BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Is he brumating?

I think my two-year-old northern might be brumating, but I'm not sure.

So a month ago I moved to a new apartment with my skink. Prior to moving, he was very active; pretty much out and about 5 days a week. Since the move, he has been buried nearly the whole time. At first, I thought it could be because of the stress, but now I am thinking that It could be brumation.

So for the two years that I have had him, he has not gone into brumation. We live in the northeast US so we do experience cold winters, but his temperatures inside the enclosure have always remained constant. Currently, it is about 55 degrees outside, but his tank is 100 on the basking spot, 85 on the warm side, 75 on the cool side, and 65 degrees at night. The temperatures inside the tank have not changed with the colder weather outside, and this makes me question whether it is brumation or not. Also, it literally just started getting cold this past week. He’s been buried since the beginning of September when it was warm outside.

In this past month, the only time he came out voluntarily was to shed and to poop. I have been digging him out about once a week to make sure he's ok and to feed him. When I dig him up he eats fine and seems alert and healthy. He basks for about 10 minutes. He really isn't showing any signs of stress as far as I'm aware. When I take him out, though, he stays out for a maximum of one hour before going back and burying himself. Also, he stays buried near his basking spot on the warm side.

Does this seem like brumation? If so, I will follow the proper brumation procedures such as decreasing temperatures, but I am hesitant to do that until I'm more certain that it is indeed brumation.

I’m on the exact same boat! My baby was born in May so he’s about 6 months old. I’m a beginner but I’ve noticed in the past couple days he’s been buried. He didn’t eat for several days. He did come out to drink and he poked his head out ONCE but that’s it. I’ve done some research and it does look like brumation. I was pretty baffled cause how would he know the temperature outside??? I guess they just have that instinct. It has been really cold lately. Only thing I’ve done differently is decrease food and turn off his light earlier on in the day. He also shed a ton so I was wondering if he’s burying due to shedding or not. Super confusing.

So in your case, a lot of people don't recommend baby skinks to brumate. I would check some online resources to make sure.

If your skink chooses to brumate, let him. They have 'internal clocks' that alert them of season change. If you are not breeding, there is no need to cool down or change anything. Provide water, food obviously unnecessary if not eating. He will come out on his own, at which time you can resume normal schedules. Males are more apt to brumate in their first season, but I've witnessed in occasional females also.