Tips on bringing home the first baby

[netto614]

I've worked with adult BTS in the past, but this will be my first time owning one. He's coming by mail today hopefully. Tank is all set up and ready. Any tips on what to do the first few days? I know he'll be stressed from the journey, and it's pretty cold even here in Florida. Thoughts on when to feed, how to warm him up safely, when to begin handling, etc? He's a youngster, captive bred. Thanks!

[tylociraptor]

When I brought Misha home I made sure the lights and heat had been on in his tank since morning, so that it would be nice and warm for him when he got in there. As for handling, I examined him to make sure he was happy and healthy and that he wasn't injured from shipping (as IF! He was shipped beautifully) and once I was satisfied with that, I put him in his cage and let him burrow away. I offered some dog food right away and made sure he had fresh water, but aside from that I didn't do too much the first day.

Give him about a week before you start handling him properly... it doesn't hurt to have your hands in the tank once a day to change water, spot clean, etc.

[Susann]

Go ahead and offer food right off, he may very well dig in from the get-go.

If he seems to be out and about, I see nothing wrong with putting your hands in to see if he comes to explore. If he seems fine, go ahead and pick him up. (Just quickly get down low, or onto a couch or something where he won't fall far should he dash out of your hands --them little ones can be super fast!) If he seems OK and stops huffing right away when you get him in your hands, I wouldn't worry too much about having to leave him alone. Just keep it to once a day or so and keep handling sessions fairly short, in my opinion 20 min max. If he seems fine being handled and is taking bites of food, I might suggest getting in the habit of offering his food outside of his tank --that way he associates being picked up with getting food.

All of the above though is only if he seems active and curious. If he spends his time hiding, do not dig or chase him out. Take your cues from him. When he is hiding, leave him alone; only put in food, clean up any easily accessible poop, and change his water. I would give him a minimum of two weeks without interference unless he is out and about on his own.
This is when a temp gun comes in super handy; you can check to see how warm he is without digging him out or disturbing him.

[donkeybuff]

Since Susann and tylociraptor already gave great advice, I'll just say this:

Once he arrives, of course.

[netto614]

Of course. Posting photos now. Thanks for the info. He seems pretty settled already, thank goodness. What an easy going critter.

[netto614]

I was reading around on here and saw that you should only feed 6 month olds every other day. When I worked with BTS adults we just fed every day and they did great. So should I only feed every other day? He ate like a pig yesterday, and doesn't seem interested in food so far today. Maybe those were just piggy BTSs I worked with before lol.

[Richard.C]

You can feed as often as you like,if everyday you just feed less per meal,youngens put food into growth do more they eat faster they grow,when closer to adult size you just adjust according to weight,if getting chubby u can back off abit,dkinny feed more

[Tom]

All of the above though is only if he seems active and curious. If he spends his time hiding, do not dig or chase him out. Take your cues from him. When he is hiding, leave him alone; only put in food, clean up any easily accessible poop, and change his water. I would give him a minimum of two weeks without interference unless he is out and about on his own.

Susann, what do you recommend as more of a maximum time to wait? I bought two new Northerns three weeks ago and I don't think they'd ever come up if I didn't dig them out. They were born in August. I gave them about 8 days to settle in. I put in fresh food and water daily and it went untouched. I finally dug them out of their coco chips, put them on their basking rocks and left the room. Both ate that day. Since then I've been fishing them out every other day, but they clearly don't like it. They do eat each time I dig them up, but they don't eat on the days I don't.

Ambient temps in my reptile room drop to 75-80 at night and climb to 85ish each day. They each have a basking lamp over a rock. Basking temps are a little over 100.

My first baby, two and a half years ago, was nothing like this. He/she was always out exploring, ate every day (smaller amounts) and seemed to want the attention. One friend suggested that the behavior of the new ones might just be seasonal.

[Susann]

One friend suggested that the behavior of the new ones might just be seasonal.

It may be seasonal, or it may be "all of the above" --a combination of any or all factors. It is hard to say, because they are all individuals and can behave and react very differently from each other. If they were born in Aug they may be a bit young to go through a brumation, if that's the reason they tend to stay buried on the cooler side, but sometimes there's not anything you can do to prevent it.

I don't believe I've ever heard of a skink starving to death from refusal to come out to eat... , but I do understand how it might make you anxious seeing the food go untouched day after day. I don't think I've ever heard of a "maximum" time limit as to leaving your skink alone, but seeing that they are 5 months old, I personally would maybe only dig them out once a week if I haven't seen them eat anything. If your ambient temps only drop as low as 75 then there's no need to worry as far as them getting too cold staying in the same spot day after day.

I would take to placing the food right in front of where they are hiding out. That way the smell might entice them more, and having the food right there might be the "baby-steps" they need to start venturing out a little bit at a time.

I don't know where you keep your skinks, but having their tanks in a higher "traffic" area with more activity throughout the day can sometimes help entice a skink to come out to explore and check things out.

Both your babies look to be in good health, so I don't think there's any danger in letting them go a few weeks without eating, if you decide to go the tough-love route and wait them out to come out on their own. But I personally also don't see anything wrong with digging them out every now and then to teach them that nothing bad happens when the big dude comes to dig them out.

[netto614]

Update:
My little dude is eating nicely, pooping like a champ, and even tolerates some cuddling. I think he is on track to be a big baby! How lucky for me.

[Tom]

Very good news netto!

And thank you Susann for helpful insight and advice.