Care

Are you searching for a pet?

Do you like reptiles? Lizards?

Do you want a pet that is low maintenance, doesn’t eat much, doesn’t contribute much “waste”, and after initial purchase and set-up is relatively low cost to maintain?

Do you like reptiles that are curious? maybe adventurous? but sometimes lazy? and sometimes goofy?

You’ve come to the right place! Northern Blue Tongue Skinks can be all these things! Welcome to your new Best Buddy

BEHAVIOR

(The following is broad/general information, mostly my own honest opinions.)

Does my skink like me? Will he be my friend? How do I make him tame? These questions are of a subject less defined by science or skink behavior studies.  There are no 100% sure answers on taming a reptile! There are many opinions though! I will share what I’ve learned and observed through my studies and experiences with my blue tongue skinks about their behavior

1)What is their normal behavior in their wild habitat?

They are loners always, except when it is time to breed. They cannot cohabitate in pairs or groups without severe risk of injury and/or death. They travel through the day basking and eating/drinking and avoiding predators. It’s a life.

2)How do they act differently in/out of their enclosure?

After a month or so your skink should be comfortable in their correctly set up enclosure. If not please contact me with concerns. Being outside her enclosure will of course be scary for her at first. Do so at her pace, not yours. A skink will really love being in your hoodie (hood or pocket), or in a playpen that has a secure top. Make sure the playpen has 2-3 safe hides!

3) Will my skink like going outside sometimes?

Yes yes and yes! It’s free natural uvb! I take short walks with my skinks on my arm/hands – most of them love it, a few get nervous.

4) Does my skink recognize me?

Your skink will quickly get to know your smell, your voice, your sounds, your routine, and that your are the food provider.

5)Can I trust my skink with kids?

Young children should not be unsupervised with a skink. It will be your child’s demeanor, sensitivity, and wisdom, and the skink’s behavior that will help you determine the answer to this question.

SKINKY “MOODS”

• Hungry/thirsty
• Too hot/cold/wet/dry
• Need to bask
• Need to shed
• Need to brumate/hibernate
• Territorial
• Wanting to breed
• Fearful about unknowns
• Curious
• Content
• Sleepy
• Stressed

LET ME CHALLENGE YOU

Your skink (as well as other critters) needs more than food and a friendly “hello” to thrive and enjoy their best life in captivity. Let me challenge you to enrich your skink’s life!

The Association of Zoos & Aquariums has categorized enrichment for your pet into five areas:

social, cognitive, physical habitat, sensory, food

• Social-as skinks cannot cohabitate you can be their social enrichment :)) Also another friendly animal (reptile, bird, fish) could be a companion from a distance, like across the room. How about a safe skink plush toy or a photo? Even a mirror (supervised) can enrich your skinks life! 
• Cognitive- mental stimulation is necessary for a happy skinky brain! Use safe food puzzle toys, a new food, a hidden food, a different piece of furniture in the enclosure! Get creative!
• Physical Habitat-Your skink will spend most of her long 25 year life in her enclosure…don’t let her get bored! Give her plenty of places to hide, burrow, climb (6” or less). Use different textures she can walk on, hide under, feel. Then switch it all up with different items!
• Sensory-Your baby can feel, see, hear, smell, taste…provide lots of different opportunities for her to do so!
• Foods-switch up the proteins, veggies, and treats from time to time. Feed in different bowls/plates, feed in different areas. Hide the food so she can hunt for it :))

PICKING UP/ HOLDING

If you think your skink is ready to be picked up/held (a whole ‘nuther subject) try these tips:

Picking up a skink can be tricky. Skinks are terrestrial burrowing animals and for your skink to be suddenly lifted up through the air can be very frightening! In addition your hand is entering his space – uninvited! Thirdly your skink has a parietal eye on top of his head. This mechanism is a temperature gaging device as well as a “predator alert” device. If your hand (or its shadow) goes over his parietal eye your skink will think you’re a predator hovering over him!

Best way to collect your baby skink is to let him crawl onto your hand – he will need a little push on the rear – then from there keep all four skinky feet supported and he will feel safe. Even better is to then set your skink on your forearm with its tail tucked between your elbow and side. Be aware that one of their self preservation tactics is to pee/poop on you! If this happens keep holding him but clean up and sanitize as you are able. A BTS will learn conditioned responses/reactions, such as “If I pee/poo on this human she will put me back!” so don’t put him back just yet. Supervised kids can also enjoy interacting with your skink, while they’re sitting still and quiet with a towel on their lap, skink on the towel, then giving gentle back scratches

NOTE

The washing of hands is important before and after interacting with your reptile, and especially so for kids … who commonly don’t wash their hands thoroughly.

MORE good stuff to know

ENCLOSURE

Enclosure size should be 4’L x 2’W x 18”-24”H or larger

Lamps/bulbs-this is an important aspect of your Bluey husbandry so please do your research on this important subject! Please see Mariah’s ReptiFiles .com for awesome up to date info! 

Substrate-I prefer all natural 100% cypress … but you can research and experiment to find what’s available in your area and what you prefer. Please choose substrate that is not dusty – the dust often clings to their lips and causes dryness, sometimes this can lead to more problems like stomatitis.

Hides-two hides are good, three hides are better! They prefer hides that are low like 4-5” or so. Extra marks for you if they can get in and on their hides!

Basking platform–flat rock, ceramic tile, large flat “whatever” but choose something that can hold heat. Extra marks for you if they can get on it and  under it!

Food/water bowls-your choice, as long as they are sturdy and easy to keep clean. 

Enclosure Enrichment – artificial/real plants to hide under, large rocks for climbing, cork logs to climb/hide in, pvc tubes to climb through, plenty of substrate to dig and burrow, if you choose to feed live food (Blaptica dubia recommended) the hunting/chasing will be enriching.

TEMPERATURES

You should have 3 temperature zones in your enclosure – 75*f and 85*f and 95*f…..and a basking spot of 105*f in your hottest zone. This allows your skink to self regulate or find the temp he needs when he needs it.

HUMIDITY

40-60-%, maybe a tiny bit more during shedding times. I like to mix water into the substrate, warm side, every couple weeks to prevent dry humidity and dry skinky toes and lips.

DRINKING WATER

Water you drink is fine for your skink too – clean bowl daily

FOODS

Your growing baby BTSkink needs protein and lots of it! Grain free wet cat/dog foods that are high in protein are wonderful for your skink’s development and convenient for you. A pate type is easily gobbled down by a baby skink. For treats, after proteins have been consumed, my babies enjoy FreshPet Select Tender Bites Cat Food, and other high protein Fresh Pet dog/cat foods. BTSkinks are omnivores. In their natural habitat babies are born in a season of plenteous proteins (bugs,worms, snails, tiny critters, etc). As they grow older they will need less proteins and will eat more roots, plants, etc. Your skink can begin to enjoy a small amount of minced vegetables (squashes/zucchini, greens, cooked carrots/root vegs) around 7-9 months of age. Vegetable matter can be mixed with proteins to be more palatable. Skinks can enjoy an increase of vegetables and decrease of proteins as they age. In my experience by the time your baby is 12-18 months old she will thrive on a diet of about 50/50 vegetables/proteins.

0-3 or 6 months…feed daily, high protein

6 or 7 months…feed every other day, begin introducing tiny bits of vegs every now and then for the enrichment and fun :))

7-12 months…feed 2 or 3 times weekly, about 60/40 protein/vegs

12-18 months – through adulthood – once weekly, twice if smaller amounts are used, 50/50 protein/vegs

The above is just a “guide”, please firstly observe your skink’s size and feed accordingly.

NOTE

Adult skinks can easily gain too much weight, and it is very difficult to help them lose weight!

Please contact me anytime with questions/concerns !