blue tougue skink

Question
I bought my skink a month ago which was very happy and livly in the shop with another one, since i hav had him home he has been in his hide apart from coming out for food every other day my temps are 95 under the heat bulb going down to 80 at the cool end wot can i do to get him to come out+he will let me handle him but hides as soon as i put him back again?

Answer
Hi Dean, You didn't happen to mention if your BT is a juvenile or adult. Skinks in general do like to hide alot and juvenile animals are more cautious then adults. If he is still a sub-adult he will likely mellow and "hang out" a little more as he matures. Adult male BT's are very aggressive with each other which makes me suspect you might have a female (since it was housed with another) or a male that was housed with a female or a juvenile. An adult male housed with a female will be more active for fairly obvious reasons, especially in the early summer. A month isn't really that long, he may still be getting used to his new environment. If he is in a glass tank, you might try adding visual blocks (like dark paper) to two or three of the sides for awhile to add a sense of security. Sometimes when there is less visual commotion in view then species that typically hide will venture out, as they would in the wild.