BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Something i havnt really paid attention to in the past is gestation periods

Eg time from first observed mating to actually having babies,i know it can vary,so thought we could start a thread to see what keepers have noted with the different species they have

Please share your findings,will be interesting to see

Yes im waiting on a few to start dropping,lol

But some people have it down pat enough to predict the day babies will arive,consistent temps help there though

With my shingles mating takes place throughout October, and most are born at the end of March. There has been considerable variation between years as to when babies appear. The longest was 2 years ago when 2 girls didn't give birth until June (8 months after mating). This was a very strange summer weather wise being much colder and wetter than usual. Being kept outside they were exposed to all strange weather fluctuations.

Outsides a bugger like that,had a few years i had to bring blotchies in as well as cage mates were starting to brumate

Blue mountains alpine blotcheds

Started mating oct 2nd babies born march 12th

163 days

Thats outdoors kept ones,no wonder i get impatient,lol

These are the gestation lengths for my last 14 litters of northerns, in days:

96
102
105
109
111
111
112
112
112
112
113
113
113
115

Average gestation: 109.7 days

My skinks are all kept inside, in as uniform conditions as possible.

Nice jeff,thanks,maybe i should give mine night warmth,i think my northerns are past that many days already,looking close though

Prince regent lass was first mated on july 18th

2 kunnanurra females started on the 26th of july

Hi All,
I seem to be the target lately on these forums, for not devulging everything I do, but I have this information from twenty years of breeding ( and remember that I am still finding new things). After the mating cycle is complete I find by timing from the ovulation period almost is accurate to the day. You will see a very pronounced body swelling.This is the period when the stored sperm is released to thr ovaries. I find by examining this swelling I can usually get a rough determination on how many young will also be born. My first clutch this year was 101 days from ovulation.These were born on 12/07/2012.

That is good to know Pisces, I didn't realize that you counted from ovulation rather than the act of mating. I don't always see my females ovulate. Not because it is not visible, just because I have never really looked for it, and I usually try to leave them alone for awhile after they get done breeding. No real reason for that, I just feel like I would like to be left alone after a couple of weeks of being attacked by a horny male. I have definitely noticed the swelling you mention though, and assumed that it was ovulation.

Do you see a consitent amount of time between when the female stops mating and when she ovulates? If that time varies, it would explain why other people question the consistency of your gestation times. Everyone else might be getting the same 100 days from ovulation to birth that you are, but adding the variable number of days that occur between mating and ovulation.

I will certainly be keeping track of when my skinks ovulate this year along with the other dates.

Im waiting on a few to have litters,hopefully before the years out,lol

Going off first matings to birth gives some of them very long gestations

For example,a prince regent kimberley northern,first mated on july 18,going off that shes at 149 days and counting,her last mating was on septembet the 1st,so at day 96 going off last mating,cool winter prolonged northern mating window this season

The 2 kunnanurra females are at 141 days from first mating,or 112 and 123 days from there last matings,those 2 look very closr to dropping

Stumpies are at 97 days from first observed mating or 94 days from last,only definate matings i saw,but maybe earlier and later matings i missed

If wester female is gravid i estimate it was similar timing to the stumpies,as i saw male grab at female around same time stumpies were grabbing

Not sure if centralians did anything this season,but biggest one may possably be gravid,slight laboured breathing,but its always fat so hard to tell,lol

I don't want to get too far off topic, but does anyone know how long the swelling that indicates ovulation lasts? I'm just wondering how many times a day you would need to check on the skinks in order to be pretty sure you catch it. That along with the approximate amount of time that passes between the time that the mating window closes, and ovulation occurs would make it much easier to document ovulation.

Here is what I have recorded:

T. multifasciata
1st litter when female was 4 years old: 107 days from breeding date (4 young)
2nd litter at age 10: 120 days (1 young)
3rd litter at age 11: 124 days (4 young)

Yikes, I've had these guys for a decade, I'd like to know until what age blue tongues have remained fertile in captivity...

I know of reliable reports of 26 year old females having babies,ten years is still quite young in them,thats a good return on centralians greg,even here in aus you dont here of alot of successful breedings,and most are of outdoors kept ones,im hoping one of mine is carrying,but not counting my chickens just yet,lol

Unfortunatly didnt see any mating behaviour so cant report on gestation periods with them if they do succeed

Also hard to go off girth as they are chubbers anyways,but this biggen has been doing the laboured breathing thing and for first time in years is hissing at me,something its never done before

What about diagnostics?
As in Radiographs or Echo?

Last month I had an owner who thought her BTS were pregnant..soort I checked forum follicles or foetus..but nothing to see..

I think there hard to see until very late in gestation,i dont mind waiting to see though,more exciting that way,lol,just seems to take for ever

How do you guys get such accurate counts of exact gestation? Do you count from when you see ovulation? How far after mating window closes do she ovulate? I'd love to try and catch it this year as I've never gone through the breeding process wtih blueys before!

I think ive only seen the odd ovulation,hard as i used to do split shifts,i count from first or last mating,which can be inconsistant with group kept ones as i may miss matings when im not about

Bliss is about 4 and a half yrs old, Barnum is probably about 11. Both girls giving birth was accidental, meaning I didn't plan to breed. I suspect gestation period for both of them was approximately 120 days. Bliss didn't particulary look pregnant, but Barnum did. Bliss has just given birth, 6 bubs, all alive and doing well. Two years ago Barnum had 5, all alive and doing well. I still got 3 of her babies. Bliss's hip bones are visible and she's very hungry. She was hungry also when pregnant. But then Bliss tends to eat like a dinosaur deprived of dinner !

The last lock-up they had was yesterday, and it could be my imagination but she looks really plump today and there was no mating activity, male just ignored her today after going to town on her the last few days. Could she be ovulating already?

I have updated my other posts which include this data