Recently acquired rescue skink

[santafe55]

Hi all, I'm looking for some general advice/ insight on my newly acquired northern BTS. I took him from an acquaintance who didn't have time for him anymore. Their set up was not the worst but I still believe he was neglected. He was in a 40 gallon, light on a timer, hot and cool end. The temperature varied a lot they said though. Usually the hot spot was at 95-100 but it would go down to 75 occasionally. They fed him him a mixture of produce and high quality dog food/meat/insects. They said they fed him about twice a week, but sometimes would go a few weeks without feeding him because they didn't have time or ran out of food.

I can tell he wasn't fed a lot because he's two years old and only like 15-17 inches. He also has a few stuck scales, but otherwise seems very healthy. He's bright alert and food motivated, no mouth rot.

My main question is do you guys think he'll get to the potential 24 inches, or is his growth stunted? Also, I have UVB but I've heard that it's not as effective as people used to think it was. Should I supplement with calcium and vitamin D3 just to be safe. I don't believe he's had any supplements before, however I don't see any signs of metabolic bone disease.

Thank you in advance for the help given!

[kingofnobbys]

What country are you in BTW ? I'm assuming USA based on your username.

Very likely he's not a northern BTS (I believe they are very hard to find in the USA , and it's more likely he's an indo who's been passed off as an northern originally).
Are you positive he's a northern BTS , photos will help us check this, as it's likely the original keeper didn't have a clue or was lied to when they acquired him.


I think he's likely to be stunted in his growth as he's not been provided an adequate diet while a juvenile and in his "rapid" growth phase.
If he's 2 years old , he's done growing and never grow more than a few mm in length though he has the potential to fatten up if fed well enough.

A 10% T5ho or 12% T5ho tube in a reflector hood about 12 inches from his basking spot is needed , he's a tropical species of BT (whever he's an Indonesian or northern BTS, he is from an area where UV is "EXTREME" on most sunny days).
The chances are the UV source that came with him is old and not been producing much UVA & UVB for a long time so upgrading to a T5ho 10% - 12% UVB tube is going to be a very good idea, with this he wont need vitD3 fortification .

I, suggest taking him to a local reptile vet for wellness and health checks (including checks for MBD , parasites and fatty liver desease are in order based on the poor care he received before you rescued him).

He may need some rehabilitation.

[mb606587]

Kingofnobbys, I wouldn't say Northerns are rare here in the U.S., just that the Indonesian/gigas species are much more prevalent (all other Australian species I'd say are rare!). But yes I agree that your skink will not grow to 24". Post a picture because as kingofnobbys mentioned, gigas species are sometimes passed off as Northerns, and usually will max out sizes between 18"-22", with Meraukes being the only exception. And wow that seems awful that your skink had to go weeks between feedings simply bc the owners refused to provide proper care. As far as UVB goes, I'd recommend it in this case. If you don't use it, supplement feedings at least twice a week with calcium w/d3. I'd still supplement one feeding a week with calcium d3 even if you do use uvb though.