BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Just got one of my dream species to work with after years of waiting. He is a Reticulated diving skink, Amphiglossus reticulatus; they are a medium-sized semi-aquatic scincid from Madagascar. To me, they seem like the aquatic version of Cyclodomorphus. Here are some photos of him:





Thanks for looking. Very happy to finally have this species!

Oh wow he is gorgeous! I love the iridescence on his scales. Congrats!

Thanks! Here he is hanging out in the water.

He looks so happy! Is he full grown?

Yes, I believe so. He may grow an inch or two more, but nothing significant.

Nice looking bub, how much time does he spend in water vs land?

A. reticulatus spends most of the day in the water, but you must give much more part emerged that aquatic, skinks are not totally water

He actually stays buried in the soil during the day, but as soon as his light goes out at 7 PM, he travels to his pool to stay in all night. I'm not sure whether he is crepuscular or just likes to stay in his pool after lights are out.

Maybe he loves a bit of moonlight swimming, interesting a cool looking/sounding bub, why did it take years of waiting to get him are they hard to get a hold of seeing they from overseas?

Mainly because they are rarely ever imported. I am told because they are quite difficult to catch in the wild. I got quite lucky with this guy, he was the last available.

Here is another phone pic of him. More docile than most of my BTS!

Hello!

I also startet keeping 1,2 a. reticulatus this year.
Can i ask you about the size of your enclosure for the a. reticulatus?
And do you give them a bigger waterarea or a bigger landarea?
And what does they prefer to eat?
This species are really interesting for me but i haven´t found so many caresheet informations about them, so i am really interested in an exchange of information with other keepers

Hi, Lidah Biru. Sorry for the super late reply! I currently have him in a 75 gallon enclosure, which measures 48" x 18". I have been getting varying opinions on my enclosure size, though. From what I've gathered, this is considered borderline small for the European keepers, but large for American keepers. Some Americans even keep lone males in 20 gallon enclosures (30" x 13"). I'm not home right now to know exactly what quart tub I use for the water side, but it does take up half of the enclosure; about 5" of water on the deep end. I mostly feed him cat food of various flavors. You are more than welcomed to share your group and how you care for them!