Extremely picky skink

[linkj154]

Hello, I have a 14 month old northern blue tongue skink which I have owned for almost a year. She is a very picky eater. The only things she will eat are canned snails and dog food mixed with raw quail eggs. I have tried to give her all sorts of insects, meats, fruits veggies, repashy bluey buffet, and she will not take a single bite from any of it. If I puree vegetables and try to sneak it in with her dog food, she won't eat that either. Her temperatures and humidity are just right; 90 degrees on the hot side 80 degrees on the cool side, 55% humidity on the hot side, 65% on the cool side. I have her in a 6x2x2 enclosure with a hide on each side, plenty of decorations and enrichment, 2 big water dishes, and give her 10 minute baths once or twice a week to keep her hydrated and help with shedding. I took her to the vet for a check up 2 days ago and was told everything was fine. Does anybody have any suggestions on how to get an extremely picky skink to eat a more varied diet?

[Fatal_S]

The easy answer is stop feeding the "unhealthy" foods and only offer healthy stuff until the skink gets hungry enough to eat it. Once a week my skinks get a meal. Whether it's a salad or a hunk of meat or anything in between, that's all they're getting until next week. I don't have picky skinks.

Obviously this shouldn't be done with sickly skinks.

[linkj154]

How long can they go without food?

[mb606587]

Their bodies and metabolism have been adapted to go months without food at that age. During brumation, it's not uncommon to see them off food for 3-4 months. Missing a few meals won't hurt her.

[linkj154]

Thank you both for your replies, I will definitely follow your advice.

[Hazel]

Good luck with getting your skink to eat.
I’m so glad ours isn’t picky. We’ve only had her a day or two over a week. We’ve had SO many dogs and cats through our house it’s not even funny
This is our first reptile . I’m so glad that we decided to get her (I think that it’s a her or we do) she is a very curious one. She loves to look at me or the cat if he’s up where she can see him.

On the dog food note we are giving her the regular food with the grain. And we’re putting her greens in it. Then giving her an earthworm or Dubia roach every day sometimes both

[splashy07]

My picky ones are all males. My females will knock you over for food. I've had males go into brumation and directly into breeding mode after that, some don't eat for 5+ months. Mine are fed twice a week, more when coming off season. An adult skink is just fine on weekly feedings or smaller portions more often. If they are fed too much too often it causes them to only pick what they like.