Finger Biter

[Emz3]

So I'm not too worried about this but thought I would ask this questions anyway since I've never seen this behavior before...

Okay...I've had my two BTS for 2 years now. Tonight when I was going in to check on them Stubbs looked up at me intently. He stopped what he was doing (basking) and followed my every movement. Since he looked so cute, I reached into the tank to give him a little scratch and he eyed my finger like I had never seen before. He slowly, in typical skink fashion opened his mouth and tried to bite my finger. (All in slow motion of course.) I pulled my hand back and a little quicker he proceeded to go after my hand and finger.

I feed my skinks once a week. It had been about a week so I quickly put together some food for him, thinking he was hungry. I went to hand feed him a piece and dropped it. Again, he decided fingers would be a fine substitute. They ate well from the plate of food after the fact. They both seemed really hungry! I've just never seen him so hungry.

Should I be at all concerned about this behavior? I guess really there are two questions here. 1.) Am I feeding the skinks enough? Doesn't seem like it! I assume their caloric needs change over time just like ours do? 2.) Should I be worried about this finger snack attempt? I don't want him to learn it's okay to bite. He is the less friendly of the two to begin with. Although, neither of my skinks have ever bit me, even when cleaning their mouths.

Anyway... I hope I'm not rambling too much. I just wanted everyones opinion!

Cheers!

[Richard.C]

Pretty common behaviour,not a sign of aggression,i see it as a food response,im forever copping those types of bites,and more commonly dodging there attempts to taste me,usually if im not concentrating and reach into a cage i often cop a bite from one of the northern males,outdoors in the blotchy cage they often come over to me when i get in there cage and taste test my boots,when i used to dig up water dragon eggs they would often hang around biting at my hands,the odd curious bugfer would tru and get in my pants leg,but after copping a few leg bites i tuck socks over now,there a pain in the butt when trying to do something in there especially when 20 odd of them are hanging around hassling you


Or in short,yeah pretty common behaviour ,there curiosity makes them want to taste alot of things,keepers hands often one of them

[Fatal_S]

Bulking up before winter brumation?

[Emz3]

Thank you Richard! Glad to know it is indeed normal behavior! I had just never experienced it before!

...and Fatal_S...I bet you could be right! They have never been ravenous eaters. Always good eaters though, not picky! They maintain a good weight being fed once a week or every 2 weeks. My vet still says they are fat! ...I bet you are right! It's been really rainy here in CO, US lately. It has not been the normal scorching temps this year!

Thanks guys!