BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

So I have a adolescent skink and I bought him back in December. He was very timid and scared at first and I had just thought it was because of the new environment. But it has been a while past that and he will not let me hold him or pet him. I suspect he was abused but I don’t really know. I really would like to know if you guys have any tips on how to help him be affection? Or at least okay with me petting him?

Hey there, sorry if this reply is a bit late.

When I got my skink, he was originally pretty skittish and very defensive. This is pretty normal (from my experience at least) that young skinks and skinks that were either wild caught or have little to no human interaction tend to be much more skittish. Abuse isn't necessarily out of the question but definitely keep in mind that they are small and we appear very large and scary to them.

Best ways I've been able to get mine to settle down was hand feeding his favorite foods (mealworms and strawberries) and also handling him for about 10 minute everyday. He was very skittish to being held so I instead would pick him up and make a small area on the floor that he could roam around (I used stuff like books to block off a square area) until he was comfortable with my presence. He still doesn't like being picked up initially but calms down in about 2-3 minutes after taking him out of his enclosure. Best of luck with yours!