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Newbie has a new baby blue tailed skink and needs help

E

Enoch

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Hi everyone,
I've never owned a lizard before so I literally need as much help as anyone is willing to offer. Where I live in Northern Virginia we have LOTS of these little blue tailed skinks running around. I happened to catch one the other day (in my living room!) and my kids convinced me it'd make a fun family pet. The skink I have is VERY small, about the length of a Q-Tip so I think it's very young. At Pet Sart yesterday I purchased a 5.5 gallon plexiglass tank, a small resin water bowl, some "bedding (?)" made from coconut fibers and a small can of "gourmet" meal worms. In addition to these purchases I also added a (large compared to the skink) rock, a stick and a plastic lizard my son donated. Until purchasing the meal worms I was throwing an assortment of bugs I find in the yard into his environment (mostly ants and these small, milky sorta transparent worms) for him/her to eat. I think he's been eating the ants but not the worms. He's shown no interest in the canned meal worms but I'm hoping he'll develop a taste for them. So my questions are - How often should he be eating and what should I be giving him? Are the yard bugs I've been giving him ok? Were the canned meal worms a bad idea? What else should I be giving him and how often? I change his water every couple days. Is that enough? We move his habitat around during the day so it's frequently in the sun. Is that adequate or do I need to get him some kind of lamp of heating pad? Is that (larger than the skink) plastic lizard ok in his habitat or will he find it threatening? Like I said earlier in the post, I know NOTHING about caring for lizards (skinks) so I need all the help I can get. I want to treat this little creature right so please help. Thanks for your time, e
 
Hi, I am not sure that you have the right species common name for what you have there. Can you post a picture so that we can determine exactly what kind of skink you have there?

Generally, wc animals do not eat bugs unless they move. Also, if the skink is as small as you say, live mealworms might be too big for him.

Beyond that, we need a proper species ID and you need to do research for care sheets on that particular species, and for any reptile species that you pick up and take responsibility for. If it is a basking skink, for example, then the 5.5 plexiglass aquarium won't work as you will need to give him a basking light, and you will need to use reptile supplements regardless of what species he is.
 
Trying to attach an image I found on-line that very closely resembles my skink. If one were to google Blue Tailed Skink, lots of hits are returned and yes, blue tailed skink seems to be a nickname. The "real" name seems to be Common Five-lined Skink (Plestiodon fasciatus). If this adequatly identifies my skink, can someone now provide answers to my questions or direct me to useful care information? Thanks!
 

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Just wanted to make sure everyone understands, the picture above is not a picture of my skink but a picture that very very closely resembles my skink.
 
Eric,
You can start here. I don't have time this morning to research this particular skink, but you need to so that you can keep it healthy. The first thing you need to do is make sure that it is not a protected species in your state as they are protected in some states.

From the little that I have read, they need to bask, and if you aren't providing a basking spot with surface temperatures in the range of 90-110F, then that could be why he isn't interested in eating. A 5.5 gallon plexiglass tank cannot accomodate those basking temps, so I suggest that you provide at least a ten gallon tank. Get a good digital thermometer. The stick on thermometers are not accurate, so I suggest an accurite thermometer with probe that is sold at walmart, or this:
http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/reptile-supplies/thermometers-thermostats-and-timers/-/zoo-med-digital-thermometer-with-probe/

He needs a basking surface of 90-105, 110, then a cool side where he can cool off, in the range of 75-80. He needs lots of hides in each temperature zone so that he can thermoregulate, meaning that reptiles do not have internal means of warming up. If they have a need for warmth to digest their food (this skink probably does) then you must create an environment in which he can regulate his body temperature.

This is a basic overview of how you need to set him up. I don't have time right now to discuss supplements, uvb/D3 and calcium requirements, etc, but you should do some research if you are going to keep a lizard and keep it healthy. TBH, asking people on a forum to do that for you is a bit irresponsible. I have been in rescue for years (not doing much now) and I will not even consider adopting out an animal to people unless or until they do research (read a few care sheets, which are all over the internet, read up on natural history so that they can mimic the natural environment in their set ups as closely as possible, etc) on the animal that they are interested in keeping. I don't mean to sound cranky here, but forums should really fill in the blanks for you AFTER you have done some reading. I hope this makes sense. Invest a bit of time into that little guy for his sake. :)
 
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