Hmm, is my fire skink overweight?

[VampyricAngelX]

I ended up taking another video of my fire skink (very short because it stressed him out to be in that 5 gallon, but a vid none the less) and posted it up on my youtube and someone made the comment that he's fat. Now I don't over feed him, I give him 3-4 super worms every other day (that's as much as he'll eat) and he's under the eco earth so often it's hard to tell. I know that being too overweight is just as bad as being too underweight so what do you think, should I cut back on how much I feed him or how often? Here's two of my most recent pics and the link to the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsrN2UyOxEQ

(Note: he was most likely wild caught & his toes have always been like that)

 

[nrich]

he is pretty chubby. I don't know much about these guys, but blue tongues can get severely overweight if you let them. I did a quick google search for images of them and it looks like yours is pretty typical. The tail is chubbier than many of them though.

 

[DoubleZ]

It does look a bit pudgier than ones I've seen.

 

[VampyricAngelX]

Yea, guess I will give him less to eat. Maybe just one or two supers every other day. He had a nice large tank to run around in so I know he's not cramped (he's got a 30 gallon long).

 

[Musicanimal]

WOW! He's a chubby buddy. I feed mine like 6 large crickets every other day, he's tough to take any worms, and he's pretty lean in comparison. My guys' toes are the same. How old/length is he may I ask?

 

[VampyricAngelX]

Yea, the guy who sold him to me first said he only ate red wigglers. Thoug he's pretty happy to take ANYTHING I give him. Seen him eat crickets, superworms, and mealworms of any stage. I've cut down how often I feed him so he's slimmed down a little.

His toes make me sad, they're all short. But they're all healed up and don't seem to bother him, he's very active and its kind of fun to watch him. Specially when he pops up out of the eco earth with some on top of his head like a hat lol

I'm not sure exactly how old he is, but probably at least a year if not more. He was most likely wild caught so the shop wasn't exactly sure of his age either. The girl who runs the shop knew how to care for him (even if the guy who sold him to me at the time didn't) but he and his previous tank mate were sold to the shop by someone. He's about adult size, I'd say about 10 inches or so. Its hard to measure him when I clean out his tank since he won't let me handle him. I kind of have to corral him into the 5 gallon tank I take his pics in and let him go from there to a plastic storage tub filled with some of his eco earth.

 

[Gecko]

It's very hard to train the wc to accept handling. The captive bred are easier, but they still wiggle around. Weight looks OK. I little chubby, but not obese. The regenerated tails are always fatter usually.

 

[VampyricAngelX]

Yea, I'm fine with not being able to hold him like I do with my leos. It's only an annoyance when trying to clean out his tank. Skinks just seem skittish in general, but I'm really starting to love them even more now that I have this one. Will most likely get a BTS someday.

 

[geckofreak24]

ummmm, YES, hahaha

 

[Musicanimal]

I also have a BTS and a schneider skink. The bts, maybe because he had previous owners, is pretty docile, hisses if you put your hand under him but does nothing, and then just freezes in your lap or if I set him on the couch. I bought a kiddie plastic pool and put the bedding that looks like little dots (haven't bought it because he ends up not doin anything) that is safe if swallowed, and he wouldn't run around in it.

The schneider is very friendly. If he sees me come into the room he starts running all around in his tank so I'll grab him up and he immediately climbs up and wants to sit on my head. He also loves sitting in a sunny window. lol. That natural light must just be ten times better to him. If you have the means, they're great skinks, I love them bunches.

 

[VampyricAngelX]

Aw, that's adorable. My leopard gecko Dante acts like that, he seems to love attention and likes to sit on my shoulder while I'm on here sometimes. Schneider skinks look really neat as well. I would definitely look into getting one. But for right now I'll stick with my 3 leos and my fire skink. Don't have much room for another set up currently. So maybe one day I'll look into getting one, there's just so many species I'd like to get XD