New Baby Skink Questions

[B&KWilliamson]

Hello there, my husband and I got a full grown Merauke in January that we had for a month of before dying of unknown causes. The place we got it told us we had a Northern. We quickly realized he was instead a Merauke and changed his care accordingly, ie. upping humidity and heat. We offered fresh food and water every day but refused, and died unexpectedly.
We wanted to try again and now have a young 6-7 in Merauke. We have had the little guy, who we named Severus Skink, haha, for three weeks now. We were worried when we first got him because he was timid, lethargic and kept his eyes closed 90% of the time. After a few days he perked up and started to eat, drink and explore. He still hasn’t opened his eyes a ton and rubs his eyes and face all of his enclosure, and won’t eat anything besides insects and a bite or two of fruit. He also hasn’t shed, but looks like he had a bad shed before. We think he was probably not kept at the right humidity and that could be what is happening with his eyes as well.
I have seen on other places here that closed eyes could be due to photoconjunctivitis so we left the UVB bulb off for a couple of days, but that did not seem to change anything. Any thoughts on the closed eyes? Should he have had a shed by now? Any tips on getting him to eat veggies? I attached photos of the little guy and his enclosure stats.
We were so sad when our first BTS died, and we want to do our best to give Severus a long, happy life!

[Janella]

Hi there, I am so sorry to hear about your first skink. Losing one is ever easy. For this new little guy...the picture of him didn't post. Can you try again? His eyes shouldn't be closed almost all of the time. Try to send picture of his whole body and face. Send pictures from over top of him and side views. Also is 77 your basking temp or what side is this temp on? Merauke's need a basking spot of 100-110, Normal heat side of about 90-100, and then a cool side of the tank at no lower then 75, As far as getting your skink to eat. I would recommend giving your skink a variety. This young I would try to offer either canned cat food or a good quality dog food mixed with dark leafy greens and other vegetables. I pre make all my food. I use a food processor and blend everything together really really well. Then, I scoop the mixture in ice cube trays and freeze. When it is feeding time I just use one cube size serving. That way my skinks can't pick out the things they only want to eat. They eat everything all together. Skinks need 50% protein (insects, dog food, egg, snails, ground lean turkey, or small cut up bites of chicken). Then vegetables need to be 40% (dark leafy greens, cactus pads, squashes, zucchini, carrots, sweet potato, green beans, and peppers are all good examples. The last should be fruit and that is 10% (bananas, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, mango, and peaches are some examples). I also would recommend a vet visit to verify what is going on with it's eyes.

[splashy07]

I would recommend a vet check also, as young Meraukes are 99 percent imported. They often come in full of parasites and haven't been cared for until now that he's with you. Don't go nuts with the food yet, just get him eating then worry about variety. Some nice stinky cat food might wake up his taste buds.

[B&KWilliamson]

Update, some of his scales near his eyes shed and he has his eyes open a lot more. He’s been coming out to look for food as well! We got him some cat food to mix with greens, and he seems to like it so far. We also booked a vet appointment to check for parasites and make sure he’s in general good health. Thanks for the advice!

[splashy07]

Good to hear, and best of luck with your new friend!