Richard the Blue Tongue!

[jclaiborne]

Richard ate today! I made a mix of:
ground 85% lean turkey
red wiggler earthworms
spinach
arugula
bluberries
mango
tiny bits of carrot
and an egg to clump it together!

Much better mixture than dog food!!! Good Job!

[Sir Hognose]

I have some squash that I'll inter change with the carrot

[Sir Hognose]

It's been 2 days since I fed him, I offered the mixture again (i made a medium amount of food and put it in the fridge) and he didnt take it. He also didn't react well to being picked up yesterday (hissing) so I'm going to try again today. I checked temps and highest there was was 102 degrees, so I lowered the temps a smidge and its about 99 at highest now. Please eat today!
He just came through his shed also, is that it? His colors are BRILLIANT! I love his yellows.

[jclaiborne]

do you know approx how old he is? Sometimes they go off feed during shed and get grumpy. Also odds are he is a WC or "farm bred" animal so he may take a little time to calm down and adjust to his new environment. What are the dimensions of your cage, is it glass, plastic, top opening, front opening, how is it being heated, are you providing UV, do you dust the food with calcium powder, are you still using aspen bedding, what is your humidity at, etc?

[Snake_Tooth]

Well, its a running joke between my friends to give our reptiles human names. One friend named his Carl, another Martha, and so on.

That's hilarious! I actually named my blue tongue Phil after AmazingPhil the British Youtuber, so I always have to explain why he has a human name

[Druzy]

Awesome pick up! Blue tongue skinks are wonderful creature. I truly adore them! Out of curiosity did you provide any UV lighting?

[Sir Hognose]

Awesome pick up! Blue tongue skinks are wonderful creature. I truly adore them! Out of curiosity did you provide any UV lighting?

Yup, albeit weak UV ratings.

[jclaiborne]

Yup, albeit weak UV ratings.

What is a weak UV rating? I will repost my previous stated questions:

do you know approx how old he is? Sometimes they go off feed during shed and get grumpy. Also odds are he is a WC or "farm bred" animal so he may take a little time to calm down and adjust to his new environment. What are the dimensions of your cage, is it glass, plastic, top opening, front opening, how is it being heated, are you providing UV (if so what type of bulb), do you dust the food with calcium powder, are you still using aspen bedding, what is your humidity at, etc?

[Sir Hognose]

He's about 3 months old
36in x 18in x 18in
Glass with screen top covered fully by light covers with vents
UTH thermostatted with temperatures under aspen (where he stays most of the time) at a comfortable 96.6 fahrenheit.
UV is from 3 25w bulbs that mainly provide ambient heat and two night time lights I absolutely hate.
I have calcium powder that I put in his food mixture while mixing.
Humidity is provided by spray bottle where the lowest it gets in places without sphagnum moss is 23% and if I spray too much it can get to 60%
Aspen bedding is working way better than expected!

Also I have not seen poop lately and I'm a little scared, is there a chance he pooped under the aspen? He ate the most I've seen last meal. I feed him every three days and he doesn't look thin but I think I should make it every other day.

[jclaiborne]

He's about 3 months old

36in x 18in x 18in

Glass with screen top covered fully by light covers with vents- Can you post a picture of the top and how it is covered, as well as your entire enclosure? If there is not enough air movement you can be getting a lot of dry heat trapped in there, it honestly sounds like you need some tweaking to your husbandry.

UTH thermostatted with temperatures under aspen (where he stays most of the time) at a comfortable 96.6 fahrenheit. -Not a fan of using a UTH for these guys are really most lizards I would create a hot spot with a bulb and a rock, or something to that effect.

UV is from 3 25w bulbs that mainly provide ambient heat and two night time lights I absolutely hate.-What bulbs are these, how are you getting UVB and ambient heat from 3 25W bulbs? Are you using CFLs (spirals) It honestly sounds like you have way to many lights hooked up especially for the small cage you are using. You should have 1 good basking bulb and a full length UVB tube.

I have calcium powder that I put in his food mixture while mixing.- Are you mixing in the powder then freezing the food or do you mix it in as you serve it? You need to watch your calcium doses, it should not be with every meal.

Humidity is provided by spray bottle where the lowest it gets in places without sphagnum moss is 23% and if I spray too much it can get to 60%
Aspen bedding is working way better than expected!- This is an Indo skink, they need humidity! It seems like you are keeping him much more like you would a Northern, this is a completely different species with vastly different environments. 23 is WAY too low, 50-60 is about right which is why I said get rid of the aspen, it will get moldy and gross, they thrive with a deep substrate layer which is another reason why I stay away from UTH's.

Also I have not seen poop lately and I'm a little scared, is there a chance he pooped under the aspen? He ate the most I've seen last meal. I feed him every three days and he doesn't look thin but I think I should make it every other day.

- at 3 months you should be feeding more frequent than that. My adults eat twice a week, but as a baby he is relying on the nutrients in his food to grow.