trying to hibernate?

[boonaen]

i think my skink is trying to hibernate. she spent the last 3 days burrowed up and is not interested in eating unless her food is alive. i threw in a superworm and she pounced is and promptly went back to bed...

should i let her?

[Tattoo]

Let her go back to bed? Sure if that's what they need to do they will. I think we need to trust they know what they are doing. There have been lots of great threads lately about brunation so do a little search. It will ease your mind about the process. Also read the care sheet again for extra reinforcement. Have faith ... they reactivate in the spring.

[Kya Ajiira]

how odd my skink doesent eat much but sleeping oh my i think he is more active =_= he never stais still and prefers to explore the house over eating unless i got nice banana or freshly cooked chicken

[boonaen]

k - i'll look through stuff... i guess my other question would be - should i still get her out? like, should i wake her up to get out and exercise or make sure she's not sleeping in poo or something? or just leave her alone?

only reason i ask is that i thought they kept a pretty regular schedule by nature. like, i learned that about a day before she sheds she won't get out of bed, but she doesn't look like she's getting ready to shed.

oh, somethign else that will get her excited and out of bed is if i put a wet wahscloth in the tank. she LOVES it.

[aggiegirl]

How old is your bluey? Don't you have a sib or a partial sib to my Zach baby? Usually we don't brumate the little guys (although I think many of the Aussies do.) I kept digging my baby out last year and he never brumated. This year he is doing the Rip Van Winkle thing. My new baby shows no desire to brumate---as she would rather eat and explore! Let us know a little more about your bluey and we'll try to guide you.

[Kya Ajiira]

a wet cloth? o.0 she loves that???

[Lisa]

Just leave her. A weekly poke to check on her is all that will be needed if she's going to brumate. You can start reducing your lighting schedule by about 15mins morning and night (half an hour a day), gradually decreasing so that in a week or two your lights are down to about 10am to 3pm. Of course, if she wakes up or is just having an extra long lie in then you can turn them back to your usual daytime cycle.

No need to feed her as their metabolism slows as the weather gets cooler so they are less active and therefore less hungry. They are able to go months without food.

I'd still leave fresh water in there but, mine sometimes come out once or twice during brumation for a drink.

[boonaen]

odd - she got up tonight and wanted out... like, "crawling up the side of the tank" out... anyway, i got her out and she crawled all over the place for about 20 minutes and then went to sleep under a towell, so i put her back in.

yes, she LOVES damp wash-cloths. especially when she's about to shed. when she sees me coming with one (i only put one in the tank about once every other week), she tackles it... then she spends about 10 minutes crawling over and under it, getting it into just the right spot before poking her head out and smiling (i swear she smiles).

my bluey is about... hmmm... 5-6 months i guess? she is the skink formerly known as mortimer that was born sometime in june and, yes, she was a Zach skink.


anyway, she is totally healthy - poops and stuff regularly. alert, when she's awake. she just wants to sleep i guess.

i guess i'll have to read up on brumating. i thought it was a "pregnant" thing...

anyway, thanks for the advice and i'll check back to see if any more was added.

[Leigh]

To coin a phrase,"They're ALL different" mine had a sleep for a week, then got all energetic for two days, then kipped for a week, now he pops his head out now and again,but if you try to lift him out he backs away,so I leave him , he gets the tickle on the head when its out and thats all. I've found that live feeders will encourage him out anytime of day, but I dont want to let him have too much as there's less mess when he's asleep

[shingleback aus]

its ok mine sleep through winter and come back in spring