The Ultimate Blue Tongue Skink Poop Guide

Understanding the meaning behind the poop of your blue tongue skink is vital. It may be a gross subject but determining healthy poop apart from abnormal poop can save the life of your blue tongue skink. At the same time, the smell and the color of poop give you a sign of what to adjust in their care.

Healthy blue tongue skink poop looks like a pellet. It has a brown part and a white tip. The brown part should be a bit firm and dry, while the white tip is softer. The smell should also not be too evident. Abnormal poop looks green, yellow, chalky, white, and red. Runny poop is abnormal.

Why are there two parts of blue tongue skink poop? What should you do if the poop of your blue tongue skink is abnormal? Is it a huge cause of concern if your blue tongue skink is not pooping or has diarrhea? We will discuss these and more, so read on!

What Does Healthy Blue Tongue Skink Poop Look Like?

A healthy blue tongue skink poop is elongated and round. It consists of two parts, the brown part, and the white tip.

The brown part of the poop is the digested content. This is also the same part where undigested contents may appear.

As for the white tip, it is the urate. Urate is just the form of urine of blue tongue skinks. It is the by-product of the breakdown of protein and nitrogenous waste.

When the poop is fresh, it is a bit sticky and also paste-like. However, as it dries, it becomes solid. Keep in mind that if there are some fibrous parts of the poop, this may be undigested food content.

This does not necessarily mean that it is unhealthy poop. There are just certain food items like insect exoskeletons that are just partially digested.

Blue Tongue Skink Poop Smell

The poop of your blue tongue skink should not have a strong odor. The smell of poop should be faint, and once it dries, it should not smell.

However, a bad odor may stem from the fact that there is accumulated poop in the tank. It is also possible that your blue tongue skink stepped on its fresh poop and smeared it all over the place, causing it to radiate a bad smell.

Note: If fresh or dried poop smells really bad, it may be a sign of your blue tongue skink having parasites.

Blue Tongue Skin Poop Size

The size varies depending on the age and the size of your blue tongue skink. If it is a baby, the size of the poop is approximately 0.3 to 0.8 inches in length. While adults have wider and longer poop which has a range of 1 to 2 inches in length.

How Often Should A Blue Tongue Skink Poop?

There are three factors that affect how often how your blue tongue skink poops. These are the following:

• How much food it ate
• The last food that it ate
• Size of the blue tongue skink

The frequency of pooping of your blue tongue skink is altered by those three factors. For example, if it had a huge meal compared to its usual meals, then it may poop more.

Young blue tongue skinks poop every day as they eat daily. On the other hand, adult blue-tongue skinks poop only once every two to three days as they eat every other day.

There are blue tongue skinks that poop right after eating. Others, poop 12 to 24 hours after their last meal.

What Does An Abnormal Blue Tongue Skink Poop Look Like?

You should focus on the color, consistency, and smell when determining an abnormal blue tongue skink poop. Having a watery poop when it is fresh is still considered fine, but it should be able to hold its shape once it dries.

• If the size of the poop is too large. There is usually something wrong with the diet.
• If the texture is mushy it can be a sign of infection or parasites.
• If it smells so bad, it can be due to a certain food that it ate or it can also be a sign of parasites and bacteria.

Why Your Blue Tongue Skink’s Poop Is Green

Green or bluish-green poop is a sign of high sugar in the diet. It is possible that you have been feeding your blue tongue skink more fruits that are sugary as compared to the number of green vegetables that you feed it.

What To Do Now

You can easily remedy this issue by adjusting the amount of fruit you add to the diet of your blue tongue skink. At the same time, you can also increase their intake of green vegetables.

Keep in mind that their diet should only consist of 10% fruits.

Why Your Blue Tongue Skink’s Poop Is Yellow

This can be yellow poop or yellow urate. It is possible that a red fruit made the poop yellow. At the same time, it can also mean that your blue tongue skink has liver issues.

If it came with brown poop with a yellow urate, it is a sign of dehydration.

What To Do Now

If you are just dealing with a yellow urate, you should first remedy it with a home solution before going to the vet. In this way, your blue tongue skink has the chance to rehydrate before it gets examined.

You can give it a quick soak or if you did not notice that the water bowl is already empty, you can fill it up and see if it drinks its fill.

On the other hand, if you are dealing with a possible liver issue, you need to consult the vet to have a complete diagnosis, and your blue tongue skink should undergo a blood test.

Chalky Urates

The white urate of the poop of your blue tongue skink should be softer than the brown poop.

Therefore, if it is rock hard and almost resembles chalk, it means that it has ingested too much calcium or is an indication of dehydration.

What To Do Now

You can simply adjust the amount of calcium that you give to your blue tongue skink.

If you feed it with both food that contains calcium as well as calcium supplements, it is better to not give them the supplement instead of removing the calcium-rich food.

If you are just relying on calcium supplements, refrain from using them for a week and observe the succeeding urates.

Once it gets back to normal, you can start giving calcium supplements again but start with a low amount gradually building up to the normal suggested amount of calcium.

If it does not improve, you should consult your vet. Usually, underlying calcium problems are also brought about by Vitamin D toxicosis. The vet can do tests to confirm this.

Why Your Blue Tongue Skink’s Poop Is White

If the poop of your blue tongue skink is all white, it means that it is overhydrated. Make it a point to check the white tip to see if it is hard and chalky.

As we discussed earlier, if this is the case, it is a sign that it has too much calcium in its diet.

On the other hand, if the white tip is still soft and not chalky, you have nothing to worry about.

What To Do Now

You can limit their water intake for at least one or even two days. This does not mean that you have to take out the water bowl entirely (they still need to drink!) you just have to control how much water they have access to.

Also, it is best not to soak your blue tongue skink during this time. You should see the poop normalize on the third day.

Why Your Blue Tongue Skink’s Poop Is Red Or Black

It may be frightening to see black poop, but before you panic, it may just be a normal and healthy poop that was dried and exposed to oxygen long enough to change color.

On the other hand, black poop can also be red poop that also oxidized. Seeing red poop or bloody poop is a cause of serious concern as it means several things:

• Intestinal injury
• Internal blood parasite
• Impaction or constipation
• The food that was given was too big that it was not digested
• Insect feeders are wrong
• A feeder insect was swallowed whole and scratched the lining of the intestines
• Misbalanced diet of insect feeders and vegetables

What To Do Now

When this happens, immediately go to your vet. You may do some basic home solutions but it is still the priority to go to the vet just to rule out internal issues that require medical attention.

Once the internal issues are ruled out and if the case of red or bloody poop is just happening occasionally, you can choose to feed your blue tongue skink foods that are rich in fiber.

Offer it more water and if it is a case of impaction, give it a warm bath.

Why Is My Blue Tongue Skink Not Pooping?

Before concluding that your blue tongue skink is not pooping, you should check first if this is actually the case. There are instances when blue tongue skinks hide their poop by burrowing it into the substrate.

At the same time, check the substrate for leftover dried poop as they might have been just buried.

1. The Tank Is Too Cold

Your blue tongue skink will be unable to digest properly if the tank is too cold. This can become a huge problem because indigestion leads to more rotting food left inside the digestive system.

Also, your blue tongue skink may also eat less or even refuse to eat as it cannot digest food which can lead to lethargy. So always check that the tank has the right temperatures. Take a look at the following:

• Warm side: 95-105 F if under the basking light, 85-95 F as ambient temperature
• Cool side: 70-80 F, 70-75 F for nighttime temperature

You can check the temperature in the tank by using a digital thermometer or you can also use an infrared thermometer, just like this one.

2. Your Skink Is Impacted

It is possible that your blue tongue skink is impacted or constipated if it has not pooped for 7-10 days. If this is the case, look for other signs such as lethargy, anxiety, having a full belly, or if it is rubbing its belly against things.

3. Your Blue Tongue Skink Is Sedentary

If your blue tongue skink is not doing any activity, it can have difficulty in relieving itself. This is what happens if there are no enrichment objects in the enclosure that can encourage physical activity.

So you can provide them with a substrate that is loose as they love to burrow. You can also add branches that can act as a platform for them to climb on. They also tend to move around rocks.

4. It Is Shedding

If your blue tongue skink is about to shed, it will start to reduce its food intake until the end of the shed. As they do not eat a regular amount of food, they end up pooping less.

There is nothing to worry about as this is normal. Some signs of an impending shed are agitation and pale skin.

5. Incorrect Diet

It is important for your blue tongue skink to have a balanced diet. Although they need fiber in their diet to get things moving, adding too much can also lead to constipation.

The same goes for offering fruits. Keep it at a minimum, but do not cut it off entirely. Further, it is important to not feed them at night as they need the entire day to digest.

When temperatures drop at night and they still have undigested food in their system, they will get impacted.

6. Stress Or Sickness

Observe your blue tongue skink and determine the triggers of its stress. If it is too stressed it can have a lack of appetite, and an upset stomach, and can even lower its body’s immune system.

Also, check for mouth injuries because it may just be refusing to eat as it is painful to do so. If you think that there is a serious underlying issue, you should consult your vet.

How To Help Your Constipated Skink

If the reason behind constipation does not need medical attention, then you can try these tips:

• You can offer them food that can make them poop (banana, pumpkin, cooked egg, apple, etc) Just make sure that the food does not contain too much sugar and phosphorous.
• Give them a warm bath for 15-20 minutes. Some owners also massage the belly gently to encourage bowel movement.

Diarrhea In Blue Tongue Skinks

Your blue tongue skink is having a case of diarrhea if it has been pooping at least three times a day. Note that the poop may also be runny and liquidy and is not the right color.

You should deal with this immediately as this could lead to dehydration.

The most common reasons for diarrhea in blue tongue skinks are:

• Incorrect diet
• Infections due to a dirty habitat
• Parasites

The biggest sign of infection is when the poop smells so bad. Feeding a lot of watery fruits and vegetables can also lead to diarrhea but should go away as soon as you stop feeding those foods.

Always go to your vet to have your blue tongue skink checked if it has diarrhea.

Conclusion

The look, smell, consistency, and color of the poop of your blue tongue skink are key to determining if they are healthy or unhealthy. Healthy poop is cylindrical and has a brown part and a white tip.

Unhealthy poop is colored green, white, chalky, yellow, black/red. It is important to check the color as well as the consistency so you can make adjustments on how you care for your blue tongue skink for it to have a healthy life.