BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hi,

Just starting my research on Blue Tongue Skinks. In terms of how often to feed, it seems there is a pretty significant discrepancy between what the care sheet says and what the linked (from within the caresheet) food chart says...

From the care sheet:

With adults, every other day feedings are recommended.
Babies and juveniles should be offered food every day (or every other day) until about one year of age.

From the linked food chart:
http://bluetongueskinks.net/foodchart.html

up to 3 months: ~ Daily to every 2 days
3 to 8 months: ~ Every 2 to 5 days
over 8 months: 1 to 2 times per week

Which is correct?

Thanks.

Honestly, you can do either. I think 2x a week is recommended in order to help prevent obesity and it's how I feed my adults but if you can find a good balance in feeding every other day and manage a healthy weight, there's nothing wrong with that either.

At one time many years ago, dog food wasn't a popular choice to feed these guys so it could be that care sheet recommending every other day was created then when feeder insects were used more frequently. In more recent years now that dog food has been universally accepted as a staple protein, the frequency of feedings has been adjusted but that's just a theory of mine. Either way, managing a healthy weight is key.

Alright. Thanks!

I assume one is considered an adult at 8 months to a year?

I'd consider a skink an adult after a year. It's mostly subjective.

foghat wrote:Hi,

Just starting my research on Blue Tongue Skinks. In terms of how often to feed, it seems there is a pretty significant discrepancy between what the care sheet says and what the linked (from within the caresheet) food chart says...

From the care sheet:

With adults, every other day feedings are recommended.
Babies and juveniles should be offered food every day (or every other day) until about one year of age.

From the linked food chart:
http://bluetongueskinks.net/foodchart.html

up to 3 months: ~ Daily to every 2 days
3 to 8 months: ~ Every 2 to 5 days
over 8 months: 1 to 2 times per week

Which is correct?

Thanks.

Neither,

I prefer to give my two adult BTs a small feed of live insects each day , I never give my pair cat or dog food ( I don't believe these are appropriate foods for a skink so I stay with insects and protein and calcium rich greens).
I raise my own silkworms , so they get a large silkworm or two each per day, and my other insect staples for my BTs are BSFL and disabled crickets.
Eggs, superworms and mealworms (lavae, pupa and beetles) are given as occasional treats. I buy live land snails (from a farmer who raises them for human consumption , usually a punnet of about a dozen) as treats (would give every day if they were cheaper).

What I did , as per recommended by my reptile vet and the breeder I bought my two easterns off as babies was
For babies under 4 months (live insects EVERY DAY & fresh greens and veg) insects at least twice per day.
For juveniles to 12 months (live insects every day one meal + fresh greens and veg offered)
for subadults less insects , but still daily + greens and veg offered )

Fruit as treats.

mb606587 wrote:I'd consider a skink an adult after a year. It's mostly subjective.

A yearling skink is stll a juvenile, not even a subadult yet.

foghat wrote:In terms of how often to feed, Which is correct?

kingofnobbys wrote:Neither

I am getting a bit frustrated with your complete disregard of the advice given by experienced keepers; if you don't want to follow the advice given here and keep touting YOUR way as the only way to a new person who is starting his research, then it may be better if you started a new "kingofnobbys way of keeping blue tongue skinks" forum away from here.
You just told this new member that the recommendations on this site were wrong, you gave no reason for why they were wrong, just told in detail what you personally do.

kingofnobbys wrote:less the mice and more and less.

...less the mice and more and less...?
The pyramid you keep linking as your reason against dog food is really very similar to the recommended amounts on this site. The pyramid in itself is simpler visually, but has much less detail and much fewer options. If you read the descriptions and attached links under the pyramid, it quickly gets much more complicated.

Right under the pyramid you'll find this statement:
"Currently, many breeders recommend dog food supplemented with fresh vegetables. This is a simple and successful way to keep blue tongue skinks if fed correctly due to the complete vitamin and mineral profile, however it is not very natural or exciting for a blue tongue skink and may lead to obesity if not fed correctly. With this guide you should be able to make an informed decision on a dog food/vegetable diet or be able to feed a healthy home-made diet."

mb606587 wrote:I'd consider a skink an adult after a year. It's mostly subjective.

kingofnobbys wrote:A yearling skink is stll a juvenile, not even a subadult yet.

Yearling= an animal between the ages of one and two. Most BTS reach adult size between age 1 and 2, and most are sexually mature by age 1. So with BTS, the majority of yearlings are adults.
Juvenile= An animal that has not yet reached its adult form, sexual maturity or size.
Subadult= an animal that is not fully adult.
So really, a juvenile and a subadult in BTS are the same thing, which is why we generally only talk about babies, juveniles, and adults.

So opinionated kingofnobbys...Im not going to argue the adult/juvenile debate. As I said, it's all subjective so pointless to try. As Susann said, they tend to have reached sexual maturity by a year so that's my opinion. Now as for the feedings debate. I have my way of doing it. Have done it for nearly 20 years without a single issue. I haven't fed live insects ever. It works for me. Susann has her way of feeding her skinks. Probably very similar to my method since we both advocate for this forums advice. It has worked for her. Kingofnobbys has his own method of doing it everyday. That works for him. I can't say either way is wrong if the results are producing a healthy skink. What's great about this forum is that you can research many different opinions from experienced keepers and decide for yourself which way you want to go. Generally if you see that a common method has worked for many keepers over a period of many years, I'd say it's probably reliable.

Thanks for all the good info!

I feed twice a week, one day it's grain free dog food with greens and veggies. Then two days later, she gets either a hard boiled egg or some roaches.

I also sometimes give her fruit as a treat.

Mine eats once a week. Twice a week if he's feeling hungry. xD

If I'm lucky, he'll eat once a month when brumating. Sometime he won't eat for many moons. lol~