5 month old brumating

[auristi]

I had another post about this where I discovered that. Kahless my northern was going into brumation, and I have been reading other threads about it and there is talk of not brumating in their first year. Is there a way ican stop it or is it best to just let it play out?

I'm just a little worried because he is my first bts and I'm not sure what to do with brumation.

[ashnic05]

I believe there is a thread on the advanced forum that talks a bit about bts' under 12 months brumating and how to stop it. I would search that forum and see what comes up. Good luck!

Try this one:

http://www.bluetongueskinks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=21719

I'm sure there are other posts about this topic, just search for them!

[DaniJoy]

I had the same question, but I thought I had read that it was recommended to not brumate them their first year. So far my BTS, Galois, has not acted like he was going to. I was worried he would try, but I figured he was too young (born in July).

[auristi]

Kahless was born in June. And he started to do it naturally be sued where I live is now getting the winter temps and its a basement suite. I feel he is young but I don't know if I should stop him once hes started or really how to monitor him while he does

As for searching other threads, I've done a bit of searching but it's on my phone and its crappy Internet so I took the lazy way in hope someone would take pity on me lol. Once I get my computer fixed ill be searching more extensively.

[Fatal_S]

I do not advise you to force a skink to stay awake if it wants to brumate. Unless the skink is sick, skinny, or losing weight just leave it alone. You can continue to offer heat/light/food/water as normal, but don't force the skink to be active or to eat if it doesn't want to. Messing with the skink when it's not needed can result in very nasty consequences. A skink who's body is in sleep mode, but who's forced to be active will not be healthy.

[auristi]

Ok! I wasn't going to force I was just going to up the heat and see if it made a difference. How do I get him to eat? Just leave food out each day incase he comes out?

[Fatal_S]

I personally only offer food if I see them out and about, or once every week or two. If they're really tuned into the outside world, they may wake up on warmer days and sleep through the colder ones. You can try leaving some food out whenever and see if he wakes up to take it. You can definitely keep the heat up and wake him up occasionally to check on him. Just don't worry if you don't see him all the time and don't dig him out constantly to make him wake up In my limited experience, a hiding skink is a healthy skink, so don't worry too much.

[Coomassie]

The first year I brought Coomassie home, he burmated. I don't know the exact age but he was a baby. I didn't change anything about his enclosure (still don't) but there is no stopping it. Like Fatal said, offer food if they are out but there isn't a point in trying to stop it. You don't want to force it on them but don't bother them if they do it anyway.