Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
My Prehensile-tailed skinks(Flicka and Microchip) have been constipated lately, so I have been giving them warm baths and gentle abdominal massages to help things to get moving. During their baths, I have noticed them making some very odd noises. The best way I can describe it, is as a clicking noise. Has anyone ever heard their skinks do this before? I recall Flavia posting about her boy Rafael making a noise like a "sick duck" this summer(may or june), but I do not think this is the same noise. Does anyone have any idea why they are making this noise? Could it be from getting water in their noses? I know they do, but they seem to sneeze to get the water out. By the way, would it be ok to give them regualr baths? I was thinking at least a couple of times a week, but not sure how often would be best. I know that the iguana people do this, their igs poop during their bath, and then not in the cage. Could this type of "toilet" trainging be done with PTS's? Just wondering. Thanks for all of the help. Josh

Hi

Well i feel im an iguana person--at least i ve been successfully raising iguanas for the last 6 years!lol--and i use to bath my igs because igs dont drink enough water and they are VERY prone to have kidney problems.Thats why we, iguana people, use to bath them, to keep them hydrated.Thats not the case of Monkey tails.Both my MTS boys drink a lot of water and they like to take baths too when they feel its necessary.So i think you need just to keep 2 bowls of water inside their cages.A small one to drink and another one, a larger one for the baths.I dont think they need to be forced to take baths.They know when they need to.
About the constipation as i posted before, my boys are completely different from my iguanas or my bearded dragon because they dont have a fixed routine.They dont poop or pee every day, or even they dont eat every day.So if i was you i would not worry about that.

About the noises you heard, Rafael used to call our attetion making noises that sounded like a duck that got a very bad cold.I dont know why i havent heard him " calling" me lately.I dont know what mean the noises your baby is making but if he is healthy, if he is eating well and if his belly looks round i ll not worry about.

i have 4 skinks and 1 loves to poop in the water bowl.
he/she(not sure exactly) seems to wait until i change the water and then next time i turn around-full again.
if only i could get teach him to flush id be all set.

-Pat