BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

I just fed my blue tongue Aubergine not realising it was the same as Eggplant (English is not my first language), so I did not know it was bad. She did not eat the leaf, only the actual meat of the eggplant. Will she be okay? She is a 2 week old baby so she did not eat very much of it.

Please help! Thank you

i've tried to do some research on why aubergine is bad, but there is not much i find. i think it is because it is very high in phospherus which i know binds to calcium. i only fed her one time aubergine, and she does not showing signs of being sick. i think she ok but i want to ask others in case i might be wrong. thank you.

hi deniza,

i think your skink will probably be fine as long as it's eating properly and well afterwards. i've asked some other people for their opinions and they agree - if you notice behavioural changes that might hint to it being unwell, i would seek medical advice.
hope your skink is feeling okay!

Eggplants belong to the nightshade family. It produces solanine. With higher amounts of it in the leaves and flowers. Some items we don't normally think of belonging to this family are items such as potato and tomato.

Solanine is toxic. It takes a high amount to cause problems in humans. Not sure how this translates to reptiles.

I would suggest reading up on Solanine and also asking a vet about it.

Hope this helps.

I honestly think that small amount should be fine. Just keep an eye on your skink and if it starts showing signs of illness have it checked.

Was reading this post due to the new entry. Personally I think your skink will be fine unless you fed large amounts or your skink becomes sensitized to it (develops an allergy. Hope my previous entry didn't scare you to much. Added to that I have never seen any scientific data so far on solanine and it's affect if any on reptiles (doesn't mean there are none).

As a reference point the articles I read state that the amount of solanine in an average size eggplant is 11-13 mg. It takes roughly 2-5mg/kg to start showing toxicity in humans.So even if it translates to reptiles, they would have to still consume quite a bit unless they have a sensitivity to it. The articles on this are interesting, there is some variance on the stats from article to article.