BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hi Everyone!

We have a lovely little Blue Tongue, named Bingo!
Santa bought him/ her for our 6.5yr old after she caught and cared for a garden skink before we let it go. She’s fascinated by skinks and lizards and it was all she asked for on her Santa list this year.

Bingo was carefully hidden and cared for by myself , for 2 weeks before Santa delivered him/her. During this time Bingo was lovely, easy to hold and pet, very active in enclosure, super friendly, ect.

We moved Bingos enclosure (Santa) and since then Bingo hasn’t quite been themselves. Quite hissy, seems agitated. We stopped handling Bingo after a bit of research to allow them to get used to their new spot in the home. I’ve encouraged our daughter (and her 2 younger sisters) to chat to Bingo in his enclosure so he gets used to everyone.

We haven’t take Bingo out since for the last 10 days as he went from being hissy, to drinking lots and then just hiding in his rock all day and not eating. Thought he may be shedding.. and as of today, he has started.

Guess my question is, once Bingo has shed, are they likely to go back to being much like they were when I was caring for him when we first got him?

Bingo seemed to go from super chilled to super *ticked off after we moved his enclosure and not sure if they just hate it or bad timing with shedding.

Bingo was born in October we were told by the reptile place we bought him from.

Just looking for reassurance as our daughter REALLY wants to pet him and hold him but he just doesn’t seem to have been in the mood for it.. and no sure if it’s a shed thing or if he’s super unhappy?!

Any advice or tips would be amazing!

Bingo ate lots for a few days and then has

Hard to say if it's just the shed that's causing the behavior change or not, but they do tend to be less active and crankier than normal while shedding. Best to leave him be, and keep the humidity high to aid him. Even if not, often with a little patience, they can come around. Many tend to be huffy and skittish in the enclosure, but once removed and handled, settle down a bit

Hi there,

It is hard to say what exactly caused the attitude change but my guess is the move of enclosure and shedding. They tend to go off food and get cranky while shedding. What kind of skink is this?
A couple of things I would suggest is to just talk gently to it while feeding or cleaning/what not. Try to offer treats (fruit) from time to time. You can also read to it as well so it gets used to your voice. Finally, after it is done shedding start handing it very slow. Start with brief handling sessions (no longer than 5 minutes), and don't return the skink until it is calm. This teaches your pet how to behave during handling by using rudimentary positive reinforcement. I also would always give my skink a treat after handing as well to reinforce that I equal a good thing. With little ones (your kids) remember to remind them to not tap the glass or be loud around it. This will scare the skink. I hope this helps!