Handling issues...

[Shortie]

Hi. I just adopted a blue tongue skink from someone who was petrified of handling him. I can see why. He's only 10 months old and she has had him for a few months then gave him to me. He is obviously not hand tame at all. He hisses and tries to attack you. I've tried letting him walk onto my hands when he is standing and looking out the glass but after a while he'll huff and walk away. Does anyone have any tips to help me out? This guy has spent most all of his life in a viv and I want to let him roam about in my room. I feel bad seeing him cooped up in a vivarium all day. I'd like to handle him more often as well but I know for a fact that these guys don't do cuddles much. But any helpful tips would be wonderful!

[Spindown]

first of all, what kind is he? do you know? if not pictures. if so...pictures >D

when my baby IJ was really young, he was really aggressive, biting everything
What i did is let him run around on my skink proofed desk, (WITH STRICT SUPERVISION...SOME OF THEM WILL JUMP OFF!!!) and he would explore, occasionally come up to my hand and bite it, and then wander around some more. when he came to be familiar with my hand after about a week, he stopped nomming me and became fine outside of the cage.

I also fed him outside of the cage, to acclimate him to out of tank time.
Hes very aggressive in the tank still, but once you get him out, hes fine!

[Linnea]

did you leave him alone for a week while letting him settle in to his new home?

if not, i suggest you do as to let him feel more secure. only disturb to feed, change water and spot clean.

what size is the encosure and does he have good hides? good temps? covered 2-3 sides?


these questions/answers are an add on to whats already been written in the post above me.

[Shortie]

Well I done some research, I think he's a tanimbar? Please correct me if I'm wrong. He's my first one, I used to have a bearded dragon until last week when he passed away

Does it hurt when they nom your hand? My beardie took a chunk out my thumb by accident and it hurt something awful! I'll let Slinky [what my boyfriend calls him] settle down for a week or two. But how would you get him out the tank if he was showing aggressive behavior? I've tamed aggressive horses and Ozzy was never an aggressive boy but blue tongues are definitely something else especially since Slinky's barely been handled before.

He's got a 3ft long viv I think it's 1ft in width and 2ft high? The one that came with him was smaller. There's a big flat log in his basking side, a 'hidey' rock on the cool side, he needs a pool and there's fake leafy hanging plants he's got to hide behind. Temps are normal for the night time, it's nearly 11pm over here and he'll be getting a new heat lamp tomorrow morning as the one I had broke. And it's a wooden viv with 3 covered sides and sliding glass doors.

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

http://bluetongueskinks.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19076

[Fatal_S]

Looks like a tanny. You've got your work cut out for you, but be patient and never give up They do come around. After she's (random gender guess) settled hopefully she'll start getting curious about you.

[Shortie]

I had a feeling he'd be a Tanimbar! Luckily I have a lot of patience lol! But I'll let Slinky settle down for a week first before I touch him. No wonder his previous owner was terrified of him! He wouldn't stop hissing for 10 minutes once he got out his box and into the viv!

[Spindown]

goooorgeous!! good luck!

[Nae]

To be honest, when it comes to picking up aggressive/ wild bluetongues - I just pick them up! Aim to pick up the front end first, once you have a hold of that he cant spin to bite either that hand, or the hand going to pick up the rear. Also try to come in from the side rather then straight down, and ensure he knows your hand is there - otherwise it would be almost like an attack from a predator.

If you are still nervous, put a glove on one hand. Use this hand to pick up his front half, pick up the back with the ungloved hand, then shift his front onto the ungloved hand, putting the rest of his body onto the arm of the ungloved hand. Then take the glove off and hold the front end again. I personally believe that handling without gloves is beneficial, as otherwise when will they ever learn that that hand is safe?

Letting him settle in for a week is good~ Good luck

(And yes, they have massively powerful jaws - nomming does hurt!)

[JR]

What a cute little Tanny!!! I'm so happy for you!

I got my own Tanny when he was about 11 months old - still kinda shy and nervous, running to his hide when I came up. I started to put my hand in his terrarium. Sometimes, he accidentally walked over my hand... sometimes, he even licked it and walked away.

Then I started to tame him so I'd put a piece of banana on my wrist, palm open for him. He'd have to climb wholly ON my palm to get the treat.
3 weeks and bam. He was tame enough to be handled. This is my very best advice for you I can think of!

Plus, I don't think she's gonna bite you if you let her come on her own pace. She's still little and it won't hurt so much (just to calm you down, I don't want you to be bitten of course!!)

Patience. Lots of it. Good luck!

(Notice: My Tanny is the tamest skink I can ever imagine, but he's STILL cage-aggressive. That's his home, and he has every right to defend it. Some skinks are aggressive in the terrarium and calm outside of it.)

[Shortie]

Thanks everyone! He's popped his head out the substrate today to look about. Once he was completely out he went exploring his new viv and I stuck my hand in there. I was wearing a safety glove! He huffed a little and walked away from it so I picked up a blueberry and placed it near his face. He huffed again and ate the blueberry. I done this twice then I picked one up and he walked towards me and took it from my fingers. I think I'm making progress with him getting used to me

I have another question though. As I mentioned, I owned a bearded dragon before I got Slinky. The substrate I used was reptile carpet. When I first got the dragon, he came with wood chips as a substrate and I caught him eating them! I freaked! And changed the substrate to carpet. With Slinky however he has a mix of carefresh and aspen shavings. But I don't like the fact that the aspen is getting in his mouth from his tongue flicking about! Can it be digested or does it cause impaction?

I worry too much... Here's another picture!

[Spindown]

Too cute! I love when they bury and just stick out their heads
aspen is usually not a big issue for impaction, but i have found that certain types tend to get stuck in eyelids.

[Shortie]

He's started to take blueberries from my hand But he's still really scared of me. He has started to come out more instead of burrowing all the time and he's came up to the glass to see my face.

A certain type? I don't like the sound of that And there's aspen shaving all over my carpet from me going in and changing his pool water and his feeding dish! ARGH!!!! It's almost like having a pet hamster all over again hahaha!

[Katrina]

Don't worry - your substrate will be fine, and a tiny bit ingested is nothing to worry about. Many blueys live on aspen or carefresh your years and are just fine.

So glad to hear he is taking blueberries from your hand. I find with taming that once they start to get curious and see you as possibly ok, as long as you don't stress them out and keep the interactions brief and positive it will go a long way to earning their trust. I haven't tamed Tannies though, but many others on here have. Good luck!

[Shortie]

He'll go bury himself once he's done with the blueberries but he hates it when my fingers move. Well he doesn't like hands in general. He'll come up to the glass all curious about my face but once I lift my hand or even a finger up to the glass he huffs and backs up. Also I left my hand in the viv and he was fine with it being still and walked past it and my finger twitched and touched his foot and he nearly hit the roof! Poor boy I felt terrible for doing that to him but he quickly recovered and went back to exploring again!

[JR]

It's funny how my Tanny huffs really angrily sometimes at me when I'm GIVING him a treat! Then he just eats it happily... weird and funny!

"BLAH, this treat again! .... Well I'll take it anyway"


Sounds like he's getting used to hands. Maybe he's had some bad experiences about human hands... I dunno.

[Shortie]

Awwww I think their behavior can be a bit funny sometimes so it's confusing when you're trying to figure out weather they like something or not!

Good news, I've had Slinky for a week now and handled him already. First time he jumped on my arm and not only did I crap myself, but he scared himself that much he nearly shed all his skin on the one go! But he really is a sweetheart. He's headshy but I'm letting him sniff my hand and lick it before I touch his head seeing a he's more comfortable that way but he still hisses a lot but at least he's not snapping at me I'm glad to say I am a proud owner of a Tanimbar blue tongued skink called Slinky

[JR]

One more thing I noticed with my Tanny today...

He had eaten a motherload of food yesterday, and today he seems VERY alert/shy... Maybe it's because his belly is full of food and he wants to be alone. Can't help but notice that he's very... hmmm... skittish.

And he's normal again, climbing on my hand, when he becomes hungry again Seems like handling is a no-go (at least on my case) after feeding.

[Shortie]

I've not noticed that with mine yet. Seeing as he hasn't eaten much since last week due to shedding, which I'm still finding scales on my carpet, in my bad and even in my shoes!! But he has eaten an egg that I mixed calcium powder and multivitamins into since his pervious owners never done that for him but he seemed to enjoy it which I'm quite happy about Just need to get him to eat his veg. He likes fruit more and picks out the blueberries and leaves the greens *Sigh* Mine doesn't climb on my hand, he jumps onto my arm!!!! He likes to bite my sleeves too. I think it's just aggression and self defense since I'm in 'his house'. But he's not so bad after I take him out I won't handle him after he's eaten just to let the food settle. I didn't handle my beardie after he ate either. Just don't want him to get an upset tummy!