Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey skink forumers, I just popped by to inquire about what everyone specifically feeds there blue-tongued skinks. Bluetongueskinks.net is a good site, but their forums are filled with a lot of aloof conversation.

I am new to keeping BTS's, and have adopted a one from a friend. I keep on shredded tree bark (from the petstore), and have yet to get exact temp's withen the cage, but the cold side is 82F (room temp in the herp room), and the hot end has a buried hot rock and a 75W bulb about 12 inches above it. I'm guestimating a hot side of high 90's, but again, havn't monitored long enough to get consistent results. There is a UVB light. I mist the enclusure about once daily, but don't want to get it too humid as I've heard these are rather dry scrubland animals. The animal is out and active some days, and others, it spends hiding. It is a very tame animal, used to handling. I don't think stress is much of a factor.

My problem resides in that my skink doesn't seem to be very interested in food. It ignores dusted crickets, and only haphazardly picks at the vegetables offered (primarily bok-choy, spinach, endive, collards, parsley, and kale). It only ate a small, thawed fuzzy mouse after bugging it, and rubbing it against it's mouth. This is the only time I have attempted assist feeding.

Does anyone have any critique on my husbandry, and diet? What can I correct, and how can I increase my skink's appetite?

Thanks,
Ian

Hello! While we do get off topic on bts.net - I'd still post on there as you will certainly get more replies than on here. You might also be able to find previous posts already made on the subject.

I follow the guidelines on the bts.net caresheet regarding feeding. I go with 50% greens/veggies, 40% meat and 10% fruit.

Most are reluctant to eat greens so you have to find a way to trick them. Chopping it up finely so it's more difficult to pick out, using juices from fresh fruits or canned dog/cat food to bind greens to meat, etc. Sometimes the time of day food is offered seems to matter to some blueys. I also find it helpful to kind of lightly pat the food together into a little 'pancake' which makes it more difficult for them to pick out what they really want (usually the fruit or meat). I've recently tried adding bee pollen granules and spirulina to meals and this seems to have enticed my Indo to eat more. I also sprinkle Minerall on meals and this also enticed my IJ to eat in the beginning - that and she used to only eat if I held her dish up for her (when she was a baby). Scrambled eggs (not to be fed often), live snails, worms and baby food are also things people have used to get them eating.

And of course things like handling too much, not enough security (hides, etc) and a cage in a high traffic area can contribute to not eating.

I think your temps sound okay as long as those are actual temps and measured with a reliable thermometer (temp gun or digital as the stick on analogs are usually inaccurate).

Hope this helps!
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1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
1.0 Bredl's Carpet Python "Strider"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa "Frodo"
0.1 California Kingsnake "Gentoo"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Indigo"
1.0 Snow Corn snake "Chile"
0.1 Okeetee Corn snake "Amazon"
1.0 Crested Gecko "Willow"
0.1 Irian Jaya BlueTongued Skink "Phoebe"
0.1 Indonesian BlueTongued Skink "Piper"
0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer "Kira"

Welcome to the wonderful world of BTS. They are rockin' lizards. I used to breed them, and when I moved south gave my pair to a friend who is breeding them. I just got back into the fray with an as of yet unsexed Tiliqua scincoides scincoides (Eastern).

Here's a few suggestions regarding your set up:

1. Skip the hot rock. Totally unnatural way for your skink to get heat and I've seen a BTS with 3rd degree hotrock burn. Not pretty.

2. I keep my BTS on newspaper and Carefresh. Bark may look nicer, but it's a great environment for mites and bacteria if miss a spot in cleaning.

3. Yeah - you don't really need to mist. As long as there's a large, shallow water bowl available your BTS will stay hydrated.

4. My own personal experience with food is this: Their diet in the wild is substantially more insectivorous/carnivorous than what we usually give them in captivity. My BTS's LOVE zoophobas (superworms), giant crickets, snails and slugs. The day to day food is low-fat, high quality wet catfood with a bit of dark greens mixed in. Once or twice a week I'll feed a bit of cantelope or mango - some like fruit more than others. My current BTS LOVES bearded dragon food (the red pellets) so I'll put that in the food mix as well. Whenever possible I'll comb the garden/yard for big slugs and feed those to him in a separate container (messy). My previous BTW enjoyed the (thawed) pinky mouse from time to time, but I really only gave those as treats. I feed every other day or every third day - these guys can get fat in captivity.

You didn't say what size enclosure you have it in - it should be at least a 20 gallon long tank.

A better choice for a basking setup is to have a half log be the hide and put the light over the log. I have my BTS in a 20 gallon tank with this set up and he will climb up onto the log to bask in the mid-morning. I don't have a direct measurement of that spot, but it's at least 90F under the lamp.

BTS are not big daytime baskers. They like to be in covered areas - grasses, leaf litter, people's gardens. I have actually seen them being kept in too hot of an enclosure, so again - ditch the hot rock.

It's been my experience that BTS is a very hardy lizard. As you've found, they are tame and easy to handle. I call them the dog in a lizard's body. Enjoy!

Hi there!

I agree with almost everything ltllzrd said, and especially about the hot rock. Big no no in my opinion.

The only thing I differ in opinion with ltllzrd is tank size and basking spot locations. I feel that a 20 gallon tank is FAR, FAR too small. 20 gallons are barely recommended for Schneider's skinks, let alone a large BTS. I would recommend a 40 gallon breeder tank and/or MINIMUM, 36 inches long, by 18 inches wide.

As far as the basking rock, I would recommend a flat piece of slate placed diectly below the basking spot on one end of the tank. The flat smooth surface will then heat up and allow the animal to warm both the belly and his back. Remember to have one hot end (95-100), a cool end (75-85) and a middle range in between. I'm not sure how well bark will heat up

A LARGE water bowl will suffice for humidity. I recommend a very large water bowl as these are fairly large creatures and I feel require a large water source. Misting is not needed.

Your substrate is probably ok...I would be sure to keep it clean, and when cleaning fecal matter, grab the entire area of substrate as it will most definitely sink down near the bottom. How deep do you have it?

Food can be tricky, but I'll bet your animal is simply still settling in. The other advice given is fine! Good luck!

It seems like I"ve been doing everything right from your suggestions. I dislike hotrocks as well, but I adopted the whole setup with the lizard and this is how it was done. I will change this to slate and increase the bulb wattage to compensate. My enclosure is about 3 feet by 1 1/2 feet, i'm terrible with measureing in gallons. I'll keep you guys posted

The tank size you mention is better. I keep my current BTS in a 20 gallon - she's still young and on the smaller side. Eventually she'll be in a much roomier place.

Because I've got the 20 gallong there's not a lot of room for a large hide AND a basking rock. She does get up on top of the log and basks under the light. It's pretty warm there. But yes, ideally a piece of slate or a large, flatish rock under a heat lamp is much more natural.

Oh, I see! Yeah, 20 gallons are great for younger BTS. My Tanimbars are still pretty small and I still have them in 20 gallons. They grow so fast, be prepared!