Blue tongue skinks are good at escapes and hiding in tight spots. In this post, you will learn how to prevent blue tongue skink escapes or what to do if your blue tongue skink is glass surfing/climbing or has escaped the tank. So what to do if a blue tongue skink is trying to escape?
While the instinct to run away or escape can be normal, some factors might trigger this wish to escape. In this case, your blue tongue can be stressed or uncomfortable and will want to escape.
Why is my blue tongue skink trying to escape or climbing the glass? Possible reasons
Reason number 1: The tank is too small
First of all, blue tongue skinks can be climbing the glass and trying to escape because their tank is too small. If your blue tongue skink’s tank is too small, it won’t be able to have enough space to move around or have many enrichment accessories.
Blue tongue skinks require large horizontal tanks – an adult will need a 55+ gallon tank to be happy. Even a bare minimum of 40 gallons can make your blue tongue miserable. Blue tongue skinks are intelligent lizards and can get easily bored without proper enrichment or interaction.
Reason number 2: The tank is too hot
If the tank is too hot, your blue tongue skink will get overheated and will try to escape.
This is especially true if a tank is small – it’s hard or even impossible to create a temperature gradient in the tank that is small. Not mentioning that blue tongue skinks require high basking temperatures.
Signs that your blue tongue skink is overheated are hiding a lot, avoiding the basking area, climbing the glass. Very hot tank can also cause confusion, lethargy and dehydration. Your blue tongue might soak for longer or will try to borrow to get cooler.
Make sure that you have hides on each side of the tank – cool, middle and hot. Also, you must monitor the temperatures on each side of the tank, with digital thermometers that have a probe.
Please also invest in an infrared handheld thermometer like this, which will help measure temperatures in any spots of the tank. On top of that, if using any heating devices or bulbs, you need to have a thermostat like this that will control temperatures and if it detects overheating – it will turn devices off.
Reason number 3: Your blue tongue skink is stressed
Another reason why your blue tongue skink might be trying to escape and scratching is because it’s unhappy or stressed. Stress might be caused by various reasons – such as very loud noises, tank positioned in a high traffic area (when your skink is still new), food boredom or lack of food and more.
Other reasons of stress and unhappiness can be other cage mates – please never house blue tongue skinks together. The tank that is too small, no substrate to burrow in can all lead to unhappiness as well.
If everything in the tank is fine, your blue tongue might not like that it’s fully exposed. In this case, you can try to cover at least 2 sides of the cage with a black cloth or paper. You can also use a background cover – sticker or a rock like this
Reason #4: Boredom
If you don’t include enough enrichment accessories, decorations and plants for your blue tongue skink, it will feel bored and unhappy. Blue tongue skinks love burrowing, hiding and exploring. If you don’t have enough accessories, it might be a good time to add some.
You can get log hides, a cave and even DIY hides made from PVC pipes, food storage boxes etc. Please also add foliage and plants – however live plants are not recommended. Blue tongue skinks destroy live plants very quickly. Instead, you can get realistic fake plants like this as well as vines to hang around the tank.
If you have enough accessories in the tank, but your blue tongue skink still seems to be bored, you can try this trick. Simply take your blue tongue out and rearrange decorations in the tank. You can also add something new.
Rearranging will help relieve boredom, especially if it’s been more than 6 months of no changes. You can also just take your blue tongue out to play or put it in a box with scrunched paper or something to crawl through. To play, you can also use ping pong balls, or something similar that your skink can’t swallow.
You can find a post on adding enrichment decorations in a blue tongue skink tank here.
Reason #5: Your blue tongue skink is trying to find a mate
If it’s breeding period of the year, your blue tongue skink might become active to find a mate. This is especially true for males. Breeding periods often start after cold months of the year, which is around April in Northern Hemisphere.
If your blue tongue skink has gone into brumation for a month or so, it will be especially ready to mate when brumation is over. Most breeders help their blue tongue skinks brumate, for conditioning them and preparing for a mating season.
Please make sure to always have your tank lid on, because blue tongues often escape when the tank is not covered.
What to do if my blue tongue skink has escaped?
- 1: Close all windows and doors
- 2: Make sure the house is not cold
- 3: Skink-proof the house and make it safe
- 4: Lure your blue tongue out with favorite and smelly foods
- 5: Keep looking and stay hopeful
Step 1: Close all windows and doors
If your blue tongue skink has escaped, don’t panic. Provided there is no chance for your blue tongue to escape outside, it should be somewhere in the house. If not, make sure to immediately close the windows or doors that your blue tongue can escape through.
Step 2: Make sure the house is not cold
Blue tongue skinks can go for quite a long time without food. The main concern is heating, because your blue tongue is cold-blooded. So if your house is cold, you can turn heating on but be careful with hot radiators.
Step 3: Skink-proof the house and make it safe
The next step would be to make the house safe for your blue tongue skink. If you have any wires, please cover them. Same goes for hot surfaces and lamps, make sure to cover them too.
You can also clean around the house and get rid of any small objects that your skink can swallow.
Step 4: Lure your blue tongue out with favorite and smelly foods, and water
Then, you will need to lure your blue tongue skink out of wherever it’s hiding. To do this, you will need to place some treats in one spot. Food that is favorite, but especially smelly food will help lure out your blue tongue skink.
You can place some strong smell cat or dog food, banana, mango or raspberry pieces for the best results. What is more, place a small water dish for your blue tongue.
Step 5: Keep looking
Never lose hope and keep looking for your blue tongue skink. Your blue tongue skink can survive for months if escaped, so don’t lose hope. Make sure to make the house is safe for your blue tongue skink.
It can be also worth telling your neighbors that your blue tongue skink has escaped, so they can inform you in case they spot it anywhere around.
Then, try to lure it out with food, and look in very tight spaces. Blue tongue skinks love to lay and hide in small tight places – this can be behind furniture, under tables, fridges, in the drawers, between blankets or clothing and so on.
Another good trick is to see if your blue tongue has been walking around the house and where. For this, you can dust some flour around the house, where you think your blue tongue could go. Because blue tongue skinks are active during the day, you can dust it in the morning and check in the evening.
If you would like to find a lot more useful posts on blue tongue skink care, please see this resource page.