So today i decided cheerios tank needed a bit of a cleaning and a water change. I typically tend to do a full poop search and clean up every 2 weeks, but skipped a week since i fell ill. Reptiles are a saint to own when you have chronic illness lemme tell ya since they dont mind a little extra mess during rough times. So, knowing my little (little is a strong word for how big hes gotten) munchkin would chase me for treats and prevent me from cleaning, i made a new treat bag for him of little apple bites. I grabbed my cleaning gloves, a trash bag, treats, and some fresh hay and headed up to go clean. (He likes to hide in piles of timothy hay)
I got up to my room and went to work. While picking out older poops and pulling out his fake plants, i heard my sausage man rise from the depths and run over, knowing i always have treats for him when i clean. I continued to clean while handing him apple bits. Suddenly, while i wasnt paying attention, i felt a little nibble on my forearm. I never been bit before so i was pretty surprised by how it didnt hurt at all. “Geez watch the arm, here” and handed him a bigger slice to occupy him so i could grab the water dish and go clean everything else in the sink. After washing poop stains off the leaves and changing the water, i returned and set everything in place.
Tada! Good as new
Cheerio was still out at this point and was in a fairly good mood, so i thought “hey! Maybe we can hang out for a few minutes”. Now i will be honest, i havent taken him out in a little over a month. I know i know, for shame! In my defense, cheerio was in shedding stages for nearly 4 weeks. He was extremely moody and basically hated my guts the entire time, so i didnt bother him unless to feed or clean. Only in the past 2-3 weeks has he started to act normal and not like a miserable teenager.
So i did just that. After a few tries to get him out, i finally pulled his heavy butt from his tank. I knew it must of been a while since i held him because man, he felt bigger...a LOT bigger. No matter how much ive tried since April when i first got him, i could never get him to tolerate being lifted so i always tried to make it fast and easy for him. I got a few huffs before i set him down and he immediately was on the move to run and hide somewhere, which i expected since he stressed himself out by me just trying to lift him for a few seconds. As soon as i got his eye on some treats though he was happier. Once he realized where he was, he was on the move to go explore. I really badly just wanted to hold him in my lap even though i knew he was just going to try and leave with every chance he got to go look at something or check out some cramped space. I quickly grabbed a blanket (my
Favorite keep in mind) and sat down with it on my lap. I grabbed him again and sat him in the little crater i made in the blanket in hopes that maybe he’ll stay. He knows my room pretty well so already had an escape plan from my loving trap. I convinced him to stay with some more treats when suddenly he grew more still. I thought “oh, he must of grown a bit comfortable and wants to stay”, so i gave him some pets and he moved around a bit more in my lap, but relatively stayed put. Little did i know this was part of his master plan.
His body grew a bit “thicker” as i would call it and he kept letting out these little noises. I was confused and thought maybe he was upset and allowed him to move to the edge of the blanket out of my lap. Suddenly, with a swift tail lift, he urinates and lets out LARGE poo right on my blanket. He then continues to walk and DRAG pee across my floor. I didnt want to freak out and scare him, so i just silently grieved and let him finish on my floor. He tried to make a dash behind my bed and thats when i finally grabbed him and put him back.
After cleaning that mess, with a mothers love, i returned to cheerios tank and left him one last treat. All he did was give me the evil eye from the opposite side of the tank
Not sure if this experience was just bad luck, or a flick on the back of the head for not doing more regular handling. Im a worrier, so im trying to laugh and learn from this experience rather then assume this means me and cheerio will never have a good handling relationship. I guess at the end of the day, every skink is different and will take handling differently from time to time. Hes a little sweet heart when in the cage, now we just gotta work on outside of the cage
