BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hello!

I've been very worried about my bts for quite a while now, and finally decided to seek help from more experienced keepers.

I got my skink, Munch, back in May. She's about 9 months old now. She was thriving for the first-- what, 5? 6 months of her life? And then hurricane Ida hit, and destroyed my home.

Since then, I've tried my genuine hardest to take care of her. I hooked her lights up to the generator so that she'd be okay, kept up with her, and she was doing great! Up until the contractors started coming. This lizard absolutely HATED the contractors. She would hide from them, every single day, for months. The construction is finally done, but Munch hasn't stopped hiding every day.

She went from being extremely social, sunning herself happily all day every day, to fearfully hiding all day & never coming out, even to eat. When I dig her up out of the substrate to eat, she will, but she has not come out on her own. She has not shed since before the hurricane hit, which was months ago now.

I'm extremely worried about her and I'm at my wits end. I feel like the contractors traumatized her, but I can't figure out how to get her to feel safe enough to start coming out on her own again & eating without me digging her up please help me out! Any suggestions are welcome. Thank you guys in advance.

I would just leave her alone. An animal will not starve itself. Every time you dig it up it causes extreme stress. Reptiles can go for a surprising amount of time without food.

splashy07 wrote:I would just leave her alone. An animal will not starve itself. Every time you dig it up it causes extreme stress. Reptiles can go for a surprising amount of time without food.

Thank you so much for the input!! That definitely eases my anxiety a lot. This is my first BTS, I owned beardies before, and I guess I'm just very used to their voracious appetites. Do you think I should be concerned about her not shedding, or does that seem normal to you as well?

I have observed that the most active growth period is the first six months. After that their shed cycles are a bit further between.