Acclimation and Handling

[Kahlypso]

So ive had my bts, Loki, for a few days now. Hes been eating once a day and hasnt missed a chance to grab atleast a bite when the opportunity presents itself. But he is still very fearful and huffs alot when i approach him. Ik its still very early, but is there anything i can do to help him be more comfortable and less fearful? Its depressing to see him so scared when hes far from harm. If only i spoke skink! Haha

[Linnea]

let him get accustomed to his new home for at least a week if hes very huffy and scared.

this serves two purposes:
- one, is to let him take a look at his new home, make sure its safe and has everything he needs.
- two, is to let you calm down a little so you wont scare the skink. having a skink is probably among the greatest adrenaline happiness kicks there are.

of course some skinks are more approachable than others, and its not a set rule. just make sure to pick a solution that is best for you and your skink.

my advice to you would be that you should continue to feed your skink and hang out in the room when you get the chance. do all regular stuff like changing water and spot clean too.
after a week try to start handling, if you wish, and then work out a schedule which works. skinks are very individual, but usually the owner will learn when its too much or not.

some good pointers:
- huffing is a sign for skinks to say "here i am, i exist, be careful". so it is not a sign of complete distress, fear or anger. some skinks huff all the time and some are more quiet, preferring to save it for when it counts.
- a skink fully displaying its tongue is a skink that means harm. this is usually seen in babies, or wild caught skinks, or just oddball skinks i do not recommend further handling if this happens.
- a skink flicking its tongue is a happy or interested skink.
- a simple way to approach hand taming is to offer your skink treats every now and then. then they will associate you with something positive. a warning though, you dont wish your fingers to be associated with food if your skink is super energetic. and you should not feed treats every time, they will remember that the possibility of a treat exists .
- a skink that is about to shed is a cranky skink better left alone.
- if is up to you wether you wish to handle your skink when its less active, or when its out and running on its own (or at any time). there have been success with both ways.
- giving your skink something small to hide in, like a small pouch of materials their nails cant get stuck in, is a great way for your skink to get accustomed to being out of the tank, in moderation. remember they cannot produce their own body heat, and socks wont keep them warm if its a cold room.

if i forgot anything.......then someone else can fix it xD

[Rhianimal]

You'll need to let your skink settle in a bit longer. Linnea made a great post! A week is a good minimum, and then you can see how your skink is dealing.

Here are some other things that helped me a little:
- take care of business like normal. take time each day to have your hands in the cage doing things that don't directly affect your skink, such as changing water or rearranging a decoration. It helps them get used to you being in their area.
- Offer treats outside of the cage sometimes. I would feed part of the skink's meal outside of the cage, and then offer the rest after he went back. After a few times he would just munch it down outside of the cage every time, which seemed like he was more comfortable.
- Wear something skink-friendly. There are a lot of hoodies with kangaroo pouches, which are great for skinks to crawl into and hide out in. My skink likes hiding in fabric things and poking his head or snout out to smell everything. He's very calm when he does this and I never force him in, he just explores and then decides it's a nice spot. Then your skink can associate you with warmth and security.

Even though my skink is pretty good about handling, he still huffs with some frequency when he is in the cage. If I'm handling him or just doing things in the cage and he decides to be huffy, I just talk back at him. Who knows if it helps. He usually gets quieter and just watches.

[Kahlypso]

thnx guys! great advice. mostly because it intuitively makes sense. lol. idk how ID feel if a day after i was shipped across the country i was thrown into a new home and some strange creature was trying to hold me.

[Milly G]

How long does it usually take to tame a young baby? We have had our eastern Pluto for about a month now.
He is awesome outside the tank and eats from us and sleeps etc but is quite flighty in the cage and hides from us... Any way to get him use to us looking at him and changing water etc?
He is only coming on six weeks old..

[Linnea]

Milly, it is easier to make your own topic, im sure the mods will help you move it if needed though.

the advice i stated above is the same, more or less.

young skinks tend to be more easily frightened, so give it some time and continue standard stuff changing water and such is a necessity so your skink will get used to it. as your skink grows older it should calm down (get less scared by regular stuff).

a one month old skink that just hides when stuff suddenly happens is good, id say. id not be surprised if you had instead said that he displayed his tongue, didnt come out, peed on you, didnt eat when you were in the room, or stuff like that.

so dont worry