Help! My BTS won't eat

[BlueyYogi]

I've had my BTS since Apr. 15, two weeks ago! from a reptile expo. They gave me minimal detail what they've fed him, so that was stupid of me to trust them. Anyway, I've tried everything! I made a 50/50 nightcrawler/collard green mix with a raspberry on top, no interest. I tried a dandelion green/green bean/dog food mix. Nothing. I tried tonight a mix of dandelion greens, green beans, collard green, basil and ground turkey. Still absolutely no interest. and seemingly inactive. I'm starting to panic. I always blend all the ingredients into one big, chopped up concoction.

4Lx2Wx1H cage, 75 watt basking lamp.

103F basking spot 80F cool end.

Humidity was told just to add water bowl. Which I got one he's large enough to soak in.

Aspen, shaved is substrate and about four inches deep.

They said he was a year and a half old.

[Kbell31]

If your skink does not appear to have dropped a lot of weight and there are no other odd symptoms, I would say it just needs more time to settle into his new home. It may take a few weeks before your skink feels comfortable enough to eat.
Do you have enough hiding spots for him?
Your temps sound fine and the water bowl is sufficient for humidity.
Are you handling him or just leaving him be until he feels safe?
I would say to read the care sheet on here and continue to monitor him. Skinks can go a very long time without food before it becomes an issue. Is he drinking water to your knowledge?
I would also suggest getting your skink tested for parasites at some time. A heavy parasite load can cause inactiveness and appetite loss but like I said before I do not think you have a reason to get too worried yet. They also may behave this way before they shed.
Post some pictures! We love to see new skinks!
Hope that helps a bit.

[Richard.C]

x2

could still be settling in,would love to see a pic if thats possable

with your food,try a few different things like u have been doing,im sure he will come around,also if u can get a snail or 2 see if that registers any interest,they love snails,rare they reject them,but if not secure ect they may even give them a miss

is he active at all,does he wander about his enclosure or appear to hide all the time,if hiding hes probably insecure so may need to settle in,could be any number of things,but try not to stress just yet,still early days

[BlueyYogi]

If your skink does not appear to have dropped a lot of weight and there are no other odd symptoms, I would say it just needs more time to settle into his new home. It may take a few weeks before your skink feels comfortable enough to eat.
Do you have enough hiding spots for him?
Your temps sound fine and the water bowl is sufficient for humidity.
Are you handling him or just leaving him be until he feels safe?
I would say to read the care sheet on here and continue to monitor him. Skinks can go a very long time without food before it becomes an issue. Is he drinking water to your knowledge?
I would also suggest getting your skink tested for parasites at some time. A heavy parasite load can cause inactiveness and appetite loss but like I said before I do not think you have a reason to get too worried yet. They also may behave this way before they shed.
Post some pictures! We love to see new skinks!
Hope that helps a bit.

I'd assume he is going around the water dish at night (Or while I'm at work.) as I'll frequently find substrate within the bowl. I have one hiding spot in the cool end, but he prefers just hiding in the substrate next to the hide. I have left him alone since I put him in his new enclosure. I also fear he might have parasites. I've had -horrible- experiences with crickets, and the people I bought him from did say they fed him crickets.

[Richard.C]

ive fed crickets to mine,never had issues,with hides ect,does it have options to bury or hide up both ends,or even in the middle?if not it may just stay down the cool end to hide

id say your animal explores when no ones around,hence u seeing substrate in the water bowl,classic sign of a bluey settling in,its quite normal

have u tried leaving a little bit of just dog food in there when you arent around,that way you can check if anys missing when u return home

[Alioop]

Welcome to the forum! We've got a lot of knowledgeable, experienced members here who are very helpful at answering questions. However, I'd like to remind you one of our big forum rules (hopefully you read all of those FIRST, when you joined?): Before posting a question, we ask that you read through the caresheet, then the FAQ section, then do a quick search of old thread topics. After doing your research, if you still have questions, we are more than happy to answer them! In this case however, your concerns have been covered very thoroughly in the FAQ section. In addition, there is a current thread on the very first page of the Gen. Discussion Forum covering your exact question. Please take a moment to browse the recommended readings FIRST, so that we don't keep getting repeats of the same question! Thanks!

PS- Another forum rule is: Post lots of PHOTOS!

[Richard.C]

preferably of bluetongues these photos to

[BlueyYogi]

Welcome to the forum! We've got a lot of knowledgeable, experienced members here who are very helpful at answering questions. However, I'd like to remind you one of our big forum rules (hopefully you read all of those FIRST, when you joined?): Before posting a question, we ask that you read through the caresheet, then the FAQ section, then do a quick search of old thread topics. After doing your research, if you still have questions, we are more than happy to answer them! In this case however, your concerns have been covered very thoroughly in the FAQ section. In addition, there is a current thread on the very first page of the Gen. Discussion Forum covering your exact question. Please take a moment to browse the recommended readings FIRST, so that we don't keep getting repeats of the same question! Thanks!

PS- Another forum rule is: Post lots of PHOTOS!

Oh, sorry. I forgot to check the old posts, and the FAQs. I have read the caresheet multiple times, though

ive fed crickets to mine,never had issues,with hides ect,does it have options to bury or hide up both ends,or even in the middle?if not it may just stay down the cool end to hide

id say your animal explores when no ones around,hence u seeing substrate in the water bowl,classic sign of a bluey settling in,its quite normal

have u tried leaving a little bit of just dog food in there when you arent around,that way you can check if anys missing when u return home

I've fed my scorpions nothing but roaches since I got them. The exact night I fed one crickets, because I didn't want to drive thirty minutes to the nearest source of roaches, my scorpions both were dead in the morning. A little later, same thing with my three whip spiders, all roaches until I didn't want to drive an hour, came home, fed them, a week later, I left to go on vacation (Which was a week long.), came home to see one of them being consumed by some wormy-parasite things which I'd assume were transmitted by the crickets.

l add a couple more hides

As for dogfood, I have left my concoction that had dogfood in while I was at work, it seemed untouched.

x2

could still be settling in,would love to see a pic if thats possable

with your food,try a few different things like u have been doing,im sure he will come around,also if u can get a snail or 2 see if that registers any interest,they love snails,rare they reject them,but if not secure ect they may even give them a miss

is he active at all,does he wander about his enclosure or appear to hide all the time,if hiding hes probably insecure so may need to settle in,could be any number of things,but try not to stress just yet,still early days

I can't find any land snails, here. Could I go to the petstore and buy some of the freshwater snails?

[Kbell31]

I am not sure about live snails in the states, the aquatic ones you can buy in pet stores are different obviously and I have heard of people finding land snails and letting them detox in a bucket for a few days to make sure they are not diseased or have any pesticide poisoning but I am not sure of the exact process. There ARE many threads if you do a search on snails. I have bought the (zoo med brand is it?) can o snails before and my bluey was very eager to devour them even though they are already shelled. Remember to store them in the fridge if you buy some.

[Susann]

This may not need to be said now that you are reading other sources, BUT,
if your BTS is a year and a half, he only needs to eat once a week. He might take a good month or so before he is settled and starts eating well, and you have no need to worry. Just offer him nutritious meals once a week until he's eating, and keep the treats to a minimum to start with.

Some BTS need a little "nudge" to start eating by having the food touch their nose. With a previous IJ I would pick him up and place his face IN the food for him to eat; with one of my more skittish Meraukes I place the food right in front of her and slide it towards her until her tongue flicks the food. Makes a huge difference. All my others will find it on their own and snarf it down without any help!

[supersnakeman101]

PS- Another forum rule is: Post lots of PHOTOS!

thats a in the rules section because if it is not then i should be hahahah
but i agree with all the other advice just let your bluey calm down and adjust to his/her new environment then he will eat like a pig

[BlueyYogi]

http://s88.photobucket.com/albums/k175/ ... oghand.jpg The day I brought him home

So he ate yesterday, just a couple mouthfuls, then instantly ran behind his hide and began rubbing at it, I noticed he was shedding. I moved his water dish this morning, thinking his shed was over, but I scared him out of the substrate and he has some skin left over, how long should I give him until I help him shed? My coworker (He had them a few years back.) said to give a week, but I have doubt in that.(Can't find any tip on that in the caresheet.)

[Richard.C]

nice looking skink,depending on what they eat ,they often go wiping there face straight after feeding,maybe the fact hes in shed had something to do with no interest in food,with the left over shed,give him a few days to try getting it off,u could wait a week,but usually if they havnt done it over a couple of days its a good time to help them,longer it stays on,trickier it can be to remove

thanks for posting the pic,looks reasonably sized

[BlueyYogi]

I've checked the caresheet, and all it says is to use fingernails to scrape off any left over skin. I've been successful for the most part, but there's a couple toes that have leftover skin. And not being held for three weeks (Or most likely, more.) He is incredibly squirmy when I try to hold him. Is there any other way I can remove the skin? It's next to impossible to get to individual toes with my fingernail. And I'm scared to use excessive force, as I've been told their legs are extremely fragile.

[Richard.C]

if u can use a damp cloth,and gently rub,the moisture helps soften the skin to help it come off easily

[BlueyYogi]

I've also noticed, when my skink just casually walks about, he drags his hind legs, only using them if he's climbing to.. Say get in his water bowl. Or uses them normally when crawling about on my hands/arms. They aren't puffy, or have any visible injury, is this normal?

[Street]

I've also noticed, when my skink just casually walks about, he drags his hind legs, only using them if he's climbing to.. Say get in his water bowl. Or uses them normally when crawling about on my hands/arms. They aren't puffy, or have any visible injury, is this normal?

Mine always does that, has done since I've had him.. I just assumed he was lazy (which he is).

[donkeybuff]

I've also noticed, when my skink just casually walks about, he drags his hind legs, only using them if he's climbing to.. Say get in his water bowl. Or uses them normally when crawling about on my hands/arms. They aren't puffy, or have any visible injury, is this normal?

Mine does that when he's just walking around, but he can use them when he needs them. I wouldn't worry unless he never uses them.