bought a water sprayer to spray the enclosure a few times a day but it tends to stay at around 40-50%, also i think it now got passed the biting part all it does now is just hiss and keep its head facing my fingers rather than trying to bite.

You can try spreading some Spaghnum moss in the corner and one big waterdish. When your skink need humidity, it will jump inside that waterdish.

lunarisx wrote:You can try spreading some Spaghnum moss in the corner and one big waterdish. When your skink need humidity, it will jump inside that waterdish.

i will try that whenever i can, for now i'm using coconut as my bedding which ive heard is good for keeping in moisture.