How old is my skink?

[Dratth]

Hey guys, i have my indo BTS 3rd month now. Seller told me, he is about 1,5 year old but here i found out he can be younger than that. I dont know what weight he should have or if i feeding him right on his age.
When i bought him, his weight was 270g. I start deworming him between 1.5. and 14.5. On 18.6. his weight was 327g. Now i weighed him yesterday and he has 302g, but didnt eat about 3 days.
I offering food every day, almost every day he take 2/3 tablespoon of food.
But i feeding him as adult, so more greens/veggies than protein. Should i start offering him more meat/protein?
Is there any way to know how old he is and what should the "normal" weight for him be?

[Snackattack2]

I am by no means an expert. But there's not enough information. Weight is going to be determined by species, lineage, and much more importantly, overall health + diet.

The reason to buy from a reputable breeder that can give you detailed history is because you can know these things. But nobody is going to be able to accurately use weight to guess age because we don't know what it's diet was as a baby. Hell, even knowing a skinks sex is super tough.

If you don't buy a skink with a full history you can't piece it together afterwards.

[kingofnobbys]

oops

[kingofnobbys]

Who ever sold him to you is telling you porkies.

Are you graphing it's growth (mass) on a regular basis. You say 18 inches & 330g and a change of 50g in a few months. So not plateaued yet.

About 12 months old I think based only on the length. Bit of growing over the next 12 months to do , will likely plateau out at 20 - 24 inches long.

He's definitely too young and undeveloped to be fed like an adult. He's a juvenile and needs a juveniles diet and feeding schedule.

[Dratth]

Thanks for info kingofnobbys, i will adjust his food and feeding schedule.

Btw he is male, if the presence of sperm plugs are enough to say it.

I dont know anyone in my country who breed BTS (i was looking for someone half year), so no reputable breeder near me. Only other option was ordering from another country or trip to Hamm for example (1200km) and i dont know how to know if someone there is reputable or not.
Another thing is, i dont know if anyone in Europe is reputable breeder of indonesian BTS. From what i know everyone breed northerns/easterns here (nothing against them but i like indos more).

This is by no means excuse for buying wc animals i know but im trying my best to give him everything i can

[splashy07]

There is no way to accurately determine the age of an import. Importers and wholesalers practically starve them to keep them small, as the public buyer prefers babies. I've seen four month olds (determined by breeding season) advertised as four week olds. Just give your guy whatever he wants for a while, feed him as much as he will eat. He will slow down on his own. Have done this many times when I used to rescue. He is beautiful, by the way!

[Dratth]

Thanks splashy07, i rotate repashy bluey buffet, arcadia omnigold and many premium dog/cat food every day, with locusts and superworms as treat with veggies and greens. I'm still trying to give him more than he eats so he can gain in weight. I'll keep you posted

[splashy07]

Great, I'm glad he is now in good, capable hands! The little one deserves that!

[kingofnobbys]

Thanks splashy07, i rotate repashy bluey buffet, arcadia omnigold and many premium dog/cat food every day, with locusts and superworms as treat with veggies and greens. I'm still trying to give him more than he eats so he can gain in weight. I'll keep you posted

Sounds like a reasonable diet other than the superworms (only use these as occasional treats for my band of skinks and bearded dragons). They all love them , but I prefer to give more nutritious and easier to digest silkworms ( I breed my own ).

One or two per day per adult bluetongue and dragon. My pet eastern water skink refuses to eat them …. uber fussy and uber spoilt.

K suggest instead of one biggish meal per day , try a morning and a later afternoon feeding (both smaller than the one big meal each , but slowly increase increase the size of eat meal over a few weeks so he gets more accustomed to the bigger meals and can slowly build up his stomach capacity. A lizard wont voluntarily eat more than it's actual stomach capacity in sitting.

All mine tell me with their body language when they had enough food , often this means turning around so I can no longer get to their mouth or crawling up to under my chin or onto my shoulder

Be patient , he'll grow a bit more and will "beef-up" over the next few months - nothing happens fast with skinks.