Whether you are a new blue tongue skink owner or experienced, you are not wrong if you are too looking to get the most out of your lizard. If you are looking to set your blue tongue lizards for a happy life in captivity, you must also look for taming them.
But, how to tame a blue tongue skink? I’ll tell you how you can tame your skinks easily, but before that, you must know the benefits of taming lizards & reptiles.
Blue tongue skink that is tamed tends to be much happier and less stressed than those who are ignored or left alone for a life in a tank. It becomes your responsibility to help your skink adapt well and be less stressed.
If you want to tame your blue tongue, Lizards, you are in the right place because, in this guide, I will talk about how to tame a blue tongue skink and how you bond with a blue tongue skink. We will also talk if they like being handled or can be tamed or not.
Let’s first learn how to tame a blue tongue skink.
How To Tame A Blue Tongue Skink?
To tame, you need to make your blue tongue skink get used to its tank environment. Afterward, it would help if you started training, handling, and bonding with your skink while being sensitive to its physical signals.
It will help you tame blue tongue skinks in the long run. Let’s first learn: is taming a blue tongue skink hard?
Is Taming A Blue Tongue Skink Hard?
Taming blue tongue skink is not complicated, but it requires effort, patience, and determination in the long run. Every blue tongue skink will be different regarding their activities level, varying conditions, and habits.
The process of taming will be unique for your skink. At first, they may hate it, but they can learn to build trust and feel comfortable with you with time.
The first goal you should make is – build trust with them, then make then realize you are not a threat. If you want to know how you can make your blue tongue skink trust you, you mustknow.
Consistency and repetition in handling routine will help build trust. Let’s learn how long it takes to tame a blue tongue skink.
How Long Does It Take To Tame A Blue Tongue Skink?
The time it takes to tame a blue tongue skink will vary between lizard and lizard as there are many variables. Many factors are needed to consider to get an accurate estimate which is very hard. However, with consistency and frequent practice, your blue tongue skink will start trusting you and allowing you to pick them.
When you get your first blue tongue skink, give it a month before you start taming them. It would help if you allowed a newly adopted blue tongue skink to get familiar with the environment and adjust themselves accordingly before taming them.
As soon as you notice your Newly adopted skinks being comfortable around you and trusting you, you can start getting closer to your pet and befriend them after the initial month of their adjustment.
5 Steps To Tame A Blue Tongue Skink
1. Start Handling Your Pet.
The most initial process that you should begin before taming them is to start handling them more often. Once your blue tongue skink is used to being handled, you can begin picking them more often.
I recommend you always begin handling, training, and learning how to drive such reptiles before taming them. Always approach them calmly. This is the first and initial step which will take time before they trust you. Once they start charging you, you can move with the second step.
However, if you notice your blue tongue skink puffing up, then avoid picking it up. You should always pay close attention to Skinks’ warning signs. Sometimes, blue tongue skinks bite. Here is a good guide on Blue tongue skink bite.
2. Persistently Hold Your Skink.
It is essential to hold your skinks for more than a few seconds. Once you are done handling them, you have to pick up your blue tongue skink and wait by holding on to them for a while. If your skink is trying to escape or wiggling a lot, firm your grip.
If your skink doesn’t stop squirming, you will need to put more effort and wait for a while. Please don’t make a too loose grip so that it can fall out of your hand and get injured.
When your blue tongue skink is squirming, you should not release your skink right away because it will reinforce the idea in its mind that if he wants out, he should squirm.
3. Start Spending Time With Your Blue Tongue Skink
After doing so many things, you should now keep patience, and over a long period, spending time with your skink will be rewarding. Many owners tend to do this kind of thing at first for a while, then start ignoring them, which makes the pet go back into its survival ways and forget about you.
This is why I recommend you start spending time with your blue tongue skink, especially in the beginning, for at least 60 minutes every day. It is always better to spend 30 minutes each day than spending 200 minutes over the week in one day. It will help you tame your blue tongue skink better.
4. Rule Out Their Stressors.
Make sure to keep your blue tongue comfortable when taming them. You should help them take more time as it will make their stressors go away. If you are taming a baby blue tongue skink, you might have to spend more time because baby skins tend to struggle more when picked up or handled.
5. Reka Blue Tongue Skink Enclosure In A Well Travelled Spot.
It is essential to put your blue tongue skink tank somewhere where they can at least sense you. You should avoid keeping their tank in an area with lots of noise or shadow changes. It would help to keep them somewhere to get engaging stimulation, so your blue tongue skink doesn’t get boring or skittish.
How Do You Bond With A Blue Tongue Skink?
Bonding with a blue tongue skink helps in taming them better as well. This is the reason I have included this section as well in this article. Let’s learn how to bond with a blue tongue skink.
7 Bonding Tips For Blue Tongue Skink
- Start spending more time with them.
It would help if you placed the tank somewhere where they can see or sense you, at least. It would help if you also got them out for an hour or a few minutes. You should spend at least 30 minutes a day every day. Spending time with blue tongue skinks helps them feel safer around you and build trust.
- Start Handling Your Blue Tongue Skink Regularly.
If you start handling your skink regularly for at least 15-30 minutes a day, it will build more trust and a stronger bond between you two. But before you start handling your blue tongue skink regularly, make sure always to learn how to properly hold them with a firm grip but not too loose.
- Give Your Skink A Bath.
Most blue tongue skinks enjoy baths because it helps remove bacteria from their body and dead skins. Plus, it also helps them stay hydrated. If you want to bond with your skink, it’s a great way to practice.
Some blue tongue skinks may not like bathing at all, but most of them will appreciate it. It will also help your stink associate with your scent with a positive experience and build affection in the long run.
- Start Feeding Your Skink By Hand.
The best way to bond with a blue tongue skink is to feed them using your palm. Please don’t use your fingers, as your lizard can mistake it with a mealworm. Palm feeding will also help your lizard to smell and sense you more often over time.
If you feel gross about the idea of feeding live insects by hand, you can also feed vegetation meals using your hand. Here are what vegetables can skinks eat.
- Calm Down Your Blue Tongue Skink.
If you notice a skink stressing out in his cage, its an opportunity for you to bond. Start approaching them slowly and calm your lizard down. Calming a blue tongue skink will help them associate you and your smell as a safe influence around them.
- Take Your Blue Tongue Skink Out.
Just like any other animal, lizards like blue tongue skinks also like exploring and walking around. It would help if you considered taking your skinks out for a while and letting them roam around safely. You can also offer some appropriate toys.
- Be Consistent With Your Efforts And Their Care Routine.
Missing their care routine or not being consistent in your effort will result in having blue tongue skink with stunted growth, misbehaving, not wanting to be handled, and refusing to bond with you at all.
Can Blue Tongue Lizards Be Tamed?
Yes, blue tongue lizards can be tamed to be much happier and less stressed out compared to those that are not tamed and have been ruled out alone in captivity without interaction at all.
Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts: All in all, bonding and spending time with your blue tongue skink will help you tame them completely. It would help if you considered starting to tame your blue tongue skink at a very young age.
I hope I have given you all the information needed on how to tame a blue tongue skink. If you find this post helpful, do share this post. I have also included how to bond with a blue tongue skink so that noobs can also learn each step in depth. Make sure to check out our valuable resource on how to care for blue tongue skink. I hope I will get another chance to help you out through another article as well. Till then, take care & goodbye.
94% of pet owners say their animal pal makes them smile more than once a day. In 2007, I realized that I was made for saving Animals. My father is a Vet, and I think every pet deserves one. I started this blog, “InPetCare”, in 2019 with my father to enlighten a wider audience.