BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

So I was wondering do skinks get bored? 3-4 days a week I work 12 hour shufts (I'm off the other 3-4 days a week) and I think that he gets a little stir crazy in his tank while we are gone. He doesn't really have a ton of decor, just two levels, aspen and a half log to sleep in. Are there any enrichment activities for skinks that can be set up for him to enjoy while we are away? Is there anything that they like to "play" without supervision while we are gone?
I saw the postings with the eggs. Are there any preparetions for the egg or can you pretty much just toss it in there?
Also I am wanting to build a small outdoor enclosure for him. We live in an apartment but my parents live in the country and I know some time outside would be good for him. Are there any guidelines I should follow when building an outdoor space?
Thanks for reading!!!

an outdoor area would be a good idea but for a begginer and especially if ur away u shouldn't think about it because skinks are really good escape artists.

As a suggestion, leave a radio by the tank, or a television. If you have a fishtank nearby they can watch that too. However he may seem stir crazy simply because he realizes no one is around and therefor it is safe to come out. But tossing in a whole egg (unless he's a baby) before work could give him something to find. And adding something new to the tank every once in a while (a tube, a plant, etc) will make life a bit more interesting.

Rearranging the tank frequently really stimulates them.

I have a big sound system in my stackable units that plays jungle sounds and birds by day and crickets and frogs by night. It just adds to the overall natural effect so they're not just sitting in a box in utter silence all day....I used to notice that coming home, the slightest sound would set them off. These sounds really help I've discovered, and they are set to mesh with the dimming of the lights at night. That's another thing I've really noticed -- when we put the dimmers in, it really had an effect on their behavior. Sometimes, they immediately go hide and goto sleep when the dimming begins, and other times, if they were hiding, they come out and and explore when the dimming begins. Either way, the slightest changes in almost anything you do with your tank is used, explored, noticed, and is a benefit in the captive life of your animal.

As far as outdoor enclosures go, be careful it's not left in a place where animals could find their way to them or kids steal him...and don't enclose it in glass or plastic; it would need to be open air and completely skink proof. No large wire mesh for example or short height where he might climb out.

Eggs can be just thrown in, but I'd stick around and/or put it on a plate, otherwise you'll have a sticky mess! Low heat scrambled is fine as well.

zach- you keep mentioning these dimmers. Are they programmable so they automatically dim the lights on its own? Or is it just a normal dimmer switch that you manual dim the lights over a period of time?

Oh man, I had the whole thing setup and planned for complete automatic dimming but it was going to end up costing like $500 extra. So right now, we are manually dimming them. The daytime lights, night lights, and sound are automatic, but the actually dimming we have to do right now....Hey, I hear you're getting Tybo! He's a special lizard..... (that sounds so funny).

So yeah, basically we have the whole setup in the main room, so when it gets late, we slowly begin dimming it down over about an hour period. I'll have an autodim on it sometime. The only options were a theatre lighting package, and this weird little gizmo I found on some electriconic site that costs hundreds of dollars.

Yes, I have decided that a couple months with out a BTS is WAY to long! So i have decided to get Tybo as well as Tuck. I cant wait!

i really like this dimmer switch idea. Maybe I will look around at work and in catalogs and see if i can find somesort of "cheap" dimmer switch that gradually dims with time (maybe a dimmer switch/timer combo?). I will let you know what i find.

I have found that rearranging the tanks with each major tank clean helps stimulate them. I'll also just randomly change or add something.

i rearange the tank often these days because my skink often rearanges it himself by pushing things and digging so eventually the tank itself go;s into a mess.

i like to feed mine boiled eggs just because its not that messy

My word they do ... even the ones that are sick we take them out of the vivs for some rays ...nothing like proper sun and sand to dig around in , mine are tunneling through grass have logs toplay in , i inderstand it might be freezing but after a # 2 bring him/her out for walkies by the fore ...id get sick on it banged up in a glass box..In the wild males walk 5 miles to find there mate ....yep walkies watch tv

they drool with love karma when there happy

try to add changes in the furniture, say half log then try with a pvc pipe, then a wooden hide then re arranging food dishes etc. Boris always likes to explore knocking things down and of course mixing diff recipes are good too