New skink owner, little worried.

[Thehurricane22]

Hi, my name is Nick, and I bought a BTS yesterday and I don't know a whole lot about them. I bought him out of a store, and the guy taking care of him only fed him turkey cat food. He said he liked this a lot. I have been reading and seeing that they eat about 50% Plants and veggies, and 50% meat, is that true? I have a cage thats about 36 gallon, with dimensions of 36x12X18. The guy at the store said this would be fine for him for life, but I am planning on getting a bigger cage for him for sure, but will this cage be big enough for him for a while? The BTS is a little over a year old. He is pretty scared right now considering the 1 hour drive home yesterday and is still settling in, so I'm letting him be as of right now. I have the power UV lightbulb thats 100watt and is basically heating the whole tank. The cooler side is around 73 degrees, and his basking spot is at about 92-93 degrees. Is that hot enough and cool enough for him? Also when should I start taking him out of his cage and holding him and getting him use to me? I appreciate any information you guys can give me because I wanna take care of him right. Thanks again.

[Tattoo]

Welcome the forum. First thing you should do is sit down and read and reread the care sheet as many times as your brain can stand it. It will answer probably any question you will have in the first few weeks. If you are still in the weeds come back for a fine tuning on the boards. Sounds like you got another pet store ding-bat selling blueys with limited info. Your cage sounds fine. Keep an eye on the temps for a few days and see if they shift with the weather. Maybe you measured on a cold day? 93 is very close to what you want. Maybe a basking rock to bring him up just a bit higher? Good luck and keep us posted.

[Shadowfax]

Agreed -- get on that caresheet and it will answer everything. Ya, don't listen to petstore guy, sounds like he is not clued in. If you go back to that petstore, maybe see if you can clue him in to the caresheet on here and take a little better care of future skinkies. At least he wasn't just feeding it crickets and iceberg lettuce!

[Fatal_S]

Welcome! Sounds like your already on your way ^.^ And you've come to the right place!

First off, pictures are loved on this forum, and can help out a lot. When you get the chance, post some of your skink and your setup, you'll get great feedback, including what subspecies your guy is and suggestions for the tank.

The caresheet on this site can answer most of your questions. I recommend reading it many, many times, and printing off the food charts to help you with shopping. But to answer your current questions:

Pet store guys was wrong, you are right, BTS need a lot of greens and veggies in their diet. Generally, I say 45% greens & veggies, 45% meat, and 10% fruits. Babies should get more meat, and adults need more veggies. Everyone has slightly different ratios, mine personally vary each time I make food, but use that as a guideline.

Your tank is a pretty good size for a young BTS, but you'll probably want a larger tank as your new friend keeps growing. The 12 inch depth is just not going to work for a nearly 2 foot skink.

For heat, you're doing really well. Do you have a basking rock under the heat source, or just ambient heat? A basking rock at about 100F is recommended. Yours is close, so either add a rock, or maybe raise your current rock up a bit. Keep in mind that your setup is already better than some of what we see on here. Oh, and by basking rock, we mean a regular rock, don't use any of the electric ones.

Give your new buddy some time to settle in, with about a week of just watching him, and feeding. After this, you can start taking him out for 30 minutes to an hour of cuddling and interaction and exploring each day. If you want him to really like you, give him his treats and food outside of the tank, so coming out will mean good things.

Good luck with your Bluey, and stick around, keep us posted ^.^

[shingleback aus]

welcome to the forum i think the best thing would be to read the care sheet it helps alot! and also if you have any questions post them up and send some pics it always helps

[Thehurricane22]

Yeah i've started to read the care sheet. I lowered the lamp a little bit and it is at about 97-98 degrees now. He isnt normally gettin gup on the rock or wood i have in there, so hes prolly basking around 93 degrees. I am actually going to be building him a big cage. My dad just said he could do it within a few days. Its going to be 4ft by 20 x 15. I can adjust the height of the cage but, the length and width i cannot because its going on my dresser. Just wondering if u guys think that would be plenty high enough for him. Thanks for the help again, and Ill post some pics of him when I finish that cage in a few days and get him all set up.

[Fatal_S]

That should be a wonderful size tank for him, even if he ends up being a big northern. The height should be fine, just make sure there's a secure cover, as they can escape, they're very good at it. Your basking rock is a great temperature now, so good job!

[shingleback aus]

sounds great to me should be fine

[Leigh]

,do as mentioned and you'll be fine,get your dad to make the enclosure the front opening type they're better for access and less stressfull when getting your bluey out.