BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hi there everyone, Today I become another owner of a skink
Its a female, with 6-7 year, because her last owner lost his enthusiasm to take care of her and he was too lazy to even change her water, and gave it to me because I wanted to give her a better new life
I used to have a leopard gecko (until I sold it), and from what I heard,
Skinks are easier to feed and mantain. Mine is in a Box temporaly with newspaper as substrate and she is very still and doesnt move unless I touch her, Its normal that they behave like that in a new enviroment and I need to wait some days? another question, Is a Incadecent Bulb or a Fluorescent Bulb
enough for a skink? I live in a tropical weather all year, and my geckos never needed artificial light. Thanks!

Well, a good place to start to figure things out and get started well is the "BlueTongueSkinks.net Caresheet", the fourth item down on the Main Forum Menu on this site. All your answers can be found there and then some! It is a VERY good caresheet and very thorough.

As far as Blue Tongue Skinks being "easier" then Leopard Geckos, I would have to disagree. Though they are, in my opinion, more rewarding due to their "heft" and great personalities (not that Leo's don't have them), they are more like puppies! It is NOT normal for a skink to be sedentary and not move around unless they are not in the correct environment, i.e not warm enough, not enough light (UVA/UVB), not enough food, etc. Blue Tongues DO need UVB light either from regular jaunts in the yard in the real sun or via a UVB light (though some may argue that it is not required, most seem to agree) such as the Reptisun 8.0, etc. If your skink has a basking spot that is at about 100F and ambient cool side of about 75F, then they should be pretty active throughout the day, especially an older animal like yours seems to be...UNLESS they have been in brumation (a hibernation type of activity that Blueys go into when there is cold weather or a lack of food or water). There is a good thread at the top of the topics called "Brumation 101" to read up on that and some info in the caresheet.

A good combination of lights for a blue tongue skink is a simple incandescent for Heat (wattage depends on many factors to achieve the 100F temps, including height, ambient temp, etc.) and a flourecent UVB bulb such as the Reptisun 8.0.

About the substrate, newspaper isn't usually very good...Blue Tongues like to burrow and bury themselves so they need something they can dig in such as Aspen or Carefresh bedding.

Unfortunately your Bluey will need more lighting and "care" then the Leopard Gecko as the geckos are nocturnal and don't really require UVB lighting. Blue Tongues also require more care in preparing food, they need green leafy foods, veggies, fruits, and similar items for about 75% of their food items and snails, roaches, cooked meat, high quality cat/dog food, etc. for 25% of their diet. You can find BETTER, more complete information in the caresheet.

What kind of Blue Tongue Skink do you have? Can you post pictures?

First off, CONGRATS! AND

jasjmm27 has pretty much covered it: Caresheet Caresheet Caresheet,
and then, a really good herp vet for a check up, to get a good starting point of health for your Bluey.
Goto www.herpvetconnection.com and scroll bottom and enter your state. you will hopefully get good ones listed in your area.
Blueys want more Floorspace than height, so the proper set up is a very important thing. My Bluey was a freebie rescue too, and thank Gods I found the people on this site to help me!
Good for you for taking care of this poor neglected animal and as soon as you can,

congrats on the bts!!! as has been said id first check out the care sheet download the food chart. and also i would go to the vet and give it a check up.

Your new pet will bring you years of pleasure! Good choice.

I think that skinks are a great addition to any home,and are quite easy to keep once the basics are sorted out, your mate may well be still and shy due to the new surroundings, or because he's due to shed its skin, or (depends where in the world you are)could still be in brumation,or any combination of the three answers.

You have to provide a basking spot of around 100/105F to allow digestion. They need UVB not UVA,which can be supplied via natural sun light or a UVB lamp,compact florries or tubes are the norm but some use mercury vapour lamps these provide heat and UVB, so give you basking and UV in one.

Foods to feed can be found in the caresheet here(as mentioned, very good and informative)

For an enclosure you should be looking at something thats 3feet long,2 feet wide and as tall as you like for an adult skink(keep in mind distance from light to cage basking site/floor. You can also (weather permitting) keep them in outdoor enclosures,where the sun can supply light and heat. Lots like a front opening cage as it seems to scare the skink less being approached/grabbed/handled from the side and not from above (like a preditor would).

One last thing is that we adore nice photos,so when you get the chance,send 'em in.