Another new skink owner, questions...

[kaijubait]

Hello all,

I've had cornsnakes for quite a while, but decided to add a blue-tongued skink to my collection last year when I saw one at a herp show. I finally made my purchase yesterday. The animal has not been probed yet, but the person I bought it from told me that they're best guess was that it was female. My question is about behavior. She ate a few meal worms the first day, but has been uninterested in any of the fruits and veggies I've put in her dish (bananas, carrots, apples). She also seems interested only in burrowing under her humidity log (filled with moist moss) and didn't come out until I took her out myself at about 1:00 pm. I had her out for a little bit, then put her back in just a little while, and she burrowed right under the aspen at the same spot. Should this tell me something? Is it too hot for her (I'm using an overhead heater + a UV lamp) or is this normal? Is she just full, or not eating now for another reason? Here are some pics:
The Viv=

The viv from above, looking on her humdity log, you can see her poking out=

The viv from above, her water dish and food bowl, opposite end=

Me and her, minutes after the purchase =

Her on my floor, a few minutes ago =

Her on an art stool =
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So what do you think? Is she healthy and happy, or do I need to change something immediately?

[Dfang]

Well I'm no expert, but she looks pretty happy to me, could just be she's trying to get settled in.

[Justin]

What are your temps on you hot side and cool?It could be that she needs to get settled in.

also,i wouldnt try to probe her. That is VERY dangerous for a bluey.

[kaijubait]

I'm getting new temperature guages (a digital one with a probe) in a day or two, as I don't trust the therm in the there right now.
In any case, its reading 80 on the hot side.

[DeadEye]

Hey Mate
Welcome They do take a time to settle . Then try small bits of chicken breast meat , or lean mince , beef .Mine stuff themselfs with meat ..Its preety normal hey for alot of bluie,s turn there noses up at greens , Bannana is a goer and Mango ..

good luck do read the FAQ sheet hey mate , its the bluey bible for new owners ...So much to learn bout heat ,light and digestion ...like eg no UVA light they can,t get nutrion or digest there food right .. Enjoy reading
ps nice pics & Hat .. i like Hats

[Mach10X]

Digital with a probe is great...be sure you place the probe in contact with the basking surface so you're getting a surface temperature. An infrared tempgun such as those sold at www.tempgun.com are the easiest way to take temps (especially if you have many reptiles!) Temp guns instantly tell you the surface temp via an infrared beam.

If you're feeding live insects proper temps are an absolute must to ensure proper digestion of the chitin (shell and exoskeleton). Lack of proper heat can lead to impaction, especially in younger skinks. I have a very large enclosure and keep my basking area at around 105-107*F which quickly drops off to the 90's. I'd suggest shooting for 100*F and see how your bluey likes it...just don't forget that you'll need a good temperature gradient..you don't want to over heat the entire tank.

For heat I prefer a halogen flood bulb since it's energy efficient and concentrates heat downward...there's no need to buy a fancy reptile bulb for heat.

[Leigh]

Hello mate,you can't be doing to bad, he/she happily sat on your shoulder, contently roamed your room, and the set up looks good, I reckon he/she will settle in no time, from what I've read/heard probing is dangerous, others might be able to do the sexing if you can get a bunch of profile photos, I reckon its a nice I.J {watch me get nailed for a wrong i.d.}keep posting photos

[kaijubait]

Hello again guys,
Much thanks for the advice (re: probing, I hadn't planed on doing that myself due to my inexperience, I was going to leave it to a herp vet, but now I think I'll forgo it alltogether and see if any of the members of my local herp society can do some reliable sexing). When I came home today Godot was out (I named her that because I waited so long to get her), but burrowed back under her log as soon as I came in the room. I took her out for a little bit again (admist some scary sounding hissing), then put her back. I also came home with digital temp w/probe. I didn't like the readings I was getting (I hadn't turned the heater and lamp off yet). No higher than 80 degrees, and that was pretty much true of the whole viv. I've done some rearranging to hopefully get some better results. Pictures are below - The lamp used to rest on top of plexiglass, now it has no obstruction. Also, the heater is pointing straight down as opposed throwing its influence across the viv. We'll see what the temp reads when I get home tomorrow. In the mean time, feel free to tell me what you think.

[KyleWeiss]

Hello again guys,
Much thanks for the advice (re: probing, I hadn't planed on doing that myself due to my inexperience, I was going to leave it to a herp vet, but now I think I'll forgo it alltogether and see if any of the members of my local herp society can do some reliable sexing). When I came home today Godot was out (I named her that because I waited so long to get her), but burrowed back under her log as soon as I came in the room. I took her out for a little bit again (admist some scary sounding hissing), then put her back. I also came home with digital temp w/probe. I didn't like the readings I was getting (I hadn't turned the heater and lamp off yet). No higher than 80 degrees, and that was pretty much true of the whole viv. I've done some rearranging to hopefully get some better results. Pictures are below - The lamp used to rest on top of plexiglass, now it has no obstruction. Also, the heater is pointing straight down as opposed throwing its influence across the viv. We'll see what the temp reads when I get home tomorrow. In the mean time, feel free to tell me what you think.

One thing I noticed from the first set of pictures, your basking lamp is too far away, as is what I think is a tube-style UV fluorescent, and doesn't seem to be focused on a rock, tile or piece of slate. Think about getting constructive and mounting the lamps inside the vivarium. I'm not sure what you're referring to as a "heater," unless it's the infra-red type. That way you'll use less electricity and may do some good. In any case, get all and any heat and light a bit closer to the animal. If you want control over the output, get a dimmer switch for the basking light. I wouldn't use a dimmer switch on a compact fluorescent (if you ever use one) or an infra-red heating device, it will kill the units... It's very easy to get a standard flood light, 90W-150W, install with dimmer switch, and adjust according to temperature readings, for example.

A vast majority of us feel that either popping or probing a skink for sexing is dangerous, cruel, and a bad idea. See if your vet can suggest other methods for sexing the animal. If anything, save some money, find another bluey enthusiast with proven animals and watch reactions in the springtime with another bluey.

KW

[Leigh]

I'm no expert and the only thing I've to add is a landscape to cover the back and sides as some blueys have a tendency to climb the glass walls, this could lead to a bendy back bone

[kaijubait]

One thing I noticed from the first set of pictures, your basking lamp is too far away, as is what I think is a tube-style UV fluorescent, and doesn't seem to be focused on a rock, tile or piece of slate. Think about getting constructive and mounting the lamps inside the vivarium. I'm not sure what you're referring to as a "heater," unless it's the infra-red type.

Suggestions for mounting inside the viv? Masking tape is the first thing that comes to mind. Pictures of such set-ups would also be cool.
By heater I mean a Repticare Ceramic Infrared Heat Emiitter, that's what's inside the circular lamp housing.

Don't worry about the probing guys, it ain't gonna happen. Please keep the suggestions coming, though.

[Leigh]

You could use clear silicone to stick a bracket to the glass, just remove the fella out while the silicon sets, it smells rather vinigary but goes off in 1/2 Hr if warm.Lots of people here use normal spots with the silvery reflector in the lamp as a heat source, Kyle cleverly uses a dimmer for output control, hope this helps

[kaijubait]

Before I go nuts with a silicone gun, how far up off the surface would you estimate being a good distance?

[Mach10X]

Ceramic heaters and infrared coil type heater work just fine on dimmers.

I'd suggest about 6" from the basking spot for the UVB light.

[kaijubait]

For the most part, better news today.
The temp on the warm side was 90.5. Not perfect, but a lot better. The cold side was about 70. I have some idea for moving the lamps closer to the surface, and I will also be rearranging some things to provide a basking area. That will happen this weekend. She was out when I came in, and apparantly basking. She didn't try to hide when she saw me, and appears to have eaten at least half of the veggies I left out for her (I really wish I would have taken pics of her food bowl this morning so I could be sure, but it would have been quite odd of me to only fill part of it, and I did find an apple slice somewhere else in the viv.) BTW, I'm trying to feed every other day, as that's what the person I got her from said that she had been doing. She seems more comfortable with me for the most part, but not 100%. I tried to feed her some chunks of chicken. She was really interested in licking the chicken, but didn't take any of the tiny chunks down. What disturbs me is that when I tried taking her out, although she didn't hiss, she did try to run and VOMITED (I think that's what it was, it looked more like saliva, a lot of it). She let me wipe the stuff off and licked more chicken. Progress definitely appears to be taking place. Here are the photos for today:
When I came home-

The obviously ravaged food dish -

After licking some chicken -

And just for the heck of it, a few photos of my other herps, my two cornsnakes Duchess and Mookie. They don't photograph as well as the skink due to their current size and flighty nature. These are the best of the pics I took today:





PS - Update: she just took a big, runny crap all over my art stool and office carpet.

[DeadEye]

Yere i like the ceramic units ..keep up the pics and great work

Oh wonder why she was vomiting ...But she liked the smell of cooked chicken , might not have had it before .

[Omega]

poor art chair... my little guy's first crap in my ownership was luckily all over the carefresh bedding, hehe.

[KyleWeiss]

Ceramic heaters and infrared coil type heater work just fine on dimmers.

I'd suggest about 6" from the basking spot for the UVB light.

You will cut their life significantly if you use a dimmer on a ceramic heater or an infrared heater. They are cheaply made and do not respond well to the drop in hHz along the line. I have never had it happen, nor have I known anyone to, but I've heard stories of them causing the wires and plug to heat up enough to melt and touch, starting electrical fires because of the resistance load on the line to the dimmer switch.

KW

[KyleWeiss]

Suggestions for mounting inside the viv? Masking tape is the first thing that comes to mind. Pictures of such set-ups would also be cool.
By heater I mean a Repticare Ceramic Infrared Heat Emiitter, that's what's inside the circular lamp housing.

Don't worry about the probing guys, it ain't gonna happen. Please keep the suggestions coming, though.

M...m...masking tape?

KW

[Lisa]

I wouldn't be looking to fix anything inside you're tank. It'll make cleaning and maintenance harder.

But then, I don't think your heat lights are too far away. You just use higher wattage bulbs. My tanks are 2 foot high as you can see, (don't let anyone tell you that blueys don't like to climb and explore!), so I just use 100w bulbs.




Sorry Kyle, but I wouldn't be using masking tape. I don't reckon it would be strong enough over time, and if it perishes it could fall in the tank and something nasty could happen.