Blue Tongue Skink Shopping List

If you have decided on a Blue Tongue Skink as your new pet reptile, then you will need to gather up all the items you will need to get an enclosure set up, prior to bring home your new friend.

Here, I have put together a shopping list of the basic items you will need to get started:

Necessary Basic Items

Size Appropriate Enclosure

Substrate - Reptile Carpet (recommended)

Light Fixture

UVB/Heat Bulb

Reptile Hides - Several

Branches

Plants

Food and Water Bowls

Temperature and Humidity Gauges

Water Conditioner

Calcium Supplement

Multivitamin Supplement

Spray Bottle for Misting

Varity of food items:

Greens, Vegetables, Fruit
Insects - Mealworms, Superworms, Waxworms, Silkworms, Butterworms
Meat - Cooked chicken, beef, Turkey, Canned cat food, small mice

Additional Items to Consider

These items are not necessarily must have items but they do make for more convenience:

Power strip with Timer for Lights

Temperature Controller

Automatic Misting System

F10 Disinfectant



I hope this list gets you and your new Blue Tongue Skink off to a great start!
Good luck and enjoy!

Click here for a complete care guide on Blue Tongue Skink Care

Blue Tongue Skink Cage Maintenance

Proper cage maintenance plays an important role in keeping your blue tongue skink healthy. Keeping your skink in a clean healthy environment will virtually eliminate many of the health issues skinks are susceptible to such as, parasites, stomatitis, mites, scale rot and respiratory infections.

Daily Spot Cleaning

Simply use toilet paper or paper towels to remove fecal matter and the substrate surrounding it. If you have a juvenile skink, then you probably already know, they seem to enjoy showing off their artwork by leaving you poop murals almost on a daily basis. In this case, you can use hot water with a little soap to clean, but be sure to rinse the area very well.

You can also use a product called F10 SC. This is a disinfectant used by veterinarians and is safe for all animals, including reptiles. It kills all types of bacteria, fungi and spores. In fact, this is what I have been using for several years and highly recommend it. It is a safe and effective way to disinfect your skinks enclosure without any fear of leaving harmful residue behind, as long as you dilute it correctly. I keep a spray bottle of the diluted F10 SC solution and a roll of paper towels in every room I have animals in, just for convenience.

Monthly Cage Maintenance

Once a month or so, you will need to break down the entire enclosure and give it a thorough cleaning. Remove all furniture, food and water bowls and substrate. The easiest way I have found to remove the substrate is to just vacuum it out with a shop vac. 

Clean the tank with hot soapy water and rinse well. Be sure not to leave any soapy residue behind. Disinfect with F10 SC if you have it. Many people use a mild bleach/water mixture to disinfect but you have to be very diligent in rinsing if you choose to go this route. Be sure there isn't any smell of the bleach left in the tank before you put you skink back inside.

Scrub all furnishings prior to replacing them as well. You may find that some of your furnishing can simply be put in the dishwasher, even the rocks. You might want to give them a quick rinse before hand.

Schedule Maintenance

The easiest way to remember to do cage maintenance is to put yourself on a schedule, and stick to it.

For daily cleaning, pick a time that you know will work for you every day. Maybe you are an early riser and want to do your cleaning first thing in the morning before leaving the house or maybe evenings work better for you. Which ever it is, pick a time and make it part of your daily routine. If you clean at the same time everyday, it will just become habit.

For monthly cage breakdown, choose a day of the month, whether it be the 1st, 15th or the 30th, break the enclosure down on the same day every month. Then you won't have to try to remember when the last cleaning took place.

Another easy way to remember when it's time for a complete breakdown is to clean after each shed, which would be every 4-6 weeks, and is fine as long as you are doing daily cage maintenance.

In Conclusion

Your blue tongue skink is relying on you 100% when it comes to its health. It doesn't matter if you are tired, busy, sick or just feeling lazy, it is your responsibility to keep your skink happy and healthy. Get yourself into a routine that works for you and your skink, and stick to it.

Click here for a complete care guide on Blue Tongue Skink Care

Common Blue Tongue Skink Health Issues

Is My Blue Tongue Skink Sick?

If you notice some changes in your blue tongue skinks behavior or appearance, there may be a medical reason for it.

Below your will find a list of the most common health issues that can affect a blue tongue skink.

Click here for a complete care guide on Blue Tongue Skink Care

Health Issue	Symptoms	Description	How to Correct the Problem
Raw Nose	Irritated Raw Bleeding Nose	Typically found in wild-caught skinks. Caused from rubbing the sides of tank.	Cover three sides of the tank so help the skink feel more secure. Check to make the heat and humidity levels are correct.
Shedding Problems	Stuck shed on Toes, Mouth, Tail, Lips and ears	Low humidity can cause shedding problems on some areas of the skink and may build up over time. If left untreated, can cause infection and permanent damage.	Try bathing the skink to soften the  shed. Use your fingernails to gently remove stuck shed.
Parasites	Tiny white worms seen in fecal matter	Usually isn't a problem in captive bred skinks. Wild -caught skinks may have them when you purchase the animal. Also caused from improper cage maintenance.	See your herp vet for a fecal exam and medication.
Stomatitis (Mouth Rot)	Inflamed, red lips Red Bumps around the mouth Mucus in the mouth	A bacterial infection that can be cause from an untreated injury to the mouth or improper cage maintenance.	See your herp vet for a fecal exam and medication.
Dehydration	Dry Scales	Caused from the humidity being too low.	Mist the substrate in the tank twice daily to raise the humidity
Scale Rot	Large blisters filled with fluid	Usually cause from unsanitary living condition. If left untreated the blisters could rupture, leaving and open wound susceptible to infection.	See your herp vet for a fecal exam and medication.
Mites	Lifted scales White specks appearing in patches Black spots that move	Mites are an eight-legged blood sucking organism that can carry and transmit diseases from one reptile to another. Can be cause from living in unsanitary conditions.	Remove everything from the enclosure, replace furniture with cardboard. Repeat daily. Spray the skink with a reptile safe mite solution, every three days. Repeat until the mites are gone.
Metabolic Bone Disease	Lumps on the legs, vertical column of the back and tail Twitches, ticks, spasms or tremors. Soft or swollen jaw. Jerky movements	MBD is the weakening of bone, caused by an imbalance or deficiency in vitamin D3, calcium and phosphorus.	Moderate cases can be treated with the proper diet, temperatures, UVB and a good calcium supplement. More severe cases require vet treatment that may include calcium and vitamin A/D/E shots administered.
Respiratory Infection	Gasping Wheezing Coughing Heavy breathing Mucus around the eye, nose & mouth	Respiratory infections may result from improper temperatures, humidity and poor cage conditions	See your herp vet

Blue Tongue Skink Diet

Blue Tongue Skinks are omnivorous, meaning they eat both meat/protein and plant matter.

Below you will find a list of foods that can/should be fed and how often.

Feeding ratio for juveniles should consist of 40% greens/vegetables, 50% meat/protein and 10% fruit.
Juveniles should be offered food every 1-2 days.

Feeding ratio for adults should consist of 50% greens/vegetables, 40% meat/protein and 10% fruit.
Adults should be offered food every 2-4 days.

Click here for a complete care guide on Blue Tongue Skink Care

Recommended Staple	Occasionally Mix in with Staples	Feed Only As A Treat	Never Feed
Greens
Arugula	Basil	Bok Choy	Iceberg Lettuce
Beet Greens	Green Cabbage	Chicory Greens
Collard Greens	Kale	Red Leaf Lettuce
Dandelion Greens	Red Cabbage	Romaine Lettuce
Endive
Escarole
Mustard Greens
Turnip Greens
Watercress
Vegetables
Acorn Squash	Asparagus	Green Peas	Onion
Borage	Beets	Parsnips	Rhubarb
Butternut Squash	Bell Pepper (All Colors)	Snap Peas
Cactus Pad	Broccoli	White Mushrooms
Cactus Pear (Prickly Pear)	Brussel Sprouts
Green Beans	Carrots
Hubbard Squash	Cauliflower
Scallop Squash	Celery
Spaghetti Squash	Corn
Summer Squash	Cucumber
	Okra
	Parsley
	Pumpkin
	Radicchio
	Radish
	Rutabaga
	Sweet Potato
	Tomatoes
	Turnip
	Yucca Root
	Zucchini
Fruits
	Apple	Fig	Avocado
	Apricot	Mango
	Bananas	Papaya
	Blackberries	Raspberries
	Blueberries
	Cantaloupe
	Cherries
	Cranberries
	Grapes
	Guava
	Honeydew Melon
	Kiwi
	Nectarines
	Peaches
	Pears
	Pineapple
	Plums
	Pomegranate
	Star Fruit
	Strawberries
	Watermelon
Meat/ Protein
Dubia Roaches	Cat Food (Canned)	Butterworms	Anything Wild Caught
Dog Food (Canned)	Crickets	Ground Beef (Lean)
Earthworms	Mealworms	Chicken Breast (Cooked)
Horn Worm	Pinky Mouse	Chicken Liver (Cooked)
Silkworms		Phoenixworms
Snails		Superworms
		Waxworms

Notes On Feeding

Be sure to shred or finely chop vegetables prior to feeding.

When feeding canned dog or cat food, read the nutritional information on the can. Choose a food that doesn't have any by-products. Meat mixed with vegetables is best.

Never leave uneaten live prey in your skinks tank overnight. They will crawl on and possible bite your skink, possibly even causing injury.

Always keep a large water bowl with fresh water in the tank.