How Often Do You Take Your Bluey Out Of His/Her Tank?

[J_Couvy]

Hey everyone.

I was just wondering how often you guys and gals take your skink out of their enclosure for roaming around time. I have been taking Hotdog Princess out of her enclosure every few days for the past month or so but I'm wondering if I should be taking her out every day. She was incredibly timid when I first got her and didn't really seem to enjoy being out of her enclosure. She would bolt any time I moved around too much and go skittering for cover if I tried to stand up and follow her if she began to leave my sight. However now she is much more comfortable roaming around my room and main floor and even scratches at her cage door to come out. She scratches to come out almost every day now, sometimes multiple times a day and I feel bad when I don't have time to take her out or have already taken her out. Obviously I can't just bend to her every whim and take her out all the time but perhaps I should start giving her some more time to roam? Or teach her that scratching doesn't equal me taking her out? What do you guys think? All opinions are welcomed.

[NickBrahz]

I take my bubs out at least once a week but sometimes as much as everyday depending on how busy i am, if they are being lazy and sleeping, if i just want to relax and not have to keep an eye on them etc.

[TheGeezer]

I take my bluey out every couple of days. She is still a bit timid, but I find that hand feeding the fruit portion of her diet, instead of putting it in the bowl with the rest of her food is starting to get her used to me in her viv.

I've had her for about three weeks now. She will come to my hand when I put it in the enclosure. When feeding her with my hand I gently stroke her back so she gets used to being touched. Even in this short amount of time she isn't struggling to get away when I go to pick her up, so long as I am presenting her with a peace offering

I would also avoid pulling any reptile out of their hide. I feel that it destroys their "safe" place, letting them come to you is the best way to establish trust, you want them to see you as a source of food and safety, not a predator.

[Richard.C]

i dont really take any out to roam,jusy to give a look over before placing them back in there cage

[Dood]

Thuli gets out a couple times a week and more often in warm weather as I take her into the yard

I would definitely un-teach her that climbing walls equals getting let out - you don't want her to turn it into a habit and possibly develop a kink in her back. If you see her scratching wait until she stops for 5 to 10 minutes and then take her out

[mmdrevya]

I take out my BTS every single day, and she is only a little over 3 months old. She(or he) has never really minded being handled though. She gets huffy every once and awhile but once i pick her up and out, she does not complain one bit haha.

[alichamp]

We take ours out once or twice a week, mostly on the weekends when we do enclosure maintenance, but he is less active than yours sounds. He hides most of the time when we are home so we are trying to make him more comfortable about wandering around his enclosure without feeling he has to hide from us to be left alone. Also he goes to bed early so is often not awake after school/work.

I do hope he becomes a bit more active but for now this timing schedule its fine for us. If we really want to take him out to entertain us, we will, because we don't get him out that often anyway. So, don't know sorry, ours is very different to yours

[Nae]

Zeke has never been a fan of being handled - He much prefers to just be left alone.

I keep him handleable though by always visiting him, handling him for very short periods of time at least once a week, patting him when hes calm/distracted by the possibility of food and just little things like that. So even though I dont handle him often, if I do need to handle him, its not a problem~! I can bring him out for people, take him to the vet etc just fine. He never tries to get out and is quite happy just chilling.

Having never dealt with a lizard that wanted out, Im not too sure of causes - Do you have the correct temperatures in your tank?

[DimetroDork]

I take Gulliver out nearly every single day. He loves to do his same old routine; scratch at this, sniff at that, crawl into the dresser, maybe nap, ect. He does the exact same thing yours does, though! Just suddenly he wanted out more. He climbs at the walls and scratches pretty much every day, sometimes multiple times, to be let out. I open the cage door and I let him crawl onto my arm and I put him down. He doesn't EVER stay still unfortunately, so I can't interact with him personally very much. But I'm still trying. Hope he settles down as an adult.

I'm not sure why some skinks are more active than others, but it's good to know someone else has a similar personality to mine!

[Shilo]

Moko my BT comes out most days, even if its to just lay on the couch with me. I've always handled him/her daily and at 7 years old he doesn't mind it at all. Brought a camping ground a couple of years ago and the camp kids quickly learnt about him and now in the holiday season a couple of the regular kids I trust enough take him out of the enclosure and carries him around the camp grounds introducing him to the other campers. Happens every day when the camps busy in summer and Moko seems to enjoy it and will hang his head over the enclosures side tongue flicking to greet the kids when they come to take him.

Interestingly I have yet to met a child who is scared or doesn't like him, but with adults its about 1/2 and 1/2 with some even running away when the see him. We have no large lizards or snakes here in New Zealand so most people don't have any experience with a reptile this big.

Pic below of Moko about to be abducted by one of the kids:

[NickBrahz]

Yeah it's funny how adults are always the ones that afraid of stuff, kids don't know to be afraid of stuff and a lot of adults view reptiles as aggressive like a rattle snake or cobra or something(Which even those aren't aggressive just a bad stigma reptiles especially snakes have).

One of my Auntie's is afraid of mine thinking they will bite or something like that no matter how much i try to assure her that none of them have bitten me aggressively most they do now and then is huff a bit after they wake up, not morning skinks it seems.

[J_Couvy]

The temperatures in my tank are good as far as I can tell Nae; the hot end is usually between 90 and 100 degrees and the cool end is usually in the mid to high 70's, never going over 80. I think it's just a personality thing; some skinks are just more active than others.

And I am in the exact same position as you DimetroDork! My girl loves to roam around but is not one for sitting and chilling with me, which is a little unfortunate as I would love to be able to relax with her (though I do love to watch her explore around the house ). I am also hoping she will become a bit lazier and more willing to just sit with me with age and more handling; she only just turned 2 years old. I've had her for 3 months now and have seen great progress with her temperament; it's constantly improving as she continues to get used to me so I am hoping that with time she will learn to enjoy (or at least tolerate) sitting with me. Hopefully the same happens for you

[Lauriek]

All my skinks can see people passing by their cages. Any babies I have I handle since birth and if it's a newly acquired skink, after a settling in period of about a couple of weeks or more, depends on the skink, I start to handle them. Earlier this year, about April/May if I can remember, I was given a rescued baby eastern. A cat had attacked it. He, Eric (could be Erica!) is still very timid and scampers away. He will be taken out more regularly as the weather warms up and will eventually become more used to being handled. All my other skinks don't mind being handled, some more than others. Solomon, one of my shingles, gets very nervous. Sheba, the other shingle, loves being out on my shoulder. Sheba is a very sociable skink. Bliss has no problems exploring and being handled. She (and she is a she!) likes climbing into my hair. Eric, very skittish. Barnum's two babies are also very skittish. Barnum is very calm and doesn't seem to mind being handled.

The main thing is they have to feel secure. When taking them out of their cages, I always make sure I can support their pelvis so they don't feel they're going to fall.

You really need to start to observe your skink and see what kind of personality they have. As I said, Solomon is very shy, so I don't take him out. I don't really need to. He's perfectly happy watching the world go by from his cage. BUT not today. Today he wanted out! So we went for a walk on the grass.