Under socialized and now having problems?

[MaddyKay99]

I have a 2.5 year old male Indonesian BTS. I posted a few months ago about his 'manic episodes' concerned that they were due to a physiological ailment however, he has been to the vet multiple times and everything is looking great. He is still a little underweight which we are working on but all of his test results are coming back saying that he is well nourished and there are no imbalances or deficiencies. I now have a new possibility for what could be happening and I wanted to see if anyone on the forum had any ideas for if this could be the case and what I could do to help.

For some background, in these 'manic episodes' he will run as fast as he can around the enclosure, hiding under everything that he has, burrowing momentarily then coming up, running into walls and decor and just seems to be in a frenzied panic. He is in a custom built 6x2x2 enclosure with 4-6 inches of coco fiber and cypress mulch as a substrate depending on which area of the enclosure he is in. His hot side is around 95 with a basking zone up to 105 and cool side is around 80. I keep the enclosure between 60 and 80% humidity. He has one rock cave and 3-4 other caves that I have created out of driftwood and cork bark so has many places to hide other than just burrowing.

I have noticed that these episodes tend to occur when someone comes into my room and is talking to me for a few minutes, never at the start of a conversation but usually a few minutes in. He is great with me, perfect to be picked up and held, will sit in the hood of my jacket for hours, just all around chill but he hasn't had a ton of socialization with other people, nor has he really experienced having people just around his enclosure. His enclosure is in my room and my door is always closed because I don't allow the cat and dog in so they don't bother him but this means that I am the only person he really ever sees. I don't know if this is causing his issues, but I have very rarely ever seen him have an episode when I am the only one around and I have never seen it happen when I am silent.

I know this was a long post but I just wanted to give all of the facts to see what you think. I am considering sizing him back down to his 40 gallon breeder that he was in as a baby as he is very very small for a BTS and I don't know as if the smaller space may give him more comfort. I am just running out of ideas and I really want him to be happy and healthy. Please help if you have any clue what is happening

[Rob]

I am not in the position to give advice on skink behavior but he sounds awesome. Especially since he was never well socialized. It sounds like you are making leaps and bounds and someone needs to point that out. Also I would not change his cage not while he has come this far. I know this is not related but it took me over a year to build a bond with my tortoises. Now they are like 'here's dad '. Give yourself and your skink a big pat on the back for the great accomplishment you both have made!

[Rob]

I am not in the position to give advice on skink behavior but he sounds awesome. Especially since he was never well socialized. It sounds like you are making leaps and bounds and someone needs to point that out. Also I would not change his cage not while he has come this far. I know this is not related but it took me over a year to build a bond with my tortoises. Now they are like 'here's dad '. Give yourself and your skink a big pat on the back for the great accomplishment you both have made!

[Janella]

Hi there, my guess is he is stressed about something. For instance like you said, when new person comes into the room, he gets startled and panics. I would pin point what happens before and after each episode and see if you can find a pattern to it. Then, if there is a pattern...such as the new people, then try to avoid what is causing the stress.

I had a beautiful male water dragon that was amazing. However, as my daughter grew up he started to stress any time she was around. It got to the point that I had to keep his cage covered almost every single day. I knew he was stressed, so I had to make the sad decision to give him up to a home less stressful.

The key is figuring out the cause of his stress. I wouldn't suggest moving him. The bigger the floor space for a skink the better. Also moving him can cause more stress. Have you tried covering the sides of the enclosure?

[IvanDanko]

Hi Maddy,

Skinks all have different personalities. Mine was incredibly shy and took months of work to get to the point he is at today (totally comfortable around people, noise and activity). One thing in particular I would note is that skinks are very sensitive to noise and they have keen eyesight - they will recognise your face and your voice, and the same for others it is exposed to regularly. That said, new voices and loud unfamiliar noises can startle your skink very easily. This can be exacerbated by a shy personality. As a general rule I encourage visitors to speak at a controlled tone/volume around my skink if they are new to him, like you would if someone was sleeping down the hallway. Try implementing this strategy when people enter the room to talk to you to establish if this removes it as a trigger.