Blue tongue skink care and information
There are several different kinds of blue tongue skinks, but the one most commonly kept in captivity is the Tiliqua gigas, or the Indonesian blue tongued skink. The Tiliqua Gigas is from New Guinea and the Indonesian islands.
The blue tongue skink's body is firm and muscular and easy to grip and hold, especially for children. They do not crush or injure easily. Blue tongue skinks tend to be curious and enjoy exploring and may wriggle and struggle to get to the floor. You may be peed on or even pooped on if you are holding your skink with a firm grip. Often skinks will pee or poop when they become active, and they will sometimes defecate right after they are brought out from their homes. A regular feeding schedule will help you know your skinks' defecation routine if this becomes a concern for you. When you hold your skink, support the entire body including the rear end and tail. They can flail their tails and become upset if they are not fully supported.
An adult blue tongued requires a 40-60 gallon terrarium minimum that is escape proof. . The ambient temp on the warm side should be around 80*F with a cool side in the mid 70s. They need a flat basking rock directly under the basking light and a basking surface temp of 95-100*F. The night temps should not drop below 60*F and a ceramic heat emitter can be used to help raise night temps in the colder months. They should have an average 12 hour light cycle. The use of heat mats isn't necessary and heat rocks should not be used as they can cause skin burns. They do best with an average relative humidity of 25-40%, and anything above 50% is a risk for damp conditions leading to moldy substrate and respiratory infections. Research shows skinks benefit from UVB exposure and it is common to use a quality linear tube UVB that is 10.0 in strength. The preferred substrate is thick aspen shavings or coconut fiber. Absolutely NO pine, cedar, walnut shells or sand for substrate. They should have a large sturdy water bowl, with clean water that is changed every day.
A young skink's diet should consist of 50% protein, 40% veggies and 10% fruit and as they reach 8-12 months old the diet will change to 40% protein, 50% veggies and 10% fruit. Feed babies and young skinks through age 4 months daily to every two days, skinks 4-8 months every other day to every 3rd day and skinks over 8 months old 2-3 times a week, monitoring for weight gain or loss and making adjustments to the feeding schedule as necessary. Babies need finely chopped foods or they may choke.
Staple greens that are well-balanced in calcium content such as collard greens, turnip greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens, endive, escarole, beet greens, bok choy and kale. Healthy veggies are spaghetti squash, butternut squash, acorn squash, summer squash, scallop squash and cactus pad/leaf. Good fruit choices are fig, raspberries, mango and papaya.
The blue tongue skink's body is firm and muscular and easy to grip and hold, especially for children. They do not crush or injure easily. Blue tongue skinks tend to be curious and enjoy exploring and may wriggle and struggle to get to the floor. You may be peed on or even pooped on if you are holding your skink with a firm grip. Often skinks will pee or poop when they become active, and they will sometimes defecate right after they are brought out from their homes. A regular feeding schedule will help you know your skinks' defecation routine if this becomes a concern for you. When you hold your skink, support the entire body including the rear end and tail. They can flail their tails and become upset if they are not fully supported.
An adult blue tongued requires a 40-60 gallon terrarium minimum that is escape proof. . The ambient temp on the warm side should be around 80*F with a cool side in the mid 70s. They need a flat basking rock directly under the basking light and a basking surface temp of 95-100*F. The night temps should not drop below 60*F and a ceramic heat emitter can be used to help raise night temps in the colder months. They should have an average 12 hour light cycle. The use of heat mats isn't necessary and heat rocks should not be used as they can cause skin burns. They do best with an average relative humidity of 25-40%, and anything above 50% is a risk for damp conditions leading to moldy substrate and respiratory infections. Research shows skinks benefit from UVB exposure and it is common to use a quality linear tube UVB that is 10.0 in strength. The preferred substrate is thick aspen shavings or coconut fiber. Absolutely NO pine, cedar, walnut shells or sand for substrate. They should have a large sturdy water bowl, with clean water that is changed every day.
A young skink's diet should consist of 50% protein, 40% veggies and 10% fruit and as they reach 8-12 months old the diet will change to 40% protein, 50% veggies and 10% fruit. Feed babies and young skinks through age 4 months daily to every two days, skinks 4-8 months every other day to every 3rd day and skinks over 8 months old 2-3 times a week, monitoring for weight gain or loss and making adjustments to the feeding schedule as necessary. Babies need finely chopped foods or they may choke.
Staple greens that are well-balanced in calcium content such as collard greens, turnip greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens, endive, escarole, beet greens, bok choy and kale. Healthy veggies are spaghetti squash, butternut squash, acorn squash, summer squash, scallop squash and cactus pad/leaf. Good fruit choices are fig, raspberries, mango and papaya.
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Skinks have a number of healthy protein feeder choices and do well eating a varied diet which includes silkworms, superworms, waxworms, butterworms, and mealworms. They can also eat mice, but it is not recommended to give live mice to a BTS younger than one year old as they may become injured by the mouse. Pinkies can be safely fed, however, as a treat or snack.
Avoid feeding seafood, canned meats and lunch meat. Also limit the feeding of unfertilized eggs. There are people who give their skinks high quality cat and dog food, but a higher quality protein source is always a variety of invertebrate live feeders and the occasional pinkie, fuzzy or hopper. |
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You do not need to dust mice that contain bones with calcium, as the calcium in their bones is sufficient, but you should dust feeders and salads. You can also purchase flavored liquid calcium which is easy to put on salads and fruit.
Blueys make several 'noises' and you may hear your skink make a huffing sound, hissing sound, and snorting noises, often when they are first picked up or if they want to be left alone or put down to explore. Rarely will a tame skink hiss out of aggression. Do not cohabitate skinks as they can fight and cause serious damage to each other. Bites are minor, often just a bruise and rarely breaking the skin. Skinks are generally laid back, lazy but curious.
Blueys make several 'noises' and you may hear your skink make a huffing sound, hissing sound, and snorting noises, often when they are first picked up or if they want to be left alone or put down to explore. Rarely will a tame skink hiss out of aggression. Do not cohabitate skinks as they can fight and cause serious damage to each other. Bites are minor, often just a bruise and rarely breaking the skin. Skinks are generally laid back, lazy but curious.
Adult male blue tongue skink in full shed.
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Blueys do not shed in one whole piece. They often shed in chunks of scales or even individual scales. Shedding can take a day to a few days and should not require your intervention. Their toes are very fragile and can be easily injured. Any remaining shed on the end of the tail or around the toes after a few days should be very carefully removed so as to not constrict the toe or tail tip. Toe loss and tail tip injury can occur if retained shed is present as it will cut off the blood supply.
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Some blue tongues have nails that grow quickly and some do not grow very fast at all. Keep an eye on your BTS's nails and if they are becoming long you should carefully trip the tip of the nail. Be careful not to cut into the cuticle or blood supply of the nail or it will be painful and bleed. Untrimmed nails that grow too long can curl under and into the toe and be painful for your skink.
Skinks give live births and typically breed in the months after brumation. It is not entirely uncommon for injury to occur in breeding, including either the male or female skink ripping its mate's arms or tail off. It is not advised for them to be kept together for more than 5 minutes to breed and then be separated to avoid undue aggression.
Metabolic bone disease and/or bone fractures stem from lack of proper diet and supplementation, and the signs of this in a bluey are bowing of the legs in young skinks to lumps and humps on the spine as they age. Blue tongues can lose their tails, but it takes a lot of force to make them separate their tails. Be sure not to hold onto your skink by its tail. Skinks rarely get respiratory infections but the signs and symptoms are gasping, wheezing, coughing and mucus in the eyes or nostrils. Sneezing is normal for the bluey and is not a sign of a respiratory infection. Just like other reptiles, blueys can get mites and would need to be treated in about the same manner as a snake with mites. Parasites are rarely a problem with skinks unless they are wild caught.
Skinks give live births and typically breed in the months after brumation. It is not entirely uncommon for injury to occur in breeding, including either the male or female skink ripping its mate's arms or tail off. It is not advised for them to be kept together for more than 5 minutes to breed and then be separated to avoid undue aggression.
Metabolic bone disease and/or bone fractures stem from lack of proper diet and supplementation, and the signs of this in a bluey are bowing of the legs in young skinks to lumps and humps on the spine as they age. Blue tongues can lose their tails, but it takes a lot of force to make them separate their tails. Be sure not to hold onto your skink by its tail. Skinks rarely get respiratory infections but the signs and symptoms are gasping, wheezing, coughing and mucus in the eyes or nostrils. Sneezing is normal for the bluey and is not a sign of a respiratory infection. Just like other reptiles, blueys can get mites and would need to be treated in about the same manner as a snake with mites. Parasites are rarely a problem with skinks unless they are wild caught.
Melissa Kaplan's Blue Tongue Skinks page has a detailed explanation of the differences between each species of blueys.