Skink keeps fighting his reflection

[Rhianimal]

Gucci Mane has been doing something weird when he gets put back in his cage after being away for a while. I think he sees his reflection in the glass of his cage, and he charges right at it. He postures, claws, and pushes against his reflection for at least 30 seconds. Sometimes he keeps going for a while longer, and sometimes he's running around the cage doing this. Eventually he lets off and goes back to regular lizard business. He seems to only ever start fighting after he is re-introduced to his enclosure.

I'm not sure how to really do anything about this. The glass is very shiny in the cage. Would a patterned or photo type backdrop be an improvement? Right now there's matte black paper as a backdrop.

Here's a picture for fun:

[Lea]

He probably thinks an intruder moved in while he was away. Try a backdrop with mixed colours, so it isn't so easy to see his own reflection. Placing obstacles by the glass may also help, so he can't have a direct view of this "animal" in his territory. He might well twig what he's seeing after a bit, but he may also just resign himself to the fact that the intruder is here to stay. It may be causing him considerable stress, so do what you can to either cover up or matt the glass for him, so he feels less harassed.

[tiliqua38]

I have a male leopard gecko that was doing that, even with construction paper taped on the outside. The dark paper made him see the "other gecko" even more. I had to tape construction paper to the inside walls of his enclosure and then he was fine.

[Cenetri]

Black construction paper would probably make the reflection even more visible, as tiliqua38 mentioned. Try a lighter color of paper, possibly white, or like Lea already mentioned, multiple colors to draw his attention away. And as also said, objects can help obstruct the view as well.

And as a decorative idea, there are some nice multicolor wrapping papers that could fix the problem if cut properly, and offer an interesting view. I have a snake skin patterned wrapping paper that I plan on using for my own skink soon.

Good luck!

[Rhianimal]

I ended up getting him some cling backgrounds. Of course I managed to cut it wrong, but it still looks ok:

He freaked out a lot initially but seems to be doing well now. He tried very hard to go past the glass anywhere there's a background, especially in dim areas. Now he seems to just be enjoying lizardy things.

[Rani-May]

just wanted to say, nice set up there

[Rhianimal]

Thank you! I always love setting up and re-designing the cage after a cleaning.

[Spindown]

That is a very pretty viv setup

[Rhianimal]

That is a very pretty viv setup

Thank you! Gucci is starting to make use of the multiple levels and tunneled areas now. Seems to enjoy walking his rounds between napping and basking.