my new berber skink?

Question
i have jus got my berber skink 3 days ago and all he has done since i put him in the tank all he has done is burrow himself under the sand hes not even come out yet? is this normal? he has a heat mat on the back of the tank , a UVB lamp , and a heat lamp the temp in the tank in the daytime is 70 faranheit thanks very much ben

Answer
Hi Ben, That is normal for a newly acquired skink and you will start to see more normal and active behaviour as he becomes used to the new environment. It is always a bit stressful for an animal to adapt to a completely new environment and they often will not eat for the first week as well.

The daytime temperature of 70 F that you quoted is far too low for a berber's but you mentioned that you have two heat sources so I think there may be a problem with how and where you are measuring the temperature.
Berber's need a basking temperature  in the 95 - 100 F. You will need to (temporarily) place a thermometer right on the sand's surface under the heat lamp to determine the basking spot temperature. I suspect you may be using one of those stick-on strip thermometers which are influenced by the glass temperature and do not give an accurate reading in the spot where your skink will actually be. Try measuring it again, you may need to change the wattage of your heat bulb to achieve the right temperature. The cool end of the tank can be in the 70's- 80's F during the day and the whole tank can go down to 70F at night when the light is off.
If your temperatures are actually too cool your skink will continue to be inactive and likely will not eat either. All of their body functions depend on that external heat source.