BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Dear all,

One month ago I bought a young Northern BTS at a reptile convention. This is basically my first pet, since moving away from home 16 years ago! I bought it from a Danish breeder, who had brought his new litter of 7 to the convention and was selling them all off. I was informed it was a male and born in July 2021.

I got him a 150 x 50 x 50 cm glass terrarium. In the hot end, substrate is a mixture of sand and soil. In the cooler end, substrate is tree mulch. He has hides in both ends, some rocks, moss, fake plants etc. A 120W UVB lamp is installed in the hot end above a basking stone. It is turned on 12 hours a day. The basking stone in the hot end becomes 42C, while the cold end is like 23C during daytime. I assume everything gets to around 20-21C in night time.

He does not seem to mind being handled. He often tries to escape when I pick him up, but he quickly accepts his fate. I have on several occasions let him explore the living room, run around on the floor, crawl around in my sweatshirt or fall asleep on my stomach under a blanket.

He is not really eating well. Most days he does not eat. Some days he eats a little, but not anything like the size of his head. Two weeks ago he weighed 160g. Today he weighs 146g. He likes to burrow and stay in the cooler end most of the day. There can be e.g. 4-5 days in a row where I don't see him at all. Then he might come up for a couple of evenings in a row.

To me he looks pretty healthy. Not really underweight yet. The scales on top of his head are often dry though. When I take him out and he is with me on the couch, he sometimes does a small sneeze.

I contacted the breeder with my concern about him losing weight. It has now been a month since I got him. And he has lost 9% of his body weight in the last 2 weeks. The breeder says he should NOT lose weight. That was also my understanding. As a baby, he should be eating frequently and bulking up. Especially after some weeks of acclimation. He thinks my temperatures are on the low side and recommends 50C+ in the basking spot, 33-36 in hot end and 26-28C in cold end.

At first, I thought the lack of eating was due to the new environment. Or perhaps glass on all sides. I covered up one side with a black towel for some more privacy. Didn't seem to help much.

So my question is: How concerned should I be about my skink losing weight at 4 months of age? I guess it is classic brumation climate here now (November in Denmark), but he is not old enough to brumate, right? Should I give him even longer to adjust? Purchase a higher wattage bulb and try to increase temperature? Or even rush him to the vet and figure out if he has an infection that needs antimicrobial therapy? Parasites or worms, despite being born and bred in captivity? Any hints or tips to put my mind at ease?

Him on October 21
https://www.amazon.com/photos/shared/PSHw5oHJTq2YB3qlpSAo7A.L8UtQ4gzdmjycK17rH3v_j/gallery/89nYHxjjQLabGSXIVWb_7g

His terrarium
https://www.amazon.com/photos/shared/YHVv6o23RzSMLrKokuBRQw.C7X5GozV7Y5Q7rFh-68V4B/gallery/pjU70KdzQleQHQqYH-rFKw

Best regards,
A concerned Danish reptile noob

Age at times does not make a difference with brumation. Some youngsters do, some don't. At this time of year around here it's time, and my skinks have either completely stopped eating or are just picking. They'll all be down for brumation by the end of this month. My six month old has not decided yet whether he wants to go down.
Can you post a picture so we can confirm the identity as Northern?

splashy07 wrote:Age at times does not make a difference with brumation. Some youngsters do, some don't. At this time of year around here it's time, and my skinks have either completely stopped eating or are just picking. They'll all be down for brumation by the end of this month. My six month old has not decided yet whether he wants to go down.
Can you post a picture so we can confirm the identity as Northern?

I see. It is comforting to know if this is not atypical! I hear they are hardy animals, but I also keep reading online that "As long as they are not losing weight, you shouldn't be concerned".

You cant see the picture of him I linked?

We did buy a 180W UVB bulb and install that. It is way brighter and the temperature range is now like 27-52C from cold-hot. I feel it is a bit high, even for Northerns and what I read online, but the breeder recommended it and thought maybe if he was born under born under such conditions, it could help. He has appeared more active / being out for longer, after we installed it and I did see him eat a little yesterday. Will try to weigh him if his out tonight.

No, I could not download the photos, perhaps someone else can and chime in here.
Your temps are a bit high, my northerns do not like anything over 90F.

Just to confirm you do have a Northern species Personally have not had a critter that brumates, so can't chime in there. In regards to eating, as it's a Northern - I would suspect it shouldn't have parasites like most wild caught species. But figured would mention it as it can also be a reason for low appetite (if it's not brumation!).

In your setup, I would recommend shielding the bulb in some way - when bluey's are curious they can have strong cores and I suspect they would be able to reach it. There are guards available in most reptile stores, or you can try raise it (but if you've not tried that before, may be tricky to make it secure).

All the best, and hope they'll eat again soon!