New to BTS.net, and proud new skink owner

[mouseinamilkbottle]

Lovely red tummy!

[Christi Rose]

These last sets of pics are much better!! The quality is great! He looks like hes doing well and thats a nice setup

[Pr0zAc]

Thanks about the setup. It's still taking a bit of getting used to in there. He hasn't been out of his moss box since I put it in.

[Pr0zAc]

I found what I think were seminal plugs in droppings today. Figure this must be a male.

[Christi Rose]

Well, if they are seminal plugs, then it's probably a safe bet that he's a boy...girls don't generally have those

[Zach]

Very neat setup! He'll explore more as time goes by. The more open/public a space the tank is in, the more accustomed he will come sooner.

[Lea]

[quote="Fatal_S"]Nice tank. Awsome looking skink! I dunno about species much, but he almost reminds me of LeaBilby's Eastern Popsicle. Might just be the glare though... He looks pretty mean, is he?
quote]

Poor Pops'!! He has such a reputation for being the devil skink! But, I agree, the mean glare, really makes him looks like him. Maybe Eastern up to the shoulders although the rest of him

[Pr0zAc]

He's not very mean, he just hisses a lot, never bit at me before. I attribute the hissing to the new environment. Call it wishful thinking.

[mouseinamilkbottle]

Tye huffs a lot - not cos he doesn't like being handled. Because he's a lazy bugger who likes to sleep all day.

[KyleWeiss]

Very beautiful skink.

KW

[Nature's Gift]

Great looking guy - did you get any idea of how old he is estimated to be? That top shelf in the enclosure is really close to the lid ..... so the lid should be pretty strong and firmly fixed when it's on or when he gets a little more inquisitive, he'll just push it off and escape.

As for freezing part of the feed, you don't freeze it in big squares like icecream, you can freeze it in large surface area containers - (like 3 or 4 cm deep). Like with toffee, before it's quite set, run a knife along in portion size sections. You save a lot in plastic bags.

[Greytmari]

He is a BEAUTIFUL skink!!! Wow!! I love how dark he is!! My Tito is an IJ/Northen X and he is very dark lik your guy!! In fact, he looks a bit like Tito, but in reality, he does not look like any skink I have seen!! What a unique individual you have!! The hissing will soonstop as he settles in!! Tito used to hiss all the time but now, only when I wake him and he is grumpy. It is SO FUNNY because you see the apen rising ad falling wherever his head is and this HUGE puffing sound that if I didnot know better, you'd think a giant cobra was going to pop out at any moment and end your life!!! He's all huff and no harm because the minute you pick him up, he starts giving kisses and suggles right under my chin t warm up and hide. He gets very happy when he is out socializing with Maggie as he is the BIG stud man and she is a cute little girl skinkie!!! Tito is as sweet as can be and I am sue your boy will end up that way to!!! It just takes them awhile to get used to thier new home!!!! More pictures too!!! What a beautiful belly!!!

P.S> As you can see, my keyboard is on it's way out so it misses about every 10th key stroke! I am a stickler for spelling and punctuation in my posts but please excuse the errors as I do not catch them all!!!

[Pr0zAc]

I'll have to try your freezing technique Gift. Sounds like a winner. How long does the frozen food last? I froze my first batch of food and simply stored my last batch of food in the fridge. I was actually surprised how long it lasted in the fridge. I kept the processed components semi-separated in individual containers and then mixed them together at feeding time. I am still getting used to his portion sizes and have been making too large of quantities. He still hasn't really gotten used to me. Every other day or so when the weather is nice I let him outside. He can be a fast little bugger if he thinks I'm not watching. He always heads in the same direction. I guess he's trying to get back "home."

I have no idea how old he is at all. For some reason I get an older vibe from him although I could be totally wrong as I've never owned a BTS. But speaking about the top of the enclosure and the close "second floor." I was keeping it slightly cracked because of the clamp from the heat lamp and one day I came home from work and snuck in my room to see if he's sunning or what, because when I'm home he just stays hid somewhere. So I'm standing directly in front of his enclosure looking in his log hide, his moss box hide and I'm like where the hell is this guy? I didn't see any ridges in the aspen to indicate he was there. Then I hear this scratching noise and I look up on the top of the screen enclosure and the guy is staring at me about 6 inches from my face. So yeah I make sure the top is secure after I change his water every morning.

I noticed this guy is very dark also when compared to other BTS this is one reason why myself, new to BTS, couldn't identify which type he was. I'm kind of afraid about cuddling too close to mine, he looked like he might try and bite me once. It really scared me pretty good because he is quick.

[mouseinamilkbottle]

I'll have to try your freezing technique Gift. Sounds like a winner. How long does the frozen food last?

Just be aware that freezing the vegetables destroys some of the vitamins (specifically, I think, the B1? Correct me if I'm wrong, guys) which are vital to your skink's health. I only freeze the meat portions.

I froze my first batch of food and simply stored my last batch of food in the fridge. I was actually surprised how long it lasted in the fridge. I kept the processed components semi-separated in individual containers and then mixed them together at feeding time. I am still getting used to his portion sizes and have been making too large of quantities.

That's the way to do it! You'll get used to the right portion sizes soon enough, that's just practice. Keeping the components separate will help it "keep" longer in the fridge, as your "wet" ingredients won't be wilting your "dry" or making them soggy. Different things stay fresh for different lengths of time, too, so that means you don't have to toss the whole batch if one element goes bad.

I've also found that our guys prefer the fresh (refrigerated) stuff. We did try freezing earlier on, when we were having trouble with getting the portioning right, and they weren't anywhere near as keen on defrosted food as fresh stuff. (Their favourite is stuff fresh chopped right then, but we don't often have the time. )

[Pr0zAc]

Thanks for the info miamb. I was wondering if the freezing would harm the nutrients. And actually after I just put them in the fridge it really was amazing how long they lasted. The biggest thing for me is that I have one skink. But so far the couple places that I have bought greens, they come in a bunch. So I have a huge amount of greens.

Now here may be a silly question. But on these food sheets/charts. It shows daily staples. Should one feed their skink all of these dailies really daily. Or pick 2-3 one week and switch up to different ones the next. I have been finding as many of the dailies as I could and putting them together, yet another reason for the large portion sizes.

[Fatal_S]

"My grandfather used to tell me that Variety is the spice of life. He told me that every single day."

Dailys are food that's really good, and carry a lot of his needed nutrition. However, they're called dailys because they are OKAY to be given daily, not because they are required daily. Switch it up, and change your dailys every week or so. Go with new things, and what you can get a deal on at your pet store.

[NomadOfTheHills]

Daily stables means you could feed it every day with no/little adverse affects. At least thats how I interpret it.

[KyleWeiss]

Daily stables means you could feed it every day with no/little adverse affects. At least thats how I interpret it.

This is why you USE a stable...



KW

[Leigh]

Kyle is that an accident, or modern art, I ask because some nutter here sliced a whole cow into 1000's of slices head to tail,mounted it in a perspex box and had it on show as... "art"

[KyleWeiss]

Accidental art?

I saw that sliced cow... I take it your opinion of it in "quotes" is that it isn't "art."

KW