BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

I have read where it says not to feed BTS under 1 year pinkys but I haven't seen the reason why.I am curious to know.

Gennie

I think they are too high in fat, not sure if they'd get them down thier necks either.

From my understanding its a year for fuzzys because of the hair, which is not the easiest to digest. I feed my leopard geckos small pinkies every now and then and believe me they are half the size of my 5 month old bts. Honestly 1 pinky every month or every 2 weeks will probibly be fine. I wouldnt go feeding them as a stable though... GL! And definately get more opinions!

BTW depending on the kind of pinkies you buy small pinkies should be the length of a cricket and in some cases smaller.

I fed all my skinks pinkies at under a year. The pinkies were really tiny and used only as a snack every few months.

My BTS is was born in March and can eat hoppers with no problem at all. They could eat pinkies from day one.

Pinkies in the first year are fine, but one of the problems you may have long term, is a skink that only eats meat. They can be hard to get onto veggies if they get too used to meaty treaties from day one. And because some people are more concerned about getting their bluey eating and growing fast in the first year, they let the veggies slide a little in favour of the foods that their bluey seems to enjoy more, such as mice and meat, and then it can be hard going to get a bluey onto veggies. Most will always choose the 'real' stuff over the veggies.

I'd make sure you've got a skink that eats veggies first, and then you can start giving them the meaty treaties

Lisa wrote:Pinkies in the first year are fine, but one of the problems you may have long term, is a skink that only eats meat. They can be hard to get onto veggies if they get too used to meaty treaties from day one. And because some people are more concerned about getting their bluey eating and growing fast in the first year, they let the veggies slide a little in favour of the foods that their bluey seems to enjoy more, such as mice and meat, and then it can be hard going to get a bluey onto veggies. Most will always choose the 'real' stuff over the veggies.

I'd make sure you've got a skink that eats veggies first, and then you can start giving them the meaty treaties

That's definitely a reason...

New owners also often seem to get the sizes of mice confused...they buy a mouse that's much too large, then leave it in the cage with the BTS. Baby BTS scales are also weaker and easier punctured as they are shedding every two weeks and growing rapidly (if the mouse were to fight back).

But yeah, in essence, a BTS baby could eat anything if it could get it's mouth around it. A baby might also try to eat a mouse that's too big and I've heard from a few people that the fur can make the mouse become lodged as the baby just isn't big enough to swallow big live prey yet.

Zach wrote:

Lisa wrote:Pinkies in the first year are fine, but one of the problems you may have long term, is a skink that only eats meat. They can be hard to get onto veggies if they get too used to meaty treaties from day one. And because some people are more concerned about getting their bluey eating and growing fast in the first year, they let the veggies slide a little in favour of the foods that their bluey seems to enjoy more, such as mice and meat, and then it can be hard going to get a bluey onto veggies. Most will always choose the 'real' stuff over the veggies.

I'd make sure you've got a skink that eats veggies first, and then you can start giving them the meaty treaties

That's definitely a reason...

New owners also often seem to get the sizes of mice confused...they buy a mouse that's much too large, then leave it in the cage with the BTS. Baby BTS scales are also weaker and easier punctured as they are shedding every two weeks and growing rapidly (if the mouse were to fight back).

But yeah, in essence, a BTS baby could eat anything if it could get it's mouth around it. A baby might also try to eat a mouse that's too big and I've heard from a few people that the fur can make the mouse become lodged as the baby just isn't big enough to swallow big live prey yet.

And that is why I always recommend Frozen thawed, and never live. If its too risky to have two BTS in the same cage, its too risky to feed live mice.

Well, it *can* be risky to feed huge giant live mice, but not pinkies. A giant BTS can pretty much kill a large mouse in one bite though. A lot of people just get confused on what size and when. Sooo, that's why I recommend them over the age of one year. There's no set rules.

Correct, not pinkies, but any mouse with teeth past the hopper stage has the potential for damage.

i fed mine a pinky today and he practically ran to it. for one who never comes out of hiding when a person in is the room i was shocked. he didn't even hesitate.

NomadOfTheHills wrote:Correct, not pinkies, but any mouse with teeth past the hopper stage has the potential for damage.

Right, and that's getting into a pretty good sized mouse. It doesn't have to be that big at all...