taming a new blue tongue

[shel1006]

I irecently aquired a young (a little over 1) blue tongue. I've been trying to give him some time to get used to his new home. I have had him over two weeks now and he still hisses every time I try to pet him. Should I just start picking him up to get him used to being handled? Any ideas will be appreciated.

[Fatal_S]

This should probably get moved to the General Forum, since it's not really scientific.

But, since I'm here, first thing to ask is do you know the difference between a hiss and a huff?

A hiss with BTS is an open-mouth threat. It means "leave me alone or I'll bite you".

A huff is a closed-mouth puff of air. It means something along the lines of "I'm existing here".

If the skink is hissing at you, it's scared and defensive. If it huffs, it's normal. Most completely tame skinks will still huff when bothered by a person. It doesn't mean they're going to attack, so don't bother yourself about it.

Also, BTS generally aren't fans of being petted. They're not like a mammal where touch is nice, they're reptiles where touch is possibly dangerous and at best something to be ignored. So I'd skip the petting and just move to handling and hanging out and exploring. Most skinks enjoy exploring over handling, but will tolerate handling and cuddles and pets, especially given time to get used to it.

[Katrina]

Yeah, I'm moving this to the general discussions. It will get more replies there.