Pink Tongue Skink caresheet

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Pink Tongue Skink caresheet

Postby Steve » Wed Jan 16, 2008 2:16 pm

Pink Tongue Skink Caresheet, based on my experience up to this point.
This is entirely my original work, please do not publish this elsewhere without permission. Please provide input and ask any questions you might have so I can expand this.

Image

Pink Tongue Skinks are small relatives of Blue Tongue Skinks. They reach lengths of approximately 15" (roughly half their length is in their tail) and are semi-arboreal. In nature they live in temperate forest areas, eating snails and slugs as their primary diet.

Housing-

The larger the better, with floor size being more important than height. However Pink Tongue Skinks will use every inch of the cage so you will be rewarded by providing as tall a cage as you can find.

Multiple skinks can be house together with no issue.


Temperatures-

Allow a temperature gradient from a cold side of roughly no less than 55 degrees to a warm side of roughly no more than 75 degrees. A basking spot of 85 degrees is beneficial.
Be mindful of these temperature guidelines and you will be rewarded with active animals that will burrow and climb throughout the day.
They will be affected by both basking temperatures and ground temperatures, requiring attention to detail.
A light producing bulb is not required if the room provides ambient light for a day/night cycle, nor is UVB required. However Pink Tongue Skinks will bask under a heat lamp.


Substrate-

Coconut Husk is the ideal substrate in my experience. It holds moisture well and resists mold and odor. You do not need it to be much deeper than the approximate height of your skink.


Cage Decorations-

Plenty of hiding and climbing spots should be provided. Be mindful that Pink Tongue Skinks are extremely maneuverable and make excellent escape artists. Secure the top of the cage well.
Food and water bowls should be heavy enough and tall enough to not allow burrowing underneith nor allow substrate to cause contamination.


Diet, Nutrition, and Eating Habits-

Always provide water, however Pink Tongue Skinks will drink most often when you mist the cage. Mist the cage daily. This also seems to promote a feeding response in the skinks.

Food can be provided every 2-3 days. I suggest a high protein, low fat diet of varied sources. Snails (escargot is an easy source), minced meat, and occassionally commercial foods may be offered.

Snails are the primary natural food source of Pink Tongue Skinks.
The nutrient composition of raw snails (per 100 grams of edible portion), according to information from the nutrient databank of France, is:

Energy (kcal): 80.5
Water (g): 79
Protein (g): 16
Available carbohydrates (g): 2
Fibres (g): 0
Fat (g): 1
Magnesium (mg): 250
Calcium (mg): 170
Iron (mg): 3.5
Vitamin C (mg): 0

Always try to replicate this ratio of nutrients. Provide high quality reptile vitamin/mineral supplements periodically as well.
Last edited by Steve on Tue May 06, 2008 4:14 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Postby shingleback aus » Wed Jan 16, 2008 4:10 pm

:clap2: exellent write up :D
true blue ;)
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Postby mangodude777 » Wed Jan 16, 2008 5:27 pm

can males be together?
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Postby SailleSkinklover » Wed Jan 16, 2008 6:45 pm

HI Steve,
Can you start off by providing more basic information for the Noob, such as their native habitat/locale/ and other basics about the species in general? For example, are they Nocturnal/Diurnal/Crepuscular? (when will they tend to be most active?)

How about approximate maximum housing sizes for x number of skinks per sq ft.? I found your houseing size description rather vague, as I don't really have a scale in my head about how large these skinks get nor how they utilize their living space. When in doubt, I always err on the side of bigger space is better.
(I would think that anybody that could, would provide the very best and largest cage possible, but most peeps can't afford a huge set up, so what in your opinion would be the minimum housing size these skinks could comfortably live in?)
approx length of adults, age of sexual maturity, etc. ?
Do they actually do better in groups vs. solo, as they seem to be a gregarious species?

Mangodude asked a good one too, so I'll repeat it here: Can males be housed together?

(this type of info would be great for those people who know very little about them but want to do research and hear from someone who has actually kept these guys!)

Any tips on taming and handling will be great too, especially for the newbie who has never actually handled one of these skinks.
Are they territorial? jumpy? easy to tame?

finally, I know what I'm going to mention next is probably "under construction", but any hints/tips on breeding, brumation, etc. would be helpful as well.

I have to say, so far you've got a great start! Very good advice about the substrate. And excellent information about the temps, but what would you say are the max/min. temps/humidity ranges for these guys in captivity?

Any suggstions on brands of herp vitamin/mineral supplements that you've had success with? Do you suggest Calcium with d3 or without d3?

(Sorry about the tons of questions/suggestions but these are the things I look for in an informative caresheet! Please take it as constructive, and that I'm trying to help you "tighten" it up. I hope it helps! :D )
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0.1.1 Irian Jayas, Nubbin, Marley
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3.1.0.1 White Lined Geckos,CrazyHorse, Dad, Itchy, little female
7.10.17 Crested Geckos, HELP!
0.1.0 Leachie, Francis
1.2.0 Gargoyles, Everton, Ant, Juicebox
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Steve
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Postby Steve » Wed Jan 16, 2008 8:41 pm

As some of you know, I do not yet have adults. I have 10 skinks all under a year old, from two different clutches, housed together in 1 tank.
I have experimented with caging, temperatures, etc. in the time I have owned them because I have found that the little information available online simply did not work for me.

At this age, they can all be housed together with no apparent stress or aggression shown. They all eat, they will happily lay stacked on top of eachother, drink water off eachother when I mist the tank, etc.

They are considered crepuscular, although I have yet to pinpoint consistent activity cycles.

As far as behavior and taming- no effort has been needed. They will brumate if the temps fall much below my guidelines, and that is the only time I have observed any defensive or aggressive behavior. Given proper temperatures they have shown themselves to be incredibly tolerant to handling.

Over the next few days I will take plenty of pictures and flesh out the caresheet further. Please continue to comment and question. I will address breeding and adult behavior when I have experience in that area.


I do not claim to be an expert, but I can assure you that I have spent literally hours each and every day monitoring, observing, and learning about these guys. I have already previously mentioned that one of my goals is to place US captive bred specimens with caring homes and as such I aim to document my progress so that we can all learn about these incredible little guys
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Postby Scotts1au » Wed Jan 16, 2008 10:14 pm

In the wild they like low impenatrable Melaleuca shrubland- I've tried fruitlessly to catch these critters in the bush near Port Macquarie just for a look, but they just sit there poking their tongues out at me like this :nanny: They do appear to hang around in groups.

Environment is warm frost free subtropics, near coastal, high rainfall. They hang around on the low branches of shrubs but go to ground to run away with a suprising turn of speed. They like the cover of thick schlerophyll veg.

Just in case any of this helps. Other people may have different experience with them. Sometimes it helps to know what their natural environment is like to understand the lizards.

Anyway the chase is the fun part.

Scott
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Postby SailleSkinklover » Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:22 pm

Thank you, Scott! I personally love knowing the natural habitat and habits of any lizards that I would consider sharing my space with. I believe that way people/breeders/herpetologists/hobbyists can take better care of the captive bred specimens that are so far away from their natural surroundings.
1.0. Merauke, Chuff Chuff

0.1.1 Irian Jayas, Nubbin, Marley

0.0.1 Northern, Hobbes

3.1.0.1 White Lined Geckos,CrazyHorse, Dad, Itchy, little female

7.10.17 Crested Geckos, HELP!

0.1.0 Leachie, Francis

1.2.0 Gargoyles, Everton, Ant, Juicebox

1.1.2 African Fat Tails, Burger Butt, Galaxy,t he kids

1.1.0.2 Tokays, Niles, Lillith
Steve
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Postby Steve » Thu Jan 17, 2008 8:04 am

Thanks Scott! That's incredibly helpful to know and the first time I've read such an account. There really is so little information available online which is why I am endeavoring to make this caresheet.

One of the first setups I used included live plants and potting soil substrate. I found it impossible as cold weather set in to maintain the soil temperature high enough. Even though the top surface temperature and various basking surfaces were warm, the soil got much colder and when the skinks would burrow they would expose themselves to the cold temperatures and it would prompt them to start brumating. Now I use shallow substrate and lots of driftwood, primarily.


They are indeed very agile. They don't give much resistance in captivity, or at least the most protest they will give is to continually try to climb up your arm and so on...
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Postby Steve » Sat Jan 19, 2008 12:21 pm

slight update to include a picture and brief intro ;-)
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SailleSkinklover
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Postby SailleSkinklover » Sat Jan 19, 2008 12:29 pm

LOVE the pic, Steve, that's a great way to start it off! Good intro as well, its coming together nicely! :ohyes:
1.0. Merauke, Chuff Chuff

0.1.1 Irian Jayas, Nubbin, Marley

0.0.1 Northern, Hobbes

3.1.0.1 White Lined Geckos,CrazyHorse, Dad, Itchy, little female

7.10.17 Crested Geckos, HELP!

0.1.0 Leachie, Francis

1.2.0 Gargoyles, Everton, Ant, Juicebox

1.1.2 African Fat Tails, Burger Butt, Galaxy,t he kids

1.1.0.2 Tokays, Niles, Lillith
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Postby Funda » Sat Jan 19, 2008 8:28 pm

Great write up and beautiful pink tongue picture :thumbs:


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Re: Pink Tongue Skink caresheet

Postby AliahLovesHerps » Sat Feb 03, 2018 4:03 pm

Thanks! I am trying to decide on a Bluey or a Pink Tongue. This was very helpful! :D
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Re: Pink Tongue Skink caresheet

Postby Y33T » Sun Feb 04, 2018 8:38 pm

i heard pink tongues can grow up to 43cm, almost as big as an eastern blue tongue.
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