Better Fire Skink?

Question
QUESTION: Please Help!! I have recently gotten a Fire Skink 3 days ago and he seems ok (physical injuries are absent) but is always sleeping. I was told when I bought him online (reptilecity.com) that they were very active creatures in the day time. He ate 2 crickets on the first two days but on the third wouldn't touch or even look at the live crickets (which would crawl on him). He has a heat lamp and the proper light setup with a basking spot, but doesn't use them. If you touch him he doesn't respond, but if you pick him up he will make an effort to get away just to resume sleeping the very next moment. Is this normal skink behavior? Please e-mail me ASAP. Thanx

ANSWER: Hi Eli,

That level of lethargic behaviour does not sound healthy to me nor does it sound like usual Fire skink behaviour, in my experience. All the ones that I have worked with have been bright-eyed,  alert and very aware of their surroundings.  I would certainly call the shop where you got him and voice your concerns.

Reptiles are often nervous when placed in a new environment but this usually manifests as agitated behaviour rather then the lethargic behaviour you are describing. The stress of re-location can lower the immune response of reptiles. This can cause the small number of intestinal parasites that reptiles often harbour to "flare up" into a clinically significant situation.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your response. I only have a 2-part follow up question.

Since my first e-mail, my fire skink has become more active. he has "bright eyes" when awake, and shows curious behavior when he is taken out of his tank. Unfortunalatly, He still won't eat, he hasn't since Friday the 5th, (he went to the bathroom 3 times since Friday) and he now responds to movement around the habitat, and seems more alert, but will sleep when things quiet down. Is this a sign of improvement?

On Saturday, his UVA, UVB light when out. He still has heat, and i put him under a florescent light until the new bulb gets here, (on Wednesday - Friday) Could the light change/loss be effecting anything?

I have already talked to the store who sold me the skink, they said that the behavior he was displaying was normal for his species.

Answer
Hi Eli,

That sounds much better. It sounds like the "shock" of landing in an entirely new and different territory is starting to wear off a bit for your skink.  I hope the store was not implying that his previous behaviour where he was laying there allowing crickets to crawl on him was "normal". It certainly is not! It is quite common for new acquistions to take around 7 to 10 days in settle into a new environment and start feeding and basking. This should not present any problems as long as your skink came to you with good body weight.  During the adjustment time I would recommend that you try to reduce his stress level by making sure he has hide spots available and keep the handling to a minimum. Once he starts feeding normally you can resume handling him but for now let him adjust to his new home. You might also try alternate food sources like large mealworms or a few waxworms. These can often trigger the feeding response of reluctant feeders. The presence of UVA/UVB does have some impact on how reptiles see their prey (reptiles see in the UV range) but in your case I suspect his reluctance to feed is entirely from re-location stress rather then the loss of your light.