Does your skink ever bite you??

[Jeff66]

As of late, Tiga (my Tanimbar) has been biting me an awful lot. Now, many of you will be tempted to say, "Well it's a Tanimbar!". But, this has only really happened with any frequency in the last couple of weeks. Before this, he has never bitten me at all. Sure, he would huff and puff, but that was always the extent of it.

It never happens when I pick him up either. It is always after he is outside of his tank for awhile. He'll want to go somewhere he shouldn't be going to, in which case I stop him and bring him back closer to me. After a few times of doing this, he takes a big chomp out of my arm or hand! It doesn't draw blood, but it sure hurts! It's almost like he's being a brat and biting me because he isn't getting his way. I usually try not to put him back right after he bites me, but I did tonight because my arm was really red and sore after he bite me. Not really sure how to stop this behavior. Any ideas?

Does anyone else's skink bite like this on occasion?

[evil pixie]

My skink only gives kisses, never love bites

[boonaen]

well - i've had my skink for a total of 2.5 days, so...

but, she has bitten my daughter 2 times (which is a real bummer, cause now my daughter is nervous)...

she hasn't bitten me. not even close. i have held/interacted with her for about 3 hours (one hour strait, the rest divided up) each day and she does little more than crawl around on me and eat from my hand (because she refuses to eat from her bowl... grrr).

can't figure out why she bit the kid... i saw it happen the second time. it wasn't violent or anything. she just sniffed around a bit, looked sideways at my daughter, and slowly opened her mouth and bit my daughter on the hand. was strange... like slow-motion... or like the skink was thinking, "i wonder what would happen if i did this.."

lemme ask: are you working with food or something before handling the skink? is the skink about to shed or is anything else going on that might cause moodiness? can you create an out of tank environment that would allow you to avoid having to correct your skink?

[Jeff66]

lemme ask: are you working with food or something before handling the skink? is the skink about to shed or is anything else going on that might cause moodiness? can you create an out of tank environment that would allow you to avoid having to correct your skink?

Tiga's just over a year old now. The pic in my avatar was when he was just a baby. I don't really recall working with any food before this happens. He does get "moodier" when he is about to shed, like most BTS do, but it doesn't appear that he is about to shed though. There are other ways that I could interact with him outside of the cage, sure. It's just weird... it almost seems like he is biting simply because I won't allow him to get into somewhere that he wants to go but shouldn't be getting into. Almost like a spoiled child in a way.

[boonaen]

good chance of that, i guess. not that they can be "spoiled", but getting mad when someone won't let you do what you want to do is understandable!

not sure what to do about it... maybe he'll get over it and realize that biting doesn't change anything. just be consistent. i don't know how much they can "learn", but consistency never hurt... though skink bites might!

[Jeff66]

consistency never hurt... though skink bites might!

Let me tell you!! It hurts very much actually. Like I said in my first post, he doesn't draw blood, but it sure leaves a nice mark.

Of course, I am dealing with a Tanimbar here... From what I understand, people who have kept them in the past have told me that from time to time they can easily forget that they are supposed to be "tame". He certainly does that at times, but I just never thought he would ever bite me though.

[thesilverbeast]

my little eastern is the ned flanders of skinks, never ever mad

[wastedindustry]

Lilly's never, ever bitten me. I'm glad about this, because having seen what she does to snail shells, I can only imagine what she'd do to a finger or two!

[kris21]

my little eastern is the ned flanders of skinks, never ever mad

Haha...oops i probably just sounded like Nelson Muntz but it was the other haha!
Yeah a Simpsons nut here
Kris

[Leigh]

When you say outside the tank ,do you mean in the sun or around the house, they are fiesty little gits, and I reckon he's doing a teenager on you, now that hes filled out a bit, I wouldnt be suprised if they understood some kind of restraint, try putting him back in his tank if hes naughty, and make him stay there{its hard to ignore those "sorry"eyes}maybe you should of got a more ammicable sub species if you intend handling on a regular basis,if only for the kids benefit, just my 2p worth, good luck

[thesilverbeast]

just wanna add, i have felt his teeth while feeding him, theres no way i wanna get bitten by a bluey!

snake bites i can handle, I've had that before but i reckon a bluey would hurt like hell!

[Jenn]

I've only been bit once and that was when I just got Spike. I decided to take him out of the cage to soon after getting him and he nipped my arm. My kei's have hiss, whipped and displayed at me but never taken a bit. You might want to have your daughter hold her wrapped in a towel or blanket. That way they'll both feel more comfortable.

[SailleSkinklover]

My skink is an IJ or Merauke, and he's very gentle with me. However, he has bitten Tony like four times. The first time, he was over-excited about eating catfood from Tony's hand, and he got Tony's fingernail and held on. It startled us, but didn't hurt anybody. And then, he takes the "slow motion" experimental bites out of Tony. He tried again last night, and we caught him and stopped it before anything really happened. He has never left a mark or anything, just a gentle nip to "see what this is like". He's so far never done it with me, though I'm the one who gives him his daily bath which he hates! (its for parasites)
Tony thinks Chuff Chuff likes me better than him, but I just think Tony tastes better! I'm a little more stringy and tough!

[AneesasMuse]

I think they understand routine a little more than we give them credit for sometimes and perhaps returning him to his viv when he tries to "get into stuff he shouldn't" or when he actually bites you, is a good idea.

I haven't been bit by a Bluey yet, but I've heard too many people say it feels like "getting your hand slammed in a car door". YeeeOUCH!! I don't ever want to know first hand... which is why I chose a Northern for my first Bluey kid.

[NomadOfTheHills]

Every day.

[Zach]

consistency never hurt... though skink bites might!

Let me tell you!! It hurts very much actually. Like I said in my first post, he doesn't draw blood, but it sure leaves a nice mark.

Of course, I am dealing with a Tanimbar here... From what I understand, people who have kept them in the past have told me that from time to time they can easily forget that they are supposed to be "tame". He certainly does that at times, but I just never thought he would ever bite me though.

I would agree completely! My Tanimbar is pretty tame, but has no problem regressing back at any time....I think I will say exactly what you expected. It's a Tanimbar!! They're simply the most temperamental BTS species....

[Zach]

well - i've had my skink for a total of 2.5 days, so...

but, she has bitten my daughter 2 times (which is a real bummer, cause now my daughter is nervous)...

she hasn't bitten me. not even close. i have held/interacted with her for about 3 hours (one hour strait, the rest divided up) each day and she does little more than crawl around on me and eat from my hand (because she refuses to eat from her bowl... grrr).

can't figure out why she bit the kid... i saw it happen the second time. it wasn't violent or anything. she just sniffed around a bit, looked sideways at my daughter, and slowly opened her mouth and bit my daughter on the hand. was strange... like slow-motion... or like the skink was thinking, "i wonder what would happen if i did this.."

lemme ask: are you working with food or something before handling the skink? is the skink about to shed or is anything else going on that might cause moodiness? can you create an out of tank environment that would allow you to avoid having to correct your skink?

Seriously?? And she wasn't doing anything? Did she wash her hands beforehand? Was she holding him differently or strangely? Sometimes babies can nibble to taste and just figure things out, but I haven't seen ANY of these Northerns do that, so that that's sort of surprising. Tell your daughter not to be discouraged! Babies are usually more hyper and curious; they mellow more and more as they get older. Unless you have a Tanimbar.

[Jenn]

You definetly want to make sure she's washed her hands before holding the skink because little kids carry so many smells on them.

[KyleWeiss]

Fine then I'LL say it since no one except Jeff did:

"Well, it's a TANIMBAR!"

There. I said it. Truth speaks!

KW

[kvega92]

I have never been bit either. What is it like. Does it really hurt. Tink is so docile