Blue-tongued skink is an ideal pet for the beginners and even for the professional. These type of lizards can easily adapt to captivity, has a fair straightforward living needs, very easy to feed, and doesn’t mind regular handling, meaning you can touch anytime as long as it wants you to.
Skinks are omnivorous reptiles, meaning they need to eat both leafy and meaty foods in order for it to get the right nutrition. Therefore, in this article, we would be discussing what kind of foods are the best and healthiest to feed to your pet. Like humans, reptiles would also need to eat healthy foods daily.
10 Best Food for Blue Tongue Skink
Note that young and adult skinks have different diets. When it comes to meat, adult skinks should only eat about 50 to 60% of meat in their diet and about 40 to 50% of vegetables. As for skinks less than 2 years of age should eat about 70 to 80% of meat and 20 to 30% of vegetables. Younger skinks would need more protein in their diet to avoid pyramiding.
And as for fruits, both young and adult skinks should take no more than 10% of fruits in their diet. With that said, below are some great foods that you can get for your little bluey in the market:
1. Fluker’s Dried Crickets
Crickets are one of the main diet of skinks in the wild, therefore, it would be great if you add some live or dried crickets on their daily diet. These freeze-dried crickets from Fluker’s offer natural nutrition that most reptiles need. Dried insects are created for those owners who don’t want to handle live preys, however, it would be much better if you only feed these crickets as treats.
2. Josh’s Frogs Superworms
Superworms are a great addition to a skink’s diet, especially for the young ones, as these kinds of worms contain high protein which is necessary for a young skinks diet. Josh’s Frogs are one of the best dealers of live insects in the market, so you should consider ordering one of their feeders for your pet.
You can also buy in bulk count to save more money and energy from constantly buying live insects. Also, when you buy in bulk orders, you can gut-load the worms yourself and you would always have a stock for your pet.
3. Medium-Sized Dubia Roaches
The great thing about these critters as feeders is that they don’t smell, they can’t fly, they can’t climb on smooth surfaces, and they don’t make noises which are perfect for both skink and owner’s sake. But since they are ordered online, some roaches won’t be guaranteed alive upon arrival.
Therefore, it would be best if you order them in bulk to have a lot of spare live roaches. Also, you can gut-feed the critters upon arrival to make sure that your bluey would get enough nutrition. Dubia roaches are both nutritious for young and adult skinks.
4. UGRodents Frozen Pinky Mice
If you are looking for something meaty for your little bluey, instead of gut-loaded insects, then these frozen pinky mice would be a good treat for your blue-tongued skink.
Note though, this should only be fed as treats and not as their staple diet. You don’t want to over-feed your pet with too much protein or get them fat. Each pack of UGRodents contains frozen mice that are about 1 to 2 days old. Each mouse is pink in color, but none of them has developed their coats, making them good treats for your pet lizard.
5. Black Soldier Larvae
Black soldier larvae are another great option of feeders for a blue-tongued skink. These worms also have other trade names such as calciworms, phoenix worms, and red worms. The worms come in 250 counts, so expect to have enough larvae to last for a couple of weeks or so.
Also, these worms also came from Josh’s Frogs, therefore, expect the worms to be gut-loaded and ready to be fed to your little bluey upon arrival. But if you want to ensure that your pet is eating the best food, then you can gut load the insects yourself.
6. Josh’s Frogs Hornworms
If your blue-tongued skink prefers eating big bugs, then a juicy hornworm would be a good meal option for them. These hornworms are big in size, which would ensure that your pet lizard would enjoy them. Each order of hornworms comes in 25 counts in one cup, but you can also order these worms in 12 counts to see if your pet likes them.
Since these worms are big in sizes, it would also mean that they have a lot of protein and nutrition in them. If the worms you got are a bit small to your pet’s liking, you can just feed the worms for a couple of days until they reach the desired length. Also, note that you can only feed these to your pet occasionally rather than daily.
7. Zoo Med Silkworms
Aside from usually feeding your pet with crickets and other common foods for reptiles, you can also try something new like feeding your pet with silkworms. However, these can of silkworms aren’t alive, the worms are dried and packed in a 1.2 oz container.
Not only are these worms great for fishing, but they are also ideal to be fed to reptiles and amphibians alike. Each pack contains nutritious silkworms that would ensure your pet’s good health. However, the only bad thing about this product is that it has a bit of a smell in it.
8. Uncle Jim’s Red Wrigglers
If you are thinking about feeding your skink with live earthworms, make sure that you didn’t get them from your backyard’s garden, or from any other dirt around your house. Only feed your pet with earthworms that are from breeders, pet stores, or from manufacturing farms.
Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm breeds worms that are mite free and gut-loaded. Not only are the worms great for your garden’s health, but they also make a delicious hi-protein treat for your pet reptile. This would be a good treat for your young skink if you have one.
9. Pinky Neb Dried Mealworms
Here is another dried treat for your little reptile friend. Mealworms are more like superworms, but this time they are dried and packed in a resealable for an easy use and storage. These dried worms are a great source of fiber, minerals, vitamins, and other necessary nutrients that your pet needs for its overall health.
Each pack of these worms is also 100% safe as they are it doesn’t contain additives, non-GMO, preservative, and dust-free. Therefore, you can have a piece of mind as each pack of this product is all-natural, high energy, and a fresh wholesome product.
10. Zilla Reptile Munchies Mix
If you want to feed your blue-tongued skink with a complete diet, which consists of vegetables, fruits, and meats at the same time, then you can consider getting one of the Zilla’s mixed pack omnivore treat. Each pack contains dried insects and other veggie mixes that are perfectly healthy for your little bluey.
This is also very easy to use and convenient as it is packed in a resealable bag. Before feeding this to your pet, make sure to rehydrate it with powder first to make it a bit softer for your pet to chew on.
Also note that, aside from insects, vegetables, fruits, and live or frozen mice, you can also feed your blue-tongued skink with cat or dog foods. Most bluey owners have said that their little reptile friend enjoys the food very much. It also makes a good diet when it is mixed with vegetables. But make sure that you use canned food rather than kibbles.
If you decide on letting your pet eat dog or cat canned food, make sure to avoid foods that contain fish, grains, and artificial colors and flavors. Here is a list of cat and dog food brands that you can try for your pet lizard:
- Merrick
- Zignature
- Primal
- Carnivora
- TruDog
- Halo
- Raw Bistro
- Instinct
- Wellness CORE
- Darwin’s
- Evolution Naturally
- Castor & Pollux
- Nature’s Variety
- Whole Earth Farms
When checking the product’s ingredients, you should the ones that have a relatively short list of ingredients, a byproduct, and 100% grain free.
Conclusion
Blue-tongued skinks are very friendly and intelligent as far as a lizard can go. For beginners who want to take care of reptiles, more specifically lizards, the skinks makes great reptile pets and they have good size to hold. Most skinks settle down quickly, can easily get accustomed to captivity, and the longer you take care of them, the more they become submissive and approachable pets.
The cost and maintenance for these kinds of reptiles may be low, but they would still need to be provided with enough foods and regular maintenance of their enclosures to keep them healthy, therefore, always make sure that you feed them with the best reptile food that you can find.
