BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hello everyone!
Last month, I picked an Australian Northen Blue Tongue Skink from a reptile expo in White Plains, New York. I've wanted one for a while, but every breeder I found in my area sold their offspring off, or didn't breed any this last year. I could have tried to get on a reservation list, but I would have had to wait until August, before anything would be available. I really wanted an Australian northern. I have experience with keeping a Green Iguana, a Bearded Dragon, and a Lepard Gacko, so I have a good amount of keeping experience, with different reptiles.

This was my first time going to an expo, and I didn't know what to expect. It looked like the Skink selection, was very limited, when compared to other reptiles. I was only finding Australian adult, of three years and older.
Then, I came across this one table that had several young Blue Tongue Skinks, but when I asked if the skinks where Australian, he had me wait. Then, he came back saying no, they were Indonesian. I explained I was mainly interested in Australian Northern because they get bigger, and I wanted something captive bred. The same guy replied saying I was wrong about the size, and that his Indonesian where actually the largest type, then went tried to sell me on how they were kept the same, but just had differences in humidity.

I wasn't persuaded and walked away. I was about to give up, but then I found a large table, set up by a pet store located in New Jersey. There they actually had a about 3-month-old female northern skink! She looked so nice, and once I had her in my hands, I had to take her home.

The enclosure I had ready to be set up is 48 inches wide. I'm looking to do a bio-active setup, but in the meantime, I'm just using cypress mulch for the substrate. For the first few days, she stayed burrowed in the mulch and never came out. Day three, I dug her out and put in a bowl of food. The vendor said they were feeding her blue buffalo cat food, so I got that, mixed it in with some spring mix and veggies. She ate a bunch, then went right back under the substrate.

The next day, I raised the temps a bit, to make the ground a bit warmer, under the basking platform, where she was burrowed. I waited a day, then partly dug up her head to check on her. She was annoyed, but eventually started exploring the enclosure, climbing up to bask, and using the other hides. She really likes this long cork bark log, where she just peeks her head out and waits. This is where she spends most of her time. Everything seems to be going fine. She eats whatever insect I put in the enclosure. I've tried mealworms, hornworms, and silkworms. I offer the cat food + veggie mix every other day, and in-between I offer some type of fruit and insects, so she been eating something every day.

Since I didn't really know how she was kept before I got her, I made an appointment with a vet and had her checked out. He confirmed that she was, in fact, a Northen Skink, and said she looked healthy, and big for her age. All great news, but he still he had me get a stool sample to be tested. After a few days, the results came back positive for pinworms... He gave me Panacur liquid I'm to give her for 10 days, then she'll need to be retested to see if she's clean. He also recommends I take out all the substrate and have her on paper towels until she's clean because she can easily keep reinfecting herself.

Now I'm bummed out that I need to remove everything I set up, and disrupt her even more while she was in the process of settling in. I'll be spending the next couple of days removing all the substrate, but I'm worried the humidity levels I achieved won't be easily maintained, with paper towels. I'm also worried about having to give her the Panacure for the next couple of weeks, as she doesn't trust me yet. When I open the tank, she usually runs, and hides. So, if she doesn't take it when it's mixed in with her food, I'll have to use a syringe, and I really don't want to do this. Anyone have advice for this? Is force feeding the best way to make sure she's ingesting the dosage?

Although I'm extremely happy with my new pet, and I'm looking for some advice, this is also a warning for other new owners, and first-time expo goers. You can never be sure about the health or what you actually end up buying from these places. Some people will mislead and try to sell you whatever they have, like that one vendor I mentioned. I was also really careful, trying to research all the sellers I talked with. I sanitized my hands constantly, even if I didn't touch or buy anything. Basically, my Skink could have had parasites from how it was kept at the pet store, which is common, or maybe it got cross contaminated from being handeled at the expo. You can never know, so it's important to get your pet checked out by a vet, no matter where you get them from.

Here are some pictures of my Northern Blue Tongue Skink. She doesn't have a name yet.

First and foremost, this is brumation season for Northerns. If he or she is burrowing leave it be, as this is normal behavior. Constantly digging up will do nothing but cause stress, and will take much longer to establish trust.
Captive bred animals seldom have an unacceptable parasite load, so I am thinking it's from contact with others. Vendors at expos often warehouse their animals, keeping in close contact with some who may be unhealthy. Personally I avoid expos like the plague except when I am assisting my friend at his table. (Cutting Edge Herp).
Birthing season for NBTS is any time from late May to August, and many babies are available at that time from breeders on this forum, morph market and elsewhere.
Do not worry about the temporary situation, as NBTS do not require the high humidity levels that Indonesians do.

Yeah, I see, thanks.
I only dug her up a couple times, and one of those times I had to for her vet appointment.

I spent the last couple of hours removing all the substrate. Two thirds of it was a bioactive ready mix I was planning on adding some isopods, and springtails to, after her vet visit, but that's been put on hold...I put that aside to bake or freeze again because I don't want to waste it.
Her basking spot, I just had several inches of cypress mulch, and she just stayed burrowed on that side while was taking everything out. I took as much as I can out, then I stopped when I got to where I thought she was. I didn't see her move or hear her hiss the entire time. Now, there's just one corner with the mulch, which I'll remove once she comes out on her own, a couple of hides, all on paper towels.

I feel bad taking the rest of the substrate out, especially if she wants to burrow. Maybe I should use something I can change more easily, and frequently, like aspen, or paper shavings? Are either of those ok for skinks? The humidity also went from 60%, down to 40%.

She didn't come out to eat today, so I didn't try giving her the dewormer, but if she comes out before her light goes off, I'll try to give her a dose, if not, I'll try the next time she's up. Once I start giving her the medication, I'll have to keep disrupting her every day, for the next couple weeks, to make sure she gets clean.

Krebllogs wrote:Yeah, I see, thanks.
I only dug her up a couple times, and one of those times I had to for her vet appointment.

I spent the last couple of hours removing all the substrate. Two thirds of it was a bioactive ready mix I was planning on adding some isopods, and springtails to, after her vet visit, but that's been put on hold...I put that aside to bake or freeze again because I don't want to waste it.
Her basking spot, I just had several inches of cypress mulch, and she just stayed burrowed on that side while was taking everything out. I took as much as I can out, then I stopped when I got to where I thought she was. I didn't see her move or hear her hiss the entire time. Now, there's just one corner with the mulch, which I'll remove once she comes out on her own, a couple of hides, all on paper towels.

I feel bad taking the rest of the substrate out, especially if she wants to burrow. Maybe I should use something I can change more easily, and frequently, like aspen, or paper shavings? Are either of those ok for skinks? The humidity also went from 60%, down to 40%.

She didn't come out to eat today, so I didn't try giving her the dewormer, but if she comes out before her light goes off, I'll try to give her a dose, if not, I'll try the next time she's up. Once I start giving her the medication, I'll have to keep disrupting her every day, for the next couple weeks, to make sure she gets clean.

Congrats on your new skink I’m a new bts owner also! For the bedding I personally use aspen and haven’t had much problems with it , if you do go for aspen Walmart has a big 141 l bag for $10 by the company vibrant life ,paper bedding is a bit dust for a bts in my opinion.cypress it’s self is good too it can probably hold humidity better
For the medication you just kinda have to take her out , just a bit off tough love is Waht they call it , it would be for the good of her anyway even if she’s grumpy about it.

That's Awesome! Congrats to you too. Thanks for the tips, but it's funny you mention Walmart. I live, in NYC, which has zero Walmarts. You can find them upstate NY, but not in driving distance from the city, unless you go to New Jersey. For a long time, they wanted to build one on Staten Island, but every time they tried, people protest, put up anti-walmart billboards, and it never happens. Targets are a plenty though, in all the boroughs...

I was busy working today, so I put it off until I was done, and I had to dig her up. I held her for a while before I got the nerve to try and get her to take the syringe. I've done this with my Bearded Dragon before, which was a little easier, but I was able to open the side of her mouth to get the syringe in, and move it to the front, before slowly injecting. She took it well, and didn't spit any out. I don't think I'll have much of an issue doing this every day. I'll have to do it earlier in the day though.

After I put her back in the tank, I offered a couple silkworms, and her cat food mix. She ate a bunch and is still basking now, even after her daylight went off. I'll try to focus on the positive, that I'll get to handle her every day, while giving her the medication.

I meant to post an update sooner, but I've been busy.

After two weeks on the meds my skink was deemed clean, and her enclosure is back to having substrate.

Now she's readjusted to her new setup again. She's always up early in the morning, right before her light goes on. She's active for a good amount of the day, moving between hides and basking. I usually offer food sometime before noon, and she goes for it right away. She's also gone through 3 sheds since I've had her. The first was when she was still on the paper towel quarantine, and 2 after. So, she's growing quite fast.

It didn't take too long, but she no longer reacts by hissing or running to hide when I have to put my hand in the tank to change water, mist, or spot clean. I try to handle her more. When I see she's not hiding, about once every couple of days. Most of the time there's no issue with getting her out, but there are times where she'll hiss, but once I Scoop her up, she's chill and calms down. She'll either sit with me at my desk, on the couch while I watch TV, or she'll move around and explore for a bit before finding a spot to lay or burro into a blanket.

One thing I'm not sure about is how much to feed her. She never really turns down a meal. I've seen her eat multiple large hornworms in a row, plus a serving of her prepared food afterwards. The current scale I have only goes up to a pound, so I need to get something better before I can gauge if she's eating too much.

Here are some pictures of her before and after enjoying a meal: