Enclosure Setup
Before bringing your new pink tongued skink baby home, I recommend getting their enclosure ready in advance, complete with lighting, so you can make sure that the temperatures are appropriate.
Ideally, you have purchased from a responsible breeder who waited to sell their babies until they are eating well, defecating normally, and clearly thriving. Even with this good start to life, baby pink tongues are more delicate than their adult counterparts. As a result, I recommend lowering the basking temp to the mid-80s range, and making sure that the skink can choose to get as close to the heat (or as far away) as they want. Use a low UV (often sold as tropical or listed as 5.0) bulb.
I recommend getting a 10 or 15 gallon tank for your new addition. Paper towels are the safest substrate for the first few months and will allow you to track defecation. Since this substrate doesn’t hold moisture well, you should add a humid hide. This can be a cave or hiding hole that you partly fill with damp sphagnum moss, or you can take a plastic tupperware (with the lid), cut a hole in one side, fill it with moss, and use that instead. This should be placed on the warm side of the tank as you want to keep the hide warm and humid.
I also recommend putting a hide on the cool side, and added lots of things for your skink to climb. Make sure everything you use for climbing (sticks, plastic vine, hammocks, etc) are securely anchored to prevent falls.
Provide a shallow water dish or put rocks into a large dish to make sure your baby doesn’t inadvertently drown. Babies take a while to learn how to drink from still water so you must mist your new addition at least twice a day. If you cannot commit to this, set up an automated misting system. Dehydration can be deadly in very young skinks so always make sure water is available and commit to misting the enclosure. Misting also helps stimulate a feeding response in this species so consider giving an additional spritz right before offering food.
Here is an example of a baby set up:
Feeding
Baby pink tongues eat the same food as they will as adults but it’s important to make sure that anything solid is offered at an appropriate size. If you offer diced squash or other vegetables, make sure it’s finely diced or even shredded. For canned snails, I often dice these as well until the skink is larger.
Add some calcium powder with D3 to every other meal, and offer food once every 2 days. You might find that your skink doesn’t eat this frequently, or maybe only takes a bite or two when food is offered, but it’s important to make sure that food is available regularly during this age. Once your skink has tripled in size, you can offer a larger portion of food every 3 days as you would for an adult. Let your skink guide you; if they’re cleaning their bowl every time, they likely need more food. If they only eat a little each time, you can probably leave it an extra day before the next feeding.
Handling
When you first bring your new skink home, do not handle it for 1-2 weeks. I know it’s tempting especially considering how adorable baby pink tongues are but it’s very important that your new baby is not stressed. They just went on a big journey to get to you and everything is new. Stress in reptiles can lower their immune system and can even lead to death so it’s vitally important you let your new addition adjust to their new home.
After 2 weeks has passed, I recommend keeping any handling short. Usually, I only handle babies so that I can clean their tanks each week, and get a weight once a month. You want them to get used to you over time by keeping things short and pleasant.
When picking up your skink, be sure to gently scoop them up from underneath and then fully support their weight. Most babies will be happy to walk from hand to hand, maybe make a trip up your arm, and then be returned to their tank. If your skink seems stressed out and hisses, opens their mouth wide in a threat display, tries to bite you, or runs away from your hand, leave them be and try again another day. If you absolutely must pick up your skink (such as for cleaning), gently scoop them up and place them in a secure, dark enclosure where they can relax.
Never place your young skink on the floor. They are surprisingly fast and can easily get away from you. The floor is also much colder than is appropriate for them, and they can get their little claws trapped in the weave of carpet and rugs. Pink tongues also feel safest when up high; the floor is a scary place for them. If you want them to wander around, let them explore your lap or hands, not the ground.
Juvenile Care
As your skink grows and thrives, you can make a few changes to their enclosure. The paper towels are no longer needed and you can now switch to a particulate substrate. My recommendation is an amphibian-safe soil but you can also use coco coir, reptichips, or some other reptile safe substrate. I prefer soil because it allows the skink to burrow down, and it’s also beneficial if you’re interested in setting up a bioactive enclosure with live plants.
Make sure that any cage furniture is large enough to support your growing skink, and size up to a 15 or 20 gallon if you started with a 10 gallon. You can also increase the amount of food offered at each meal and also the time in which you handle them. Skinks often settle down around 5-6 months as they are larger and therefore feel less vulnerable. You might find that your skink seems to enjoy your handling sessions more at this age and seems eager to explore.
Here’s an example of a set up for a juvenile:
For further information on housing and lighting, see my care sheet on adult pink tongued skink care (linked at the top of the homepage).
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