The Blue Tongued Skink is not only one of the easiest lizards to keep, it is a vociferous eater mainly because it is an omnivore reptile and eats meat, vegetables and insects. For you, as the caretaker and owner of the reptile, this is good news because you are not restricted in planning the meals of the reptile but still, you need to exert caution because in addition to its meals, the reptile will need dietary supplements for the maximum possible healthy growth.
Some skink experts and lovers will tell you that if you have the perfectly balanced diet and that you are giving the correct proportions of diet; 50% vegetables, 40% meat and insects and 10% fruits, then you really shouldn’t worry too much about vitamins and supplements. Many blue-tongued skink keepers include vitamins and supplements because they wish to give their pet the perfect diet in case they are missing some special nutrients from their regular diet.
Another advantage of having supplements for your skink is if some of the vegetables or fruits go out of season, so you can feed your reptile pet with the alternate diet. Juvenile skink reptiles will require a frequent dose of vitamins compared to adult counterparts. Even so, you probably should not feed your pet reptile with supplements more than once or twice a week.
The best way to give supplements to your reptile is by dusting the insects with calcium and vitamin supplements by putting the insects in a bag, dusting the supplement, powder inside and shaking the bag well. While you can use this method for plain calcium supplements for every feedings, you must only dust insects with vitamin D3 supplements once a week and vitamin supplement twice a month. In addition, you must take care because the supplements you use should not have phosphorus in them because phosphorus promotes the development of kidney diseases in the reptile. Fruits also have natural phosphorus that is why you should not let your reptile overdose on fruits. Plant matter on the other hand can also be dusted with calcium powder occasionally.
While supplements can take care of anything important lacking in your reptile’s diet, supplements should be given in controlled proportions and if your reptile’s diet is well rounded and balanced, they might not be required at all. In certain cases, your veterinarian might recommend dusting with supplements if your blue tongue skink is weak or has weak bone structure so before you start giving supplements, make sure to check with the vet.
