Help on type of skink?

[bubblez825]

So, I had a friend call me up to tell me he found a skink in his back yard, cornered by his dogs in the shed. He wasn't allowed to keep it, so he brought the skink to me to nurse it back to health. From an outside view, the skink seems fairly healthy besides looking like it could use a little bit of extra weight, but honestly isn't bad. He's an ornery little spitfire though, he hisses and snaps at anything that gets near him. Once I picked him up he calmed down though and let me pet him unless I got near his face. My friend got him to eat a few crickets so far and saw him drinking lots of water. My question now is, what kind of skink is this? He is fairly small in stature, not big and muscular like a regular blue tongued skink. His length is about 17.5" as of today. I tried googling different types of skinks but I can't seem to find one that necessarily fits the physical aspects closely of this one. I don't have a picture of his mouth, but his tongue is a light almost baby blue that fades to pink in the back and is almost leaf shaped. It points in the front and gets wider as it goes towards the back, fading from baby blue in front to the light pink in the back. Any he'll with IDing this little guy would be awesome until then, its just focusing on getting this little guy back up to par! If anyone has any suggestions or tricks on some ways to help this lucky little skink gain some weight and/or be more handle-able, please share! I'm always open to words from others experience thank you guys for the help! I've attached some pictures of this guy for the IDing

~Emily

 

[rothsauce]

Did a little digging, as that is a pretty lizard, and it looks a lot like an Indonesian skink.

EDIT: Fun link to see how well yours might match - The Indonesian Blue Tongue Skink - BlueTongueSkinks.NET

 

[bubblez825]

I'm more than positive you found a match! Thank you very much, I don't know much about the genetics of the skinks, so my research wasn't getting me much of anywhere, lol. its always worth asking

 

[bubblez825]

Oh and thank you. Its got some stunning color on it, but a nasty little temper to go with it! [emoji23]

 

[rothsauce]

Anytime!
No doubt it will calm down once it gets used to having a real home.

 

[lisa127]

I have an Irian Jaya blue tongued skink. Try feeding him some nightcrawlers. They love those! And also superworms. Mine is quite large and does not even pay attention to crickets...they are too small. I also feed high quality, organic canned dog food and mix veggies in there. They also love cut up grapes and bananas.

 

[Tongue Flicker]

Yup a blue tongue alright. Thank goodness you found it before a household pet gets a hold of it

 

[bubblez825]

Right now I'm feeding him a mixture of kale and banana along with superworms. I'm feeding him worms in the morning and the banana kale mixture in the evening, he has quite the good appetite! I'm very thankful my friend found him, he could have ended up in a lot worse condition than he is!

 

[rothsauce]

Specially since if it's the species we think it seems to be, it's not a native and there's no telling where it might have come from. Certainly will have a good home now!

 

[lisa127]

It is definetely a blue tongued skink, and it's definitely not native to AZ!

 

[lisa127]

Right now I'm feeding him a mixture of kale and banana along with superworms. I'm feeding him worms in the morning and the banana kale mixture in the evening, he has quite the good appetite! I'm very thankful my friend found him, he could have ended up in a lot worse condition than he is!

Don't feed banana too often. Try a mixture of different leafy greens (I'm surprised he's eating those) and keep the bananas for an occasional treat.

Also, most BTS eat only twice a week, and in old age cut down to once a week. Every day feeding is not going to be the norm.

 

[bubblez825]

Mustard greens, kale, collard greens, and what kind of fruit or foods should I give him for the non protein portion of his diet?

 

[bubblez825]

Something that will help him gain his weight back in a -healthy- way

 

[bubblez825]

This one is still a juvenile, he's still growing and he's underweight from being out in the city for so long. How should I change up his diet? He's been willingly eating the fruit and greens at night and a few worms in the morning for the past three days (im not over stuffing it, that picture is about how much banana and greens he gets each time) and only gets maybe three or four worms in the morning. I'm trying to introduce a mix of food back into his diet to help him gain weight but also not letting him gorge himself since I really dont know how long he was in the wild and the fact of how much weight was missing

 

[indyana]

This is an excellent site for BTS information, and they also have their own forum:
Blue Tongue Skinks - Welcome to BlueTongueSkinks.NET !

Check out the "Caresheet" link on the menu. In the Diet section, this food chart is provided. I've printed this out and keep it in my kitchen for reference:
http://bluetongueskinks.net/foodchart.html

Note the ratio of the diet: 50% greens/vegetables, 40% protein, 10% fruit.

 

[bubblez825]

Thank you I own a blue tongued skink so I've read a few caresheets, I just haven't run into having to nurse one back to health before! Thank you for the links, they're really helpful

 

[indyana]

I love that food chart. I think to gain weight more quickly, you could bump up the protein ratio to 50% for a while, but honestly, it will just take time and good, steady feeding for him to get his weight back.

 

[lisa127]

I agree that protein should be 50%. But I think the protein level should be that high for any BTS, not just one that needs to gain weight.

 

[bubblez825]

I printed out the food chart from BTS.net and am planning on going to the store and experimenting with different staple greens and veggies to see what appeals to the little buggers appetite