Intelligence- are all skinks like this?

[saltcreep]

My skink's name is Laila, and she is the subject of family ridicule! We are wondering if she might have some cognitive issues. Some noteworthy behaviors and incidents:

-She usually walks through her food before she eats it
-It takes her upwards of ten minutes to drink water
-This summer, on a (supervised) trip outside, a bird landed about a foot and a half away from her and she moved TOWARD it and looked up
-If she wants to get somewhere and there is a barrier in the way, she will repeatedly nose the barrier, expecting it to move
-Once, I was in high heels and she saw only my big toe and tried to eat it
-I don't give her live food, because she is really too slow to catch most things
-She always turns her head when she eats, to the extent that one side would be touching the floor
-It takes her about half a dozen tries to get food in her mouth

On the other hand, she sometimes does things that seem to show normal intelligence:

-I'm pretty sure she can tell people apart
-If we give her a bunch of food and there's a blueberry, she will pick out the blueberry
-Aside from my toe, she hasn't (to my knowledge) tried to eat anything that isn't food
-She can get out of a laundry basket
-She is often very attentive to her surroundings, I have her right now and she is staring at the computer screen and trying to walk on the keyboard
-Her opinions about different kinds of food are clearly strong

Background: She is four years old, and I got her on Craigslist. The household she came from had a few cats and dogs. They said she was captive bred, and I believe it. I have had her about eight months, and she is in great physical health. Aside from moving slowly, she is physically normal, not too skinny, and not too fat. Her sheds are successful, she is a little bit over two feet long, and she has all of her toes. She is very docile, and will sit on my lap for hours. Sometimes she will burrow in the couch. She is an extremely picky eater, but she does get all her nutrients, though it takes a while. The one time she bit anyone since I've had her was when I had just woken up from a long nap, went to check the time on my phone, and opened her mouth instead of my phone. I have never heard her hiss, though occasionally she will open her mouth wide. This does not appear to be a sign of aggression, and she has never done it when she is cuddling with people.

Anyway, is this normal intelligence for a skink? Anything out of ordinary I should be aware of?

Overall, including all of her perceived oddities, I love her, my family loves her, and she appears to love us!

[Jeff]

In short, nothing you have described sounds out of the ordinary. I'm not sure it has to do with intelligence though. My view is more "natural behavior" vs. "abnormal behavior".

Welcome to the forum!

[Kcjames]

Does she seem to struggle to eat or is she wiping her mouth? I'm just curious from what you described, are you worried?

[saltcreep]

I don't think she's wiping her mouth, because she does this when she starts to eat food, every single time. Usually she licks her lips when she is done eating.

I'm not worried in the sense that she is in trouble, but if she does have some cognitive issues, I would like to accommodate these as best as I can.

I was also thinking the head tilting thing might have something to do with her teeth. She seems to prefer soft foods, although she does eat other things.

Overall, she seems to be thriving, but she definitely seems "different".

[Richard.C]

Most of that sounds quite normal for tiliqua

[donkeybuff]

The bird thing is odd...your skink is lucky that it doesn't live in the wild!

[Fatal_S]

-She usually walks through her food before she eats it
Does she notice the food first, then purposely walk through it? That would be a bit strange. Eyesight issue maybe? But mine are often so excited about the possibility of food they fail to notice it's already in front of them and charge right through it I try to make sure to either put the food out of the way (they'll find it once they calm down) or to pick them up and put them down face-into-the-food so they notice it. I dislike when they make a mess of their meals.
-It takes her upwards of ten minutes to drink water
Skinks, like more animals, haven't mastered drinking-glasses. They can't tip the water up into their mouths like we do. Try drinking by lapping water up with your tongue and see how long it takes you. Don't forget to stop regularly to 1) check for predators, and 2) lift your head so the water can slide down (in addition to lacking cups, they also lack our throat muscles that let us swallow so conveniently).
-This summer, on a (supervised) trip outside, a bird landed about a foot and a half away from her and she moved TOWARD it and looked up
She's not very predator-smart, but then again she's been forced to get used to the giant predators she lives with (you) and the ones she lived with before (cats/dogs/people). She saw something new, and since she's apparently more curious than skittish about new things she went to check it out (is this food?). Thankfully, you're there to keep her from getting into trouble with her trusting attitude (great as a pet, not so good in the wild).
-If she wants to get somewhere and there is a barrier in the way, she will repeatedly nose the barrier, expecting it to move
In nature they dig under or around things, or wander around them. Barriers don't make tons of sense to reptiles (especially clear ones) but they're pretty persistant about checking to see if they can move it.
-Once, I was in high heels and she saw only my big toe and tried to eat it
I can't even count the number of times I've had my toes munched. Apparently they look really tasty
-I don't give her live food, because she is really too slow to catch most things
You'd be amazed at how fast they can move if they actually want something. But if she's well fed (she obviously is since she can afford to be a picky eater) and the live food doesn't seem that awesome, why would she bother wasting the energy on it?
-She always turns her head when she eats, to the extent that one side would be touching the floor
Along with lacking drinking cups, they've yet to figure out forks, and their stubby arms don't help much for moving food into the mouth. Again, put some food on the floor and try eating it without your hands and without turning or tilting your head. Then go wipe the food off your chin and be thankful you evolved arms and don't have to tip your head sideways to eat.
-It takes her about half a dozen tries to get food in her mouth
This one kind of confuses me. What food is she eating? My guys often misjudge grabbing smaller, individual food pieces (ex: blueberries), probably because in order to actually grab the food they have to turn their heads sideways (see above). Many reptiles have this issue - watch a gator try to grab a piece of meat dropped by the keeper. And you probably would too if you tried to eat a blueberry off the ground with your cheek to the floor. It's simply hard to keep an eye on the food when your nose/chin gets in the way (worse for them with eyes on the sides, not the front like us). Normally my guys get a plate of food, so they can usually get a mouthful easily. If I'm feeding small items, I tend to use tongs so the food goes right to their mouth and they don't have to waste time to grab it.

Background: She is four years old, and I got her on Craigslist. The household she came from had a few cats and dogs. They said she was captive bred, and I believe it. I have had her about eight months, and she is in great physical health. Aside from moving slowly, she is physically normal, not too skinny, and not too fat. Her sheds are successful, she is a little bit over two feet long, and she has all of her toes. She is very docile, and will sit on my lap for hours. Sometimes she will burrow in the couch. She is an extremely picky eater (feed less often = less picky skink), but she does get all her nutrients, though it takes a while. The one time she bit anyone since I've had her was when I had just woken up from a long nap, went to check the time on my phone, and opened her mouth instead of my phone. I have never heard her hiss, though occasionally she will open her mouth wide. (This is probably a yawn, something they have in common with us, unlike cups and forks.) This does not appear to be a sign of aggression, and she has never done it when she is cuddling with people.

Anyway, is this normal intelligence for a skink? Anything out of ordinary I should be aware of?
To sum up, it's all very normal. Think like a skink and try to see the world from her view. You seem to have a fantastic pet skink, and I'm very glad to hear that you and your family all adore her