Skinny Blue tounge questions

[jakeS]

So my friend had a little blue tongue..think its a Indonesian bts he pretty much didn't pay attention to it at all and just gave it to me so I picked it up from him yesterday noticed it was pretty *darn skinny and very skittish and stressed out it seems. I bought a cheap hide to put in his cage some high grade cat food and a little bit of a hotter light to get his basking spot temps up..i think there around 90-95 right now. Its been two days and he still hasn't ate so i'm starting to get kind of worried..I wasn't even going to bother with handeling it until he starts eating and I get his viv set up correctly. I have 0 experience with blue tounges but had a beardie for 4-5 years till I moved out of state and had to re-home it. But any way heres a pic of it was going to see how skinny you guys think it really is..if I should be worried hes not eating or just keep up on his temps / let him get use to his new home for a few days before stressing on it not eating..also if you can make sure it is a Indonesian BTS that would be cool.

[Weather]

Wow he's very skinny.
What are you feeding him? Some smelly, good quality dog food might entice him to eat. Other people have luck with applesauce, banana and egg.
Looks indo to me, though very very orange, which is pretty.

[Alioop]

Thats a gorgeous Indo from the Halmahera region. I love these guys, so I'm just a tad jealous of you right about now!

He is thin, but also looks to be pretty small? Can you estimate his length?

Keep in mind that you just uprooted his entire life, which wasn't very much of a life to begin with it sounds like... he's scared and stressed. Your basking temp is good, but IMO in that situation I think I'd ideally like to give him an even hotter spot (100-105). Make sure his bedding is nice and deep for now so that he can burrow and feel secure (you may not see him for awhile but I think its better that he feel safe right now). Provide some different hides in different parts of the cage so he can hide at different temps. You're right on with the smelly catfood, though I'd at least add some calcium/D3 and a multivitamin powder to that. Avoid fruit right now, its basically skink 'candy' and he needs protein at this point. Put the catfood in and just leave it, for days if you have to (yes, its going to stink; no, it won't hurt him). The stinkier it gets, the more tempting it'll be for him. This animal is either wild caught or born in captivity to a wild caught mother. There is a very good chance that he has worms (which can contribute to the skinniness) so getting a fecal sample to a vet is imperative. This is a tropical species so make sure that its nice and humid in his tank as well. Cypress mulch is a great substrate for keeping up the humidity. Please keep us updated on his progress!

[Katrina]

Welcome to the site! What Ali said.

The only thing I'd emphasize is likely WC or else if he is as young as he looks, possilby captive born to a WC mother... so once you do get him eating, be sure to get a fresh fecal sample to a vet to check for parasites. That could be contributing to the skinniness (just like Ali said). What was your friend feeding? He might be very accustomed to that, so you might want to start with the same type of foods for now just to get him eating and then slowly mix in more and more healthier options like canned cat or dog food.

Good luck and keep us updated!!

[jakeS]

Ya its only around 7 maaybe 8 inches long right now. My friend had him for around 2 months I think with just a heating pad under the tank and dumped crickets into its cage twice a week. The place he got it from was actually a fairly respectable reptile shop so I don't know if it is WC or not but I think my friend just got it expecting a super mellow lizard then lost interest in it after the first week or two of it huffing and opening its mouth at him. It's only the second day ive had him or her but ive been offering it cat food / a few snails..ill probably dust / gutload a few large crickets and throw them into the tank along with the cat food just to try and get it to eat something.

[Alioop]

Jake the Halmahera locale Indos are not bred in captivity, so he is WC either directly or via his mother.

[Jeff]

Personally, I don't think he is all that skinny for a juvenile indo. Obviously a diet of only crickets is horrible, but if it was only for 2 months or less, he should be fine as long as you feed him properly from now on. You need to supplement his food with calcium & D3 too, because he should be growing fast and has not been receiving proper nutrition so far.

That's a great looking skink! I'm glad he has found someone to actually take care of him now.

[jakeS]

So kind of a quick update, 2days ago the skink ate a small amount of cat food ..I put some fresh stuff in every morning with a little calc / d3 dusted on it along with a few snails but he doesn't seem to be really eating, for that matter he doesn't move from his hide. Should I move his hide to mist him / around him down a bit and try holding the food in front of its face or just leave him alone and keep offering food / misting the rest of his cage and not bother with his hide?

[Nae]

You've only had him for a week, yes? If so, I would still give him some time to settle in =) Hes still going to be quite frightened, although the fact that he has eaten, if only a little, is a good thing.

I personally would just leave him alone, and perhaps withhold on the food for a day or two to allow him to get hungry. You could then place some of the cat food in, then do what Ali suggested and just leave it. That way when hes hungry and feeling comfortable enough to come out, the smell should draw him out for a feed~

I wont say anything about misting though as I dont have any experience whatsoever with Indonesian species

[Katrina]

I would just leave alone - offer food, he will smell it and get up if he wants it. Don't disturb him.

I don't see a need to mist daily... if after a couple sheds he is having issues shedding then look into a humid hide or change the substrate, but I wouldn't bother misting...

Don't worry, he will be fine.

[jakeS]

wel I live in a pretty dry climate and A couple of people ive talked to told me to keep the humidity up so ive just been lightly misting his cage in the morning before I leave for work and early evening when I get home...the good news is that he ate a bit of food today and left his mark on the hot side of his cage so it must of been cruising around some when I was at work.

[jakeS]

So my skinks been eating a healthy amount pretty regularly the last 4-5 days and has been coming out of his hide a lot more often, thought id throw up a couple of quick pictures of it eating. I haven't bothered trying to handle him yet but was thinking in the next couple of days I will since he seems to be settled in now. He actually sees me put my hand in his cage with food and will charge towards my hand till its 3-4inches from me then will sit there making a huffing sound heh.

[Katrina]

Looking cute! Good luck taming him.