Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is the first time I have actually read any of the forums for skinks since I do not own any skinks myself. I work at a petstore and we now have a BTS for the first time since the four years I have been working there so I wanted to do some research on them. They are captive bred and I absolutely LOVE them! I have no problems handleing them, except one likes to pee on me pretty often. They even seem to give kisses, not really, but you know what I mean. One was recently sold and unfortunately I wasn't the one who sold him because I am one of the two people in my dept that know the most about reptiles. I just hope the people who bought him do their research.
Anyway, after reading some of these threads I discovered that most people use aspen and carefresh for their substrate. I had no idea this could be done. I have the other guy on repti bark because thats what I read to use in a book. He does still bury himself in it, but I noticed when I fed him crickets he gets so excited that when he misses he doesn't want to let go of the bark as if it were a cricket. I have to fight with him to get it out of his mouth. I have never actually seen him swallow a single bark piece, but I am just afraid that someone else feeding him won't even stick around or pay attention (in fact I know they won't). So my question is should I switch to one the other substrates? I really try to give our lizards the best set ups so that customers do not get the wrong idea about anything. I also think my manager will be really confused if I tell him i want to put our hamster bedding in there for our skink. does anyone have any problems with their's swallowing any bedding?

sorry so long, but I love this guy so much that I want to make sure I am doing this right.
Thanks

I keep Bluey on shavings. I dont have any problems of him swalowwing it though, coz i feed him in a seperate tub. I can see how much he eats and dont have to worry about him digesting his substrate. I also give him a nice bath/rince every once a week to keep him fresh. He doesnt seem to squirm as much as before, and i think he is quite used to it. But, i do keep a big waterbowl (big enough for him to soak if he wants to shed) all times in his pen. Does anyone else does this?

P.S : I had a problem a few months back. Sometimes the smaller piece of shaving get stuck to the ears (happened to my huge female, Bertha. She is no longer with me though ). I had to take em out using pincers. Bluey doesnt have that problem, so i'm quite reliefed.

I keep my adults on the big pieces of aspen because the little slivers can get into ears, and nostrils. For babies I use sheets and blankets instead of loose substrate.

The best caresheet and forums are on bluetongueskinks.net

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1.1.1 Blue tongue skinks- Sausage the IJ, Don the Indo, and Spunky Sabastian the Tanimbar
1.0.1 Green Tree Python- Floyd and Verdi
0.1 Western Hognose- Piggy
0.0.1 Sonoran Gopher snake- Toro
0.0.1 Ornate Uro- Spike
0.0.1 Egyptian Tortoise- Tank
0.1 Albino Leo Gecko- Sasha

thanks, I will check out that site. Still debateing whether or not to change the bedding. I havn't seen him have any problems so I may just keep it as is.

I have had a northern blue tongue skink now for three years. I use aspen bedding and it is the only thing i'd use. solving the cricket problem is easy. it will be almost impossible to put live crickets in a cage with out the skink swallowing some of teh bark which can lead to impaction which will most likely lead to death. oh and just to let you know blue tongue skinks are omnivores and shouldn't be fed JUST crickets. they should be fed fruits and vegetables with a little cat/dogfood. and some crickets/other insects. but, when feeding crickets, try killing them first and them putting them in a container/food dish in the cage. at first, you might need to move the cricket with some tweezers to get its attention but it wont take long for the skink to notice it and gobble it up.

Nathan

I just feed mine in a seperate container. It is easier to see his food intake. In this container, i dont only feed em feeders, but veggies & fruits as well. Some extra surplus veggies, fruits, & feeders i feed to my amboina turts in a small dish (they r omnivorous & can eat on land unlike aquatics, easier to supplement).

BTW, i feed my subadult every 2-3 days. 3 days if he ate something heavy (like raw eggs & dog food with veg). Is this a good regimen?

Oh don't worry, he is not JUST getting crickets! I only mentioned them because he had to hunt them down as opposed to the veggies and such just sitting in a dish. He loves his mix of veggies, fruit and cat food! Unfortunately the only bad thing is that we don't always have fresh veggies on hand and have to use frozen, but he still doesn't mind. The only thing I have not tried yet is egg. Should I give it to him raw or hard boiled? how often should they receive eggs?
About the cricket part, I don't kill them completely, but I use the tongs to squish them enough to where they are barely moveing. I ALWAYS stay and watch him eat to make sure nothing happens. I REALLY hope I am the one that gets to sell him so I can pass on the care info!
I am still undecided as to use aspen or not though.
Thanks for your responses

Eggs should be fed as a treat on occasion. About once every one/two weeks perhaps? Mine would shun hard boiled, but loves raw. Some raw eggs may pass salmonella. Boiling this prevents it though. Just make sure the egg is salmonella free if u feed it raw.

I feed mine everday, but as they get older maybe once every two days I think. Repti bark holds to much humidity for BTS, also, although newpher beat me to it, :evil: go to bluetongueskinks.net for the best info available!
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0.0.1 Eastern Painted Turtle
0.0.1 Indonesian Blue Tongue Skink
0.2.0 Leopard Geckos
0.0.1 Northern Water Snake