BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

what a booger! he snapped at me and had the nerve to give me the mad skink face. taming is not going well. first he pees and squirts poo at me when i try to hold him, now he's going after my fingers. this is very intimidating, i'm not sure what to do. the more i try the worse he gets.

i just took him back to the guys i bought him from today for a super mite treatment. he had mites when i bought him, and the guys offered to take him back for a week or so to treat them since i am having no luck with it. maybe whit their handling him for the week he will shape up a little, at least stop biting. but what do i do when i get him back. i know handling, but how do i touch him without loosing chunks from my hand?

P.S. he is a semi large skink. i'm not sure how old he is but he's a good 14 to 16 inches and has got a head like a knot.

Put on a glove and let him bite you, wear bad clothes and let him pee on you, he'll realize it doesn't work. Also, give him food outside the tank so he needs to put up with being held to get food, and giving treats after a bit of petting works well. All 3 of my guys disliked handling at first, now Pryce is doing great, and the babies are getting better. Don't give up and he'll learn to put up with it, or even somewhat enjoy his out times. Keeping the tank in a high-traffic area and talking to him a lot in the tank helps too.

He'll continue to do it as long as he sees you as a threat, so yep, it's just going to take patience, persistence and regular handling.

I'm not a fan of the glove idea myself, I actually think it looks more threatening to them than a hand. Whenever I have one in my yard that needs to be moved on or one on the road, I gently throw a towel over it and then pick it up. They tend to struggle less when they can't see.

So my suggestion is, put a towel over him (even just a hand towel), bring him out in it, sit him in your lap, and wait for him to come out and explore around you. Talk to him, put your hand near him (like in front of him, but don't try and grab him), offer food by hand (or tweezers) and make sure his tank is not in an area that may afford scary moments, like if kids are running through, other pets like cats or dogs, loud tv or other appliances.

It'll take some time and he may never be as laid back as some, but eventually he will realise you're a friend and not a foe. My Ralphie is only starting to come round now after nearly two years, and that's with daily interaction. He's fine in his tank and out of it, but doesn't like being brought out or actually held.

Good luck!

Maybe is is wild caught so not used to human interaction. I feel blessed i've never been bitten and only peed on once from all my skinks.
Just keep in his face as often as you can, if he sees you are no harm he is sure to come around eventually.
Good luck!

Kris

my sassy would bite too at first. I would hold her in a way where she couldnt reach my hand and make her stay there also she still pees on me it helps if i pet her back for awhile before trying to move her. she is getting better and even allowing me to rub her mouth i am cautious though cause she will open her mouth and try to push against my finger to bite me if i let her. I have had her since april i think. so6 months in and i see a big change. 6 months from now i think she will be fine. btw she is just now comfortable with coming out during the day and will stay shrink back in her house if i approach but i have a tanny so if you have an ij i believe it will be easier.

Very good advice people,
Do you wash your hands before you touch him, there maybe a scent on there that offends him

Remember too, he's probably really uncomfortable with the mites still gnawing at him, and he's probably starting to associate you with mite treatments. I don't know how he reacts to that situation, but if its unpleasant for him, that won't help matters any in his little skink brain.

Poor buddy, just give him some time and I bet once he's rid of the pestilence once and for all and finally on the mend, you can really start building some positive food/roaming/exploring experiences with him and he'll probably calm right down.

What kind is he/do you have any pics? I know Tannys are reputed to be more feisty and skittish than other types.

One idea is to get an old big bowl and put it by his cage; when you first get him out, hold him over the bowl and perhaps he will go in there instead of on you (if that's the first he thing he does anyway..)

All you need for mites is Reptile Relief!

I don't think I would send him back to where he came from, because that's where he had the mites and they didn't even notice. That tells me they do not inspect their animals, spend time with them, and perhaps have poor conditions unless they only had the animal for a day or two....this means that their other animals likely have mites too, and if they're treating him for mites, they'd better be putting him back into an enclosure that is mite free!

i have been using reptile relief for his mites, and slowly its been working. i already took him to the guys i bought him from. they are really good guys and take good care of their animals. when i told them he had mites the gave me the mite stuff and a bunch of other things for free. i inspected him when i bought him and didn't see any mites. even after treating i still don't see any but when i give him a bath they jump off by the hundreds, and they're big, easy to see, ???

the last time i treated him it went ok. not at first, he kept peeing and eventually pooed on me, so i put him in the sink, which i tried to warm up a little with hot water before hand, and rubbed him with the solution. he seemed to like that, when i rubbed behind his ears he would push his head into it. then, because he would freak out again when i tried picking him up, i made a puddle of the mite solution in the sink and had him crawl through it to get his belly.

now this time he went after me. the guys will handle him this week so maybe that will help a little.

wow, two years to tame them?? well its worth putting in the time to have the next 18 years with him.

here's a picture, sorry about the size...


here is a link...
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z117 ... ng1102.jpg

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z117 ... ing198.jpg

So you actually see mites swarming off of him when he's in water/Repti-relief? Otherwise he looks good, huh? Yuk!
I know this sounds really gross, but for reference, I'd love to see pics of the mites in the water/repti-relief, just so I can know what to watch out for!

God Forbid Chuff or any of my animals ever get mites, so I just want to be sure. I hope your poor guy gets better soon, once and for all!
I assume you are cleaning and treating his enclosure too?

Yere the more you handle a wild one hand feeding works wonders ,keep it keen for food all your voices and sounds are strange & its just a instictive reaction to amp up ...To hear your voice comming hello mate ow r ya ..Lets him/her know your comming and support the whole body on your arm and hand ..They tend to wee alot more when you hold them up in the air around the chest..I guess being so low to the ground the fear of falling is another factor ...As the ones that watch TV with us walk around the lounge, and lick when they come to a fall off spot and back well back..snuggle under some were to hide ..were they can watch the idiot box from under the tv guide
good luck

Fatal_S wrote:Put on a glove and let him bite you

Or you could be a man and take it

why buy it if it has mites? obviously the people selling are complete tool bags and should not be selling infected reptiles, i would not be at all surprised if all there reptiles had mite, you should take it back and get a full refund, go somewhere else and buy a different skink, if they refuse give them a knuckle sandwhich.
cheers Matt

NomadOfTheHills wrote:

Fatal_S wrote:Put on a glove and let him bite you

Or you could be a man and take it

I tried that with my larger northern, and it hurt like 7734! He bit, and it was fine, but he didn't let go, then clamped down, and oh bugger. The next time he bit the glove a few times, huffed, and has calmed down since. He no longer bites, doesn't even try, just huffs and puffs and tries to hide when being taken out sometimes. My little ones are fully allowed to bite me, as it does a whole bunch of nothing, even when they clamp down ^.^ They've basically stopped, and only try it when they're surprised or Wocket when I pet his mouth, so cute. I love my little tannies.

beautiful skink. in my limited knowledge it doesnt look like a tanny so that could be thought of as good news.

AB&MB wrote:why buy it if it has mites? obviously the people selling are complete tool bags and should not be selling infected reptiles, i would not be at all surprised if all there reptiles had mite, you should take it back and get a full refund, go somewhere else and buy a different skink, if they refuse give them a knuckle sandwhich.
cheers Matt

Hey Matt,

I can see that a Smith & Wesson beats a knuckle sandwich but what beats a Smith & Wesson?

a mother in law

AB&MB wrote:a mother in law

AB&MB wrote:a mother in law

Nice one Mate.

AB&MB wrote:why buy it if it has mites? obviously the people selling are complete tool bags and should not be selling infected reptiles, i would not be at all surprised if all there reptiles had mite, you should take it back and get a full refund, go somewhere else and buy a different skink, if they refuse give them a knuckle sandwhich.
cheers Matt

I like the way you think!