Who owns a skink? If you do; how do you prepare food for it?

Question

I just brought a blue tongue skink and i'm not 100% sure on how to prepare the food....I gave him diced up carrots and veggie..but he's not eating...what am i doing wrong?

Answer 1

I have an 11 year old prehensile tail skink ( also known as a Solomon island skink or a monkey tail skink). He is strictly a herbivore. When he is going through sheds he gets very picky about eating. I find that if I puree the food he eats it better. A less messy way to do this is to buy organic jarred baby food. Unfortunately, you still have to figure out a way to get the leafy greens in so these I puree up in a food processor and mix them with a favorite veggie ( usually green beans, he loves those). Another thing is, I read once and this does hold true for my skink and other herps I have had that were herbivores, they do not like all their food mixed together, rather, they like it kept in separate piles on one plate. I have no clue why but I never mix Vance's food. I have about 5 piles of different food on one plate and he goes around and takes a few bites from each pile.

Answer 2

Many pet stores don't feed their animals properly, so he may not have been getting as much veggies as he should have (if any) for a while.

Does he like crickets? Try cutting up some veggies very fine and puttling them on something pretty flat. Get your skink near the dish and drop a cricket or two onto his "salad". When he makes a grab for the bug, he'll probably get some veggies in his mouth, and soon realize they aren't that bad. This also works for young lizards who eat only things that move (unless you want to wiggle a sliver of carrot with forceps hoping he will think it's a worm). Come to think of it, you could try mealworm or red worm on the salad too - they won't move off as fast!

This link has more info on feeding them. Just give him some time - if he's new he may not want to eat anything till he adjust to his new surroundings a little more.

http://www.anapsid.org/bluetong.html

Answer 3

I used to have a blue-tongued skink when I was younger. They like veggies a little, but like meat more. I used to give mine canned cat food, and they'll eat insects and worms, and some people gave them pinkie mice (I think that's gross and never tried it). Just try different things and see what he wants to eat. But, you probably paid a lot of money for it, so get a blue-tongued skink book. Here's a couple websites.

Answer 4

There is a skink somewhere in my kitchen. I saw him run and slide across the floor about a month ago. He then went in the cupboard under the sink. I can't find him, but he must be in there somewhere.
I think they actually eat small bugs, not veggies.
You should call the pet store.
Good luck.

Answer 5

They are omnivorous, and need about 50% veggies and 50% animal protein. Canned lowfat dogfood can work well, but the healthiest thing would be boiled ground turkey. I boil little turkey balls, then freeze them and thaw them out as needed, very convenient. Then I shred it up and mix it with greens, fruits and veggies.

Bluetongueskinks.net and captivebred.com both have great caresheets.

Good luck! Mine's almost 2, and I love him to death.

Answer 6

just got one too feed him crickets mine just ate like 5