New skink owners please read

[Dorosz0869]

Haha everything in this forum is fake. I listened to everything people told me to get my slink used to me. Nothing happened and things got worse. Then I went on YouTube and looked at what people did. All I had to do was picked it up and handle it. Then. I brought her outside and now she loves me and wants
Me to hold her because she calms down when I pick her up. If anyone has the same question of how to get your skink used to you just pick them up. I didn't believe this method would work until I met a guy who owns a two foot northern male. So all of you have fun waiting 5 years to developed a friendship beetween you and your skink. People just tell me to wait so I will stay on the forum and they tell me to keep them updated until they stop listening after only 5 times. Lol I'm never ganna use this forum or any forum again bye.

Added by Brad/Reptileking:
I just thought before other members got the impression we had given him/her bad advice, to please read the two threads this user created. I quickly skimmed over them, but from what I gathered it was advised to let it settle for a little while after the new move and then just go slow and let the skink get used to the new owner. It was mentioned and recommended to start handling the skink, talking to it, maintain same level of activity while in the same room as skink, etc. Im not sure where this member got the idea that we lead them the wrong way. They have only had the skink a month now and posted for advice 2 days after getting the skink and then 1 week after that.
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=20771&p=401446#p401446
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=20815&p=401917#p401917

[Katrina]

Bye, Dorosz. Glad to hear your skink loves you.

[Bird_Brain]

HAHA. Im glad you are BFF with your skink.

[Linnea]

xD as long as it works out for the skink and you, the mission is well done and everything is as it should.

[LarissaLurid]

The same methods don't work for everyone and not sure what was even said that was wrong, but that's just hilarious. "MY SKINK LOVES ME SO F&!@ ALL OF YOU GUYS" I have no idea why you even posted this lol. I just hope that you give your skink the proper care it needs when it comes to food, environment, etc.

P.s. I'm not sure what you mean by us all waiting years for our skinks to like us? Some are WC or just aren't used to people and take more time than others. But Ik my Merauke that I got around 4 weeks old has never been too scared when he was tiny and now at only 6 months old (and since a long time ago) he loves me and is not nervous in the least bit. SO...still not sure what you are talking about. And it's OBVIOUS that spending more time with your skink and picking them up and giving them attention is going to help them bond with you, I don't think anyone here would deny that even though you are making it seem like all of us just say "leave your skink alone forever and itll like you in 5 years" hahaha

And yes all the people who have owned many skinks for years and are breeders, I'm sure they have NO idea what they are talking about unlike you who is a brand new owner of a skink who needed to come ask for help then childishly tells everyone they are wrong for no reason. lol

Oddly enough it seems that you were thanking everyone for the information they gave you and said "Thank you,you have no clue how long I was looking for an answer to this until I came across this forum" so how this forum is "all fake" I still have no idea.

[Rachael t]

Haha! If everything on the forum is fake then we must all be nut cases caring for fake skinks! Oh dear.... How childish...

[Sarikazam]

I remember seeing those other posts before.
Sounds like someone didn't bother reading the helpful advice they got more thoroughly before going off on a little rant

[Krippschick]

I am assuming that you are talking about pming me. I looked them over and did not give any advice that anyone else would. Im sorry if I didnt get back to you, but I work as a nurse, i am the mother of 2 kids with autism and I cant always be on the forums. I am glad you bonded with your skink, and hope all goes well for you and your skinkers.

[El Lobo]

Hopefully all that knowledge learned on YouTube was cross-referenced against that other font of knowledge that is Yahoo answers. That would ensure the complete picture by those 12 or 13 year old "experts" who willingly share their extensive experience on such sites.

I successfully used the sitting near and reading to my blotchies method of calming. They particularly enjoyed excerpts from Marcel Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu in the original French and due to that can now sit with me and hold a philosophical discussion, rather than wanting to just climb up my sleeve to sit on my head. The additional benefit is of course they can discourse in French.

The blotchies asked me to pass on their regards: au revoir mon ami.

I brought her outside and now she loves me

That is delusional.

[Morgans]

French, that is quite amazing sir!!

Oh really now, well since I have yet to get a BTS I think I am going to go ahead and look up all those youtube vids and yahoo answers. Seems totally reliable! Compared to the wonderful breeders, and care takers that are on this forum it seems like a brilliant idea........
The least you can do is come up with a legitimate issue besides handling..... this was just down right petty!
But was this one of the amazing 12 to 13 year olds posting though?

[skeetersmom]

As a new BTS owner - I will say this....this forum is the most informative, helpful forum I have ever seen. Before I got Skeeter (which was not long - I got him from Craig's list in what I consider a rescue) I looked over the other places I found when I googled Blue Tongue Skinks. The people on UTube are a joke, I knew that right off, I had been around other reptiles for a long time.

I feel truley blessed that I came across this forum. And, other BTS caregivers I have met on other forums confirm what I have learned about these awsome creatures only strengthens that thought.

We all know that often, people only hear (read) what they want to. I assure all the other "newbies" here, if you ask a question and the answer dosen't make sense to you....let the folks here know; and the misunderstanding will be polietly cleared up.

[Fatal_S]

So wait. You left it alone for a while, and then handled it again and it was willing to accept you? Hmm. Sounds like exactly what was suggested. Way to be a rebel

[Richard.C]

Haha,u read my mind mel,

And to think they were going to bugger it off to get a friendlier one

Just when i thought id seen it all,Hahaha

I think alot of new keepers are intimidated by even huffy skinks,some they class as nutjobs are probably actually quite mellow,if u have confidence in handling them

To me it doesnt matter what there moods like,end of the day they ade a bluetongue

[Scotts1au]

Most wild blueys settle down within a minute or two of being handled, once they accept their fate - that the monster isn't going to eat them. But put it back in the bushes for a few minutes it will be wild again. Being handled and settling is normal. Some blueys however will never settle as well as the norm - it is just the natural range of temperaments. Simply extrapolating from experience with one bluey is not representative of what should, would, could be generalised advice and makes this person no better than your typical Google expert. There is something for new owners to read :-)

[Richard.C]

Well put scott,i think the issue with the taming is more new keepers being to intimidated to pick them up properly,new ones are usually stressed,and unconfidently chasin them around the cage trying to handle them ticks them off more,delaying settle down period and the earning of there trust,give them peace and give them time

[JMiller24]

This forum has been a God-Send for me. I'm glad things are working out for the OP and his skink, but he is way off concerning the advice given by the people who post here. Skinks should be sold with a giant link to these forums on the box they are taken home in.

[LarissaLurid]

So wait. You left it alone for a while, and then handled it again and it was willing to accept you? Hmm. Sounds like exactly what was suggested. Way to be a rebel

hahaha exactly

[Zach]

Bye, Dorosz. Glad to hear your skink loves you.

This made me laugh harder than Dorsz' post...

[Susann]

All I had to do was picked it up and handle it. Then. I brought her outside and now she loves me

Wait...
HE HADN'T EVEN PICKED IT UP AND TRIED HANDLING IT YET!???!
And he was ready to sell it to get a new one! He hadn't even tried picking it up! And OUR advice was wrong?
Poor skink is all I can say.
Well, at least he figured it out. Imagine how many skinks he would have gone through just because they huffed at him for poking at them in the cage!

The OP does say that he (?) is never going to come on this forum, or any other forum, again, so aiming any of this at him would be pointless. BUT, I would like to point some things out for those new skink owners, whom he is aiming this thread at, who hopefully do read this.
First of all, Brad did link the OP's other two threads into his comment after the OP's rant at the top of the page, so please do read through those. But I would like to point out and highlight a few things from those two original threads.

On May 26th he posts:

I got my bts in the mail 2 days ago and ever since I got her she keeps being defensive end hissing at me

So, as of today, he hasn't even owned his skink for one whole month! But at that point, he had had his skink for 2 days, so you can understand why everyone's advice is to LEAVE IT ALONE FOR A WHILE!

Only 8 days later, he writes:

im looking for a skink replacement because i got a full grown female in the male when i was expecting a baby

It's supposed to say MAIL, not MALE. I can't help but question where the heck he ordered his skink from if he was expecting a baby, but was sent a fully grown female!?

the real reason i hate her is because she bit me the last literal 8 times when i feed her and im sick of it im about to give her away for free

So, after owning a grown skink for a total of 10 days, he has fed it at least 8 times (so much for reading the Caresheet and leaving it alone) and is now ready to give it away. (He's been bit 8 times when feeding it; did he put dog food on his finger and put the finger under the nose of the skink?)

I would say that the OP has perfectly proved every responders point. After 4 weeks of not picking his skink up, he was then able to do so without any problems, and have the skink be perfectly calm while being held--as most GROWN skinks are!
I'm so glad the members of this forum were able to successfully help yet another new skink-owner. Too bad that owner was too young (and obviously didn't have parents involved enough to read the information with him) to understand the information in the Caresheet or the information given him as the answers to his very poorly worded pleas for help.

I just feel bad for the skink now that YouTube is the only source of information her owner will have of her proper care.

[LarissaLurid]

All I had to do was picked it up and handle it. Then. I brought her outside and now she loves me

Wait...
HE HADN'T EVEN PICKED IT UP AND TRIED HANDLING IT YET!???!
And he was ready to sell it to get a new one! He hadn't even tried picking it up! And OUR advice was wrong?
Poor skink is all I can say.
Well, at least he figured it out. Imagine how many skinks he would have gone through just because they huffed at him for poking at them in the cage!

OMG I didn't read through and see he was going to sell it. THE POOR LIZARD! They aren't toys, you don't just trade them in because you have a scared baby reptile! Agh I feel so bad for the baby....