HELP!! My new bluey needs help

[Michizzle]

Hey everyone ! I just took in a year old Northern, he’s got heavy breathing, but no goobs or mucus around his nose or mouth, so could it just be him nervous or something ? I asked the last owner for so much information so i could make the transition as easy as possible and well… he had him on SHAVINGS I only had aspen and moss mix for a week till today when I changed it to cypress mulch. Could the heavy breathing be from the shavings and aspen ? Also he ate the first day a decent amount , and ate a grasshopper from me the other day but I’ve offered 3 times cause he hasn’t eaten and I'm leaving the food at the entrance of his hide…and he wont eat, but he was burrowed on the cold side for 2 days (I’ve been trying to leave him alone so i don't stress him, i have cameras on his enclosure lol) could him being on cold side for 2 days be the reason he’s not eating ? I thought i could keep it as hot as it needs with just lamps but i attached a UTH (with a thermostat, i am prepared !) tonight and now his temps are better and his humidity is 65% I’m hoping tomorrow he eats! The owner gave me the brands of dog food he fed and meats, he fed a LOT of protien so i need to trick him to get his veggies and greens in lol im SO sorry this is so long if you’ve read this thank you so much and please give me any advice ! I need it right now ! Since I changed the bedding to cypress he’s been very active.. roaming the cage, is he okay ? And my heat emitter isnt hot enough for night time cause I don’t wanna let his temps drop with a possible RI, so was gonna leave the red bulb on for the night, would that be okay ? Or let it drop to 75° Fahrenheit ? Someone please help meeeee !!! I just want to do everything I can to help him and make him happy

[Shingleback bluey]

Im a new bluey owner myself and i think you should go to your local pet store and buy some mulch or something because shavings can compact a lizards stomach and make them extremely sick. You should also try feeding it diffrent varieties of food to see what he eats. If you must try feeding it with cat food to give it something soft and make sure theres no dust. Also try interacting

[Michizzle]

Im a new bluey owner myself and i think you should go to your local pet store and buy some mulch or something because shavings can compact a lizards stomach and make them extremely sick. You should also try feeding it diffrent varieties of food to see what he eats. If you must try feeding it with cat food to give it something soft and make sure theres no dust. Also try interacting

I said in the post he WAS on shavings and aspen i knew this so just got him on cypress yesterday so thats taken care of thank you for the advice and i offer him vegetables mixed with the best grain free dog food i can find, and i change up the brand a lot with my other one but i just got this guy he’s only eaten once ):

[Y33T]

Heavy breathing could be just stress related. If he’s spending time on the cool side and not eating it’s perfectly normal if it’s getting colder where you live. He could be attempting to brumate.

Also don’t use red lights! Never use anything that produces light at night because the skink still detects the light and registers it as daytime throwing their circadian rhythm out of whack. I recommend just using the ceramic heater. 75’F is safe as long as temps don’t fall below 18’C (64’F) you’re good.

[Michizzle]

Heavy breathing could be just stress related. If he’s spending time on the cool side and not eating it’s perfectly normal if it’s getting colder where you live. He could be attempting to brumate.

Also don’t use red lights! Never use anything that produces light at night because the skink still detects the light and registers it as daytime throwing their circadian rhythm out of whack. I recommend just using the ceramic heater. 75’F is safe as long as temps don’t fall below 18’C (64’F) you’re good.

Thank you soooo much for your reply ! I didn’t get an answer that night so I did what i thought was best and I think I did the right thing thank you so much im hoping your right on the breathing ! He was staying on the cool side but since i changed the bedding he’s been on the hot side ever since and pretty active, he ate a meal and is basking right now thank god, I knew the light messes up their sleeping pattern so I normally would have never left it on but the temperatures were going below 65 Fahrenheit so I left the red light on for one night and the next day got 100 watt heat emitter instead of the 50 w i had before, temps are perfect all the time now and no lights on at night thank you again im soooo happy he is happy lol