Please Help On New Pts.

[Iguana]

Hey everyone,
So I finally got my pink tongue skink, and admittedly I did get it from a pet store, although a reptile one.

The guy who sold me the skink (said he used to keep them) said that all they needed was banana, dog/cat food and snails, and I believe that's all it's been fed on. This to me seems conflicting to what I've been told before, that dog food shouldn't be staple neither should banana, i'd like to get some greens into it's diet and a variety of other healthier foods. I'd also like to try lizard pellets and stuff too, but after offering food twice, it doesn't seem too keen on any of it.
I've offered tinned snails (all I had), strawberry, banana, and mushroom so far. I'll be trying dog food tomorrow and I'll be getting snails from the local reptile store soon.
I also got it Saturday evening, and i'm not sure if it doesn't want/like the food or if it's too nervous. I've left it completely alone and all it's been doing is burying itself under the substrate. Is this normal? It's only young, yearling or so, so i'm very concerned it's not eating, as it's meant to be everyday.

He also said it needs UVB, which after looking through "a guide to Australian skinks in captivity' by Danny Brown, says they should. So I'm using that currently. Also says it needs a basking spot/thermal gradient...

And according to the guy, and a co-worker who breeds them, they need no heat. Which again, goes against everything i've been told, but they were adamant. It never gets too cold in our house, but by comparison the shop was much warmer. Maybe this could also be a reason for it not eating?
I was thinking of getting a small wattage heat mat anyway.

Admittedly it was my fault for probably not questioning them too much, since they were so certain in their advice, and not meaning to roast them or anything, but I don't know if it's necessarily 'right'.

Anyway, I'm worried about the little guy, he is small and fragile and I don't know as much about lizards as I do snakes. Any helpful advice would be appreciated.

Thanks Lads.

 

[pythoninfinite]

I don't know much about skinks, but I do know that Pink Tongues are largely nocturnal, unlike most other skinks, so don't expect too much activity during the day. I've also kept several species of skink for a decade or more, when I was younger, without any UV, and they lived long and very healthy lives.

Jamie

 

[pinefamily]

I'd be trusting the excellent advice you got in your other thread over the advice from a shop.

And don't panic if it's not eating. It needs to settle down in its new environment. Keep leaving the food in there, but leave it alone for a day or two to settle in.

 

[Wokka]

If you are thinking of giving up smoking don't go to a cigarette shop for advice!

 

[Stompsy]

This is pretty normal behaviour. Get a heat source! I'm going to assume you're in Victoria (because of the rats post yesterday), so extra heat is a must! Remember, these guys don't naturally occur in Victoria, so extra heat and a little humidity need to be supplied.

Give him/her a few days to settle in and as stated above, these guys are semi nocturnal so they do spend a lot of their time buried in the substrate. I find mine comes out either early morning or late afternoon, sometimes not until the lights have been turned off.

Does he handle well? Also, where did you purchase him from?

Also, banana should never be a staple and mine never touched dog food/cat food when I offered it.

 

[dragonlover1]

we don't have pink tongues but we do have eastern,northern & western blues and while I am not a fan of tinned dog food,this is part of their diet ( my son looks after the skinks,I look after the dragons) I prefer fresh mince.But they also get mushroom,peas,leafy greens,carrot,blue berries and cherries,banana is fed in small amounts because it is high in phosphorous and we also chuck in a woodie or 2 for a bit of stimulation.
They all have UV and heat lamps.

 

[Iguana]

I don't know much about skinks, but I do know that Pink Tongues are largely nocturnal, unlike most other skinks, so don't expect too much activity during the day. I've also kept several species of skink for a decade or more, when I was younger, without any UV, and they lived long and very healthy lives.

Jamie

Yeah I only ever saw him out during dusk and early morning, but I am up very late sometimes, 3am or so, and there's minimal activity, but i'm guessing that'll change later. I know there's a debate on whether to use UV or not, and i've met tons of people who say yes, and tons who say no. I think for now, i'll keep the UV in there, just because it's what I read in that book, and as a plus I can put in live plants :^)

I'd be trusting the excellent advice you got in your other thread over the advice from a shop.

And don't panic if it's not eating. It needs to settle down in its new environment. Keep leaving the food in there, but leave it alone for a day or two to settle in.

Yeah good point, the advice on here lines up much more with what i've read. It's been a couple days so far, but i'll give him a little longer, i'll make sure to always leave food in there.

This is pretty normal behaviour. Get a heat source! I'm going to assume you're in Victoria (because of the rats post yesterday), so extra heat is a must! Remember, these guys don't naturally occur in Victoria, so extra heat and a little humidity need to be supplied.

Give him/her a few days to settle in and as stated above, these guys are semi nocturnal so they do spend a lot of their time buried in the substrate. I find mine comes out either early morning or late afternoon, sometimes not until the lights have been turned off.

Does he handle well? Also, where did you purchase him from?

Also, banana should never be a staple and mine never touched dog food/cat food when I offered it.

Thanks Stompsy,
Glad to hear it wasn't just mine afterall, hopefully he (assumed to be male) eats soon, it's been a couple days, but the recent cold spike means he might not for awhile longer.
Yeah i'm in Vic, and it gets pretty cold randomly, like today for example. I'll defiantly be giving him a large heat mat for under the tank, since he's always under the substrate anyway. He gets sprayed every 2 days too, is that enough?
In the small amount of time I handled him the other day, he seems very very skittish, jumps at being touched and is a little huffy/hissy, but he hasn't bitten yet! Which is a good sign, doesn't seem defensive at all, just scared and unsure. I'm sure he'll settle down just fine. I'll put up some pics.
I got him from Amazing Amazon, in Glen Waverly, great store and the people are very knowledgeable. I just was very unsure about what they said, because their information they gave was the opposite to what I got on here lol.
All he's been fed on has been tinned snails, banana and dog food, so i'll be feeding him that for a week or so before trying to convert him. I think I remember you saying snails made up a large portion of your one's diet, that's what I'd like them to mostly eat too. With some other bits of fruit and veg too. Mostly i'd like to work out the reliance on banana.

we don't have pink tongues but we do have eastern,northern & western blues and while I am not a fan of tinned dog food,this is part of their diet ( my son looks after the skinks,I look after the dragons) I prefer fresh mince.But they also get mushroom,peas,leafy greens,carrot,blue berries and cherries,banana is fed in small amounts because it is high in phosphorous and we also chuck in a woodie or 2 for a bit of stimulation.
They all have UV and heat lamps.

Yeah I hear there's some problems with dog food, being smelly and having extra fat in it or something.
Thank you for listing the foods, I went shopping earlier today and got some of them, I'll mix them in the dog food to try and wean him off it and onto mince. I also got some small mealworms too.

Thanks for your help everyone, i'm feeling much better about the him not eating and i'll be giving him the foods people suggested.
I was going to share pictures, but I have no clue how to put them in a post.
Sorry!

 

[pinefamily]

Don't worry if your skink won't eat the food you offer. If it has been given a basic diet and that is all it is used to then it will take some time to get it eating better stuff.
We inherited a beardie that was only fed mealworms and basic salad. Took ages to get it eating crickets.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[Stompsy]

Thanks Stompsy,
Glad to hear it wasn't just mine afterall, hopefully he (assumed to be male) eats soon, it's been a couple days, but the recent cold spike means he might not for awhile longer.
Yeah i'm in Vic, and it gets pretty cold randomly, like today for example. I'll defiantly be giving him a large heat mat for under the tank, since he's always under the substrate anyway. He gets sprayed every 2 days too, is that enough?
In the small amount of time I handled him the other day, he seems very very skittish, jumps at being touched and is a little huffy/hissy, but he hasn't bitten yet! Which is a good sign, doesn't seem defensive at all, just scared and unsure. I'm sure he'll settle down just fine. I'll put up some pics.
I got him from Amazing Amazon, in Glen Waverly, great store and the people are very knowledgeable. I just was very unsure about what they said, because their information they gave was the opposite to what I got on here lol.
All he's been fed on has been tinned snails, banana and dog food, so i'll be feeding him that for a week or so before trying to convert him. I think I remember you saying snails made up a large portion of your one's diet, that's what I'd like them to mostly eat too. With some other bits of fruit and veg too. Mostly i'd like to work out the reliance on banana.

No problem. Just don't stress. Keep offering him food and eventually he'll eat it.

Think I might go for a drive down to aa today to see if they have any of those little guys left!

Good luck and if you have any other questions, just ask! Plenty of good advice on here.

Also, if you want him out and about more, a heat lamp might be a better option as it'll encourage him to come out and bask.

 

[dragonlover1]

Yeah I hear there's some problems with dog food, being smelly and having extra fat in it or something.
Thank you for listing the foods, I went shopping earlier today and got some of them, I'll mix them in the dog food to try and wean him off it and onto mince. I also got some small mealworms too.

my main beef with tinned dog food is it has heaps of preservatives,I once kept an open tin in the fridge for more than 3 months and it never changed,also skinks are supposed to not take to fish well,which is a predominant part of cat food.Mealworms are high in fat so only good as a treat or to tempt them to eat other things (we call them big macs or mars bars) there are super worms which are much better,but anything you can get him to eat a bigger variety is good .Everyone here seems to have similar ideas so good luck with your new friend and hopefully you will have him around for a long time.

 

[Sheldoncooper]

All my skinks were fed dog food occasionally. More so before and after the breeding season because of a slightly higher fat and calcium content. Chopped up milk thistle and dandelion is very easy to get hold of and is something i would offer all skinks as it helps cleanse there system. Especially if there meat it helps to keep there liver healthy . And not that my skinks were snobby but i only fed my dog in the little square packets as it doesn't contain as much rubbish as cheaper canned foods.

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[Iguana]

No problem. Just don't stress. Keep offering him food and eventually he'll eat it.

Think I might go for a drive down to aa today to see if they have any of those little guys left!

Good luck and if you have any other questions, just ask! Plenty of good advice on here.

Also, if you want him out and about more, a heat lamp might be a better option as it'll encourage him to come out and bask.

Thank you I think he ate last night, some of the food I offered is missing, looks like he had a couple of the small mealworms, dogfood and salad.
I think I may have taken the last one sorry! But there is a guy there who breeds them once a year, his name is Will I think, maybe you could preorder some.
The advice on here is really good, glad I decided to open this thread up, i'm happy he's finally eating.
Good point on the heat lamp, for now i'm going to use a spare heat mat I have, but I may look into a lamp later.

 

[Iguana]

my main beef with tinned dog food is it has heaps of preservatives,I once kept an open tin in the fridge for more than 3 months and it never changed,also skinks are supposed to not take to fish well,which is a predominant part of cat food.Mealworms are high in fat so only good as a treat or to tempt them to eat other things (we call them big macs or mars bars) there are super worms which are much better,but anything you can get him to eat a bigger variety is good .Everyone here seems to have similar ideas so good luck with your new friend and hopefully you will have him around for a long time.

Oh wow that's really gross, the cheaper brands seem to be more mysterious jelly than meat from what i've seen. I didn't know that about fish, thanks for telling me! The cat/dog food i'm offering now is only beef, but i'll stay away from fish. I gave him a couple of mealworms which he seemed to like, i'll make sure to only give them as a treat, I'll have a look around for super worms
Trying to get him to eat a bunch of different things, but for now i'm just glad he's eating.
Thank you very much, I hope so too!

 

[Iguana]

All my skinks were fed dog food occasionally. More so before and after the breeding season because of a slightly higher fat and calcium content. Chopped up milk thistle and dandelion is very easy to get hold of and is something i would offer all skinks as it helps cleanse there system. Especially if there meat it helps to keep there liver healthy . And not that my skinks were snobby but i only fed my dog in the little square packets as it doesn't contain as much rubbish as cheaper canned foods.

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Good point, I didn't know about the extra calcium, would come in handy around that time. I'm hoping to convert him onto mostly snails and small amount of dusted mince if I can. Thanks for that tip, i'll keep an eye out for milk thistle and dandelions!
I stayed away from the cans because of all the mystery jelly they had, i'm feeding the whiskers beef pouches right now.
Thanks for the advice

 

[Iguana]

Thank you so much to the people who have added their advice and tips to this thread.
He finally ate last night, took some of the cat/dog food, salad and small mealworms, also had some water too.

 

[Stompsy]

Thank you I think he ate last night, some of the food I offered is missing, looks like he had a couple of the small mealworms, dogfood and salad.
I think I may have taken the last one sorry! But there is a guy there who breeds them once a year, his name is Will I think, maybe you could preorder some.
The advice on here is really good, glad I decided to open this thread up, i'm happy he's finally eating.
Good point on the heat lamp, for now i'm going to use a spare heat mat I have, but I may look into a lamp later.

I went to AA and they had none left.... then I drove all the way to Narre Warren and they'd sold all 4 that they had left to one guy....

All good though, I'm not in a hurry and need to find a male that's around the same size as my female to better the chances of them getting along.

Glad he's finally eating for you Have fun with him and I hope he's a little more tolerant than mine!

 

[Iguana]

I went to AA and they had none left.... then I drove all the way to Narre Warren and they'd sold all 4 that they had left to one guy....

All good though, I'm not in a hurry and need to find a male that's around the same size as my female to better the chances of them getting along.

Glad he's finally eating for you Have fun with him and I hope he's a little more tolerant than mine!

Damn, sorry I must have cleared them out. Better luck on your next tip off, i'll keep an eye out and let you know if I ever see any.
Ah I see, good luck, maybe she will calm down a little if she gets a mate lol.
And thank you! I am too, had him out a little today and he is pretty tolerant, skittish but no biting.

 

[dragonlover1]

1 thing I forgot to mention is we feed our blues an occasional pinkie mouse.
Mainly the western gets mice every weekend because he was born deformed and suffered from coccidia and worms and we struggled to get any weight on him,he was less than 50grams for months now he is 200grams almost a year after I bought him

 

[kingofnobbys]

Not an expert on PTS , but suspect their care needs will be very similar to EWS and BTS . My water skink lived for over 7 years and eventually died of old age and was never sick except in her last few months.

Personally I'd never feed cat or dog food to a pet lizard as a staple. Yes like others here, I've observed wild skinks raiding cat and dog food bowls , this doesn't mean these foods are good foods for them to eat.

I think you'll wind up with a healthier skink if you feed him live insects like roaches, crickets, silkworms, snails along with a mix of vetafarm lizard pellets and maybe even juvenile beardie pellets (softened) , mixed with greens and grated/diced veg and maybe an occasional soft boiled egg and boiled lean chicken mince.

Too bad no one sells BSF maggots , they would be an ideal staple feeder insect.

Like BTS , PTS do need UVB and UVA (5% UVB for them) and they need a warmish basking spot. (about 35C I think).

 

[dragonlover1]

.

and boiled lean chicken mince.

Too bad no one sells BSF maggots , they would be an ideal staple feeder insect.

Like BTS , PTS do need UVB and UVA (5% UVB for them) and they need a warmish basking spot. (about 35C I think).

hey Rob,I think fresh mince not boiled is better for them as it has more nutrient but you can actually buy soldier fly larvae now,I can't remember where I saw it but it has been advertised a couple of times now and you're right,they make excellent food.