Blue Tongue in hiding - help!

[chrysophylax]

Hi all,
I have only gotten a blue tongue a few days ago but the day before yesterday he discovered he could dig and hide under the reptie bark. And since then thats all he's been doing. He completely burys himself so if you look at the tank it looks empty.
It's very cold down the bottom (unfortunaltly there is a little bit of water that has leaked) and I'm wondering why he's doing this? It's only about 20 degrees (C) in the tank and the heat lamp isn't as warm as I expected it to be (but then again I've never done this before).
He hides under bark in the middle of the tank and his house is in the warmer side (with bark at the bottom) but it's probably about the same temp in his house as the cooler side I think.
When I take him out of the tank and pop him on the floor he usually makes his way towards the heater.
Am I doing something wrong or is he just shying away? Has anyone elses skink done this? Shouldn't he be basking in the heat lamp?
I don't understand him :'(

 

[reptilefan95]

Hey Blue Tongue Skinks do like to dig. He will dig under any loose substrate, so i dont think that it is any thing to worry about. He will try to get deep down to cover himself. If you are worried that he is not getting enough heat then perhaps you should change the substrate to something a little more study!
Hope that helps

 

[SlothHead]

Dont be too concerned about it. We have a blotched blue tongue here that we have to dig out every morning so people can see him.

Nothing really to be too worried about. Just make sure there is a basking spot and it will be fine

Dustin

 

[cracksinthepitch]

This Bluey may be going into Brumation(hibernation) as the temps are lower now (outside) and is natural for them to do this. How old is this Bluey? What temps are your enclosure at? and is it an Eastern Bluey or Other type?

 

[chrysophylax]

Thanks everyone, I don't mind him doing it so long as there is nothing wrong with him!

He is about 3 or 4 months old and is a Blotched Blue Tongue. I live in Canberra so it's been about 3 degrees over night here http://www.weatherzone.com.au/region.jsp?lt=wzdist&lc=a00 but I'd hope a bit warmer inside and a little bit more in the tank. He also goes to bed late (lights/heat off at 10). But during the day the tank is around 20 Degrees.

 

[SlothHead]

Make sure you are only giving 10 hours light a day, you need to really mimic the day night cycle, so keeping his lights on until all hours of hte night isnt going to be good for it.

And for his first year, try and get the temps up so that it doesnt brumate

 

[Azzajay77]

I'd try to increase the temps and maybe take the reptile bark out and put paper towel down or something like that. I have a bluey similar age who was trying to do that same thing .. they're too young to be brumating imo.

Need to keep the temps up and force them out so they can eat and grow ... if the hides are there they'll disappear and you won't see them for days ... weeks ... especially in Canberra this time of year.

If it's an eastern bluey i'd look at keeping the warm end up around 30deg, no more than 35 ...

 

[Azzajay77]

Also ... as per slothhead ... no need for the lights to be on that late .. i run mine from 7-7 in summer and have dropped that down to 7-5 .. you'll find bang on 4pm they'll start to look at shutting down for the night. Both my adults and babies do this ...

 

[chrysophylax]

I put the lights on at 10am cuz I was told they needed 12 hours. But I might start putting the poor guy to bed early. I've put a heater on in the room and I will buy a better bulb this afternoon. I think that may be the main problem.
The heat lamp is sitting 40-45cm above his basking spot. What wattage would you reccomend?

 

[Azzajay77]

10-12 hours is a good start you just need to think of what they would be getting in the wild this time of year .. obviously the sun comes up a bit before 10am so you need to mimic that ...

i find a 60w globe works well mind you i'm on the fairly warm mid north coast so you may need a 75w or even a 100w globe. they're only a couple of $$ ea so i'd try them all see how you go ...

 

[chrysophylax]

Thanks everyone, I left the heater on in the room and it got the tank a bit over 30 degrees. I've got a new 100 wt bulb in there now ($40 for an infrared one) but he's a lot more active now so I think he was trying to brumate.
Also it's lights out early tonight

 

[cracksinthepitch]

Thanks everyone, I left the heater on in the room and it got the tank a bit over 30 degrees. I've got a new 100 wt bulb in there now ($40 for an infrared one) but he's a lot more active now so I think he was trying to brumate.
Also it's lights out early tonight

Good work ..

 

[boxhed]

You've probably got it sorted... but don't forget about UV exposure. Very VERY important for his health.

 

[Azzajay77]

Good to hear your bluey looks to be more active. Temp definetly would of been the problem. Well done.