Some questions about owning a BTS

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Celozon
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Some questions about owning a BTS

Postby Celozon » Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:53 am

Hey, I'm new here. I have a strong love for reptiles, and I've been looking into getting a BTS. Right now I'm still in the research phase, but I'd love to get some opinions on a few things. I have read the care sheet and done a decent amount of research already, but I've also never owned a reptile before and I'm completely new to this and still pretty clueless on a lot of things. I want to get all the info I need before getting a BTS so I can care for it properly. Right now, the plan would be to get a baby Northern, and have a 4x2 foot habitat. I havn't gotten to the point of picking out specific items, though I do have a list of things to look into. Most likely would not actually get one until closer to or after June. I took a look through the forum and didn't see anything for these questions, though apologies if there is and I just missed it.

I know Northerns don't need a lot of humidity, but do need some. I live in Florida and even inside the house the humidity is usually 50-60%. Would adding something for humidity be needed in this case? I still plan to monitor the humidity, but I'm wondering if anyone from places with high humidity have any experience with this. In addition, would a humid hide be needed if the humidity is already this high? Should I have one anyway?

I was looking at the food chart and after reading the care sheet I was wondering what exactly constitutes a 'balanced diet'. I know it won't be the same for every BTS since some have preferences for certain things over others, but I'd like to know if I could get some examples of what others feed their BTS. Should I cycle through different items on the food chart? Should their food be changed occasionally for variety or once finding what they like can they more or less be fed the same thing all the time (with occasional treats).

I was also wondering if there were any recommendations for good brands to look at for habitat, lighting, and the meat portion of their diet. As said, I've never owned a reptile before, and I'm not sure where to start looking for these. We have a few pet stores in our area but I've never particularly trusted them to have good products (since I know in some cases they sell things that are actually terrible for pets). I'd like to know if there are any good brands, or reputable places to buy online.

In terms of the habitat, are there any recommended locations to keep a habitat in a house? I assume that it would need to be somewhere that would not be bright or have a lot of light overnight or late into the night. Is there anything I should keep in mind when deciding on a location? In addition, would a habitat with a screen top be preferable? What other options would I have if not?

Are there any suggestions on things to keep in mind if I wanted to build my own habitat? Are there any good tutorials for this? I've been considering making one but, again, having not owned a reptile before I don't know a lot about reptile needs in terms of their habitat. Is it better to just start off with a bought one?

I am not currently living in an apartment, but its possible I will be in the future. Does anyone have experience in this? Is it difficult to find someplace that would allow skinks? I'll probably end up waiting on getting one until I know more about what my housing situation will be, but I'd like to be aware of what I should look for in terms of housing if I plan on getting a BTS.

Also wondering if anyone knows of any reputable breeders, good online places to buy a BTS, or people who I could buy a Northern from that I could keep an eye on, especially in the central Florida area. I'm a bit iffy about buying one online, and would especially prefer being able to see it in person & pick it up myself even if it involves several hours driving.

On a more personal side, right now I'm living with my family, and most of them are not much interested in having a skink in the house. ("They are gross" and "too much like snakes" complaints mostly). Its very possible I won't get one till I have my own place anyway, but if I do end up getting one while here, are there any suggestions on opening them up to the idea? I think they tend to think of Blue Tailed/Five Lined Skink when thinking of skinks cause we sometimes have wild ones around the yard. Obviously they are pretty different from Blue Tongued Skinks, but they are still pretty adamant about the whole thing.

Thanks for any help that can be provided ^^
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Re: Some questions about owning a BTS

Postby FluffySkink » Tue Dec 19, 2017 12:44 am

Hey there! I'm still in the process of researching BTS before I get one as well, so unfortunately I'm not really the right person for giving care advice. However I do know what it's like to have parents that aren't keen on having a reptile in the house. I think one thing that has helped me a lot is educating my parents. Show them your research, show them pictures or videos of blue tongue skinks, tell them about why you want one and about how awesome they are :) See if you can find any interesting facts you can tell them about BTS.
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Re: Some questions about owning a BTS

Postby Y33T » Tue Dec 19, 2017 7:04 am

Don’t worry bout humidity, northerns can do well in both dry and wet climates and a humid hide is not needed.

You can simply just feed them premium dog food. They are already balanced and have a variety of flavours. You can add baby food and a bit of fruit so there’s a little more variety. Gaining a balanced diet in homebrew is expensive and not that easy especially when you have a skink that doesn’t like vegetables.

You can place the habitat anywhere except near or in front of windows.
Any type of enclosure is fine as long as it has a secure lid/doors to prevent escape or other pets getting in.

Couldn’t really answer that, I was planning on building a custom enclosure but not yet found any good tutorials to recommend.

I’m sure some apartments will allow small animals like reptiles. Usually the no pet policy in most places only applies to cats and dogs as they are not caged.

I’m not familiar with breeders in the US but your best bet is going to a reptile expo. Make sure the breeder lets you handle them, knows their age and the subspecies.

I would recommend watching Mike Tytula’s video on YouTube about convincing parents about getting a reptile.
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Re: Some questions about owning a BTS

Postby splashy07 » Tue Dec 19, 2017 9:37 am

Just a note about expos, many so called 'breeders' are nothing but importers and know nothing about the animal's origins. I see you are in Florida, if south you may want to contact Ron Couto in Miami, or if you're more north/central give Ray Gurgui a try. I believe he goes to the expos, Thunder bay herps. I have animals from both those breeders and they are second to none.
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Re: Some questions about owning a BTS

Postby ReptiFiles » Tue Dec 19, 2017 9:49 am

Welcome! Blue tongue skinks make great pets, and I'm glad to see that you're doing your research. :)

1) At 50-60% ambient humidity, your Northern shouldn't need a humid hide. Just provide a large (but shallow) water dish for soaking when it's in shed, and you should be fine. Glass 9x13 pans work great.

2) Young BTS under 2 years old need a high protein diet to prevent scale pyramiding and facilitate the rapid growth that occurs during this time. Think 70-80% protein, 20-30% vegetables. High quality canned cat food mixed with some veggies and calcium supplement works great. Portions should be about the same size as your skink's skull, offered at intervals according to age. Skinks appreciate variety, so using different flavors of cat food (no fish), varying your mix-ins, offering invertebrates and whole pinky mice, and offering fruit as an occasional treat is a good way to accomplish this. Offering a variety is also a good way to make sure your skink gets all the nutrients they need.

3) Recommended enclosures: If you're looking for a 4x2 enclosure that ventilates well, DIY Cages would be a good choice. They're made of PVC so you don't need to worry about mold, and they're super lightweight. Their 4x2x2 only weighs 45 lbs! It also has light fixtures, a sliding glass door, lock, and digital temperature/humidity gauges built in. Check them out here: https://www.diycages.com/products/new-4 ... splay-cage

Recommended lighting: UVB is not technically required for BTS as long as you're using a calcium supplement that also has vitamin D3 in the formula, like Rep-Cal or Miner-ALL Indoor. But if you want UVB, the Zoo Med Reptisun 10.0 and Arcadia bulbs are the current industry leaders in that category.

As for lighting for heat, a high-wattage halogen floodlight bulb should work perfectly to create the basking spot that you need (100-110 degrees) and help create the temperature gradient that you need. If you have trouble keeping the cool end warm enough (70-75 degrees), a heat pad controlled by a thermostat works well. Fluker's and Ultratherm are both good brands of heat pad, and the Jump Start thermostat is generally the favorite.

In terms of where to get meat, these are the best brands of cat/dog food: Halo, Zignature, Whole Earth Farms, Evolution Naturally, Nature's Variety, Instinct, Merrick — as long as the formula is grain free! I also prefer to choose recipes without potato, since it's another filler.

4) Just keep the enclosure away from any windows, as sunlight can create a greenhouse effect inside the enclosure, making it too hot. Other than that, it can help to place it in the moderate-traffic area. Not too noisy, but interesting enough to give the skink something to watch (ie: you). It also helps if the lights aren't on all the time, but having the lights inside the enclosure on a timer are the most important for regulating your skink's daily rhythm.

A screen top is not necessary: see the abovementioned suggestion from DIY Cages.

5) If you want to build your own enclosure, go for it. But I would advise not making it out of wood, which rots in the presence of water. Large tubs can actually be very well converted into enclosures. Unfortunately I'm not particularly handy so I'm not sure where you could find a tutorial on this. I just find someone else to do the work for me, in this case, DIY Cages. ;)

6) Glad to see you're thinking about the future here. It can be difficult to find pet-friendly housing, especially if you use the word "reptile." Even apartments with a no-pet policy often make exceptions for "small, caged animals." That's the magic phrase. Play it down like it's no big deal, and you should be able to find a place that will let you keep your skink. Asking around your local reptile community can help, too — we all know the struggle.

7) Personally Reptile Mountain is my favorite commercial breeder of Northerns. But if you go to the Blue Tongue Skink Hobbyists group on Facebook, there are several breeders (one of the admins is a Northern breeder, actually) who would be happy to sell you one of their babies. Not sure where they're located, but Florida has a very lively reptile community, so I wouldn't be surprised if one lived relatively close to you.

8) Sorry to hear that your family isn't very supportive of this type of pet. It's true that skinks remind a lot of people of snakes. Keeping the enclosure in your room, not letting it free roam in family areas, and not pushing it on anyone who doesn't like it is always a good idea. You can accustom them to the idea by demonstrating your knowledge, showing them cute pictures and videos (everyone I know is a sucker for those too-short legs, little hands, and blue tongue flicks), and idealizing them as a pet choice. This may take time, though.

Last piece of advice: Watch the videos by ReptileMountain.TV on YouTube and read through this really thorough blue tongue skink care guide; it answers the questions you posed her more in-depth than I can. :)
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Check out my research on captive husbandry for BTS: https://www.reptifiles.com/blue-tongue-skink-care-sheet/
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Celozon
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Re: Some questions about owning a BTS

Postby Celozon » Tue Dec 19, 2017 4:26 pm

Thank you for the help everyone! I hadn't thought of reptile expos, I looked one up and it looks like there will be one near my area next month, I'm gonna see if I can attend, I'd love to get the chance to see some in person even if I can't buy one yet.

I'll definitely look into those DIY cages, I've been thinking it might be good to buy a good one for starters, and if I want to get more look into building my own when I have a better idea of what I'll want. But I'll continue to look into both regardless.

I'll look into those brands and breeders as well, and check out those videos! This will help out a lot!

I'm still working on trying to convince my family, I probably won't be able to get one till I get my own place anyway. But its a little frustrating, for some reason they absolutely hate skinks, but don't have a problem with other reptiles :?
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Re: Some questions about owning a BTS

Postby Karbon » Wed Dec 20, 2017 1:03 pm

Hello fellow Floridian!

I just purchased my first BTS 2 months ago this week - a Halmahera - knowing it needed higher humidity than other BTS species.

HOWEVER!
Florida humidity, especially in southwest Florida where I am, is much higher than most of the US - so in my home it stays between 50% and 60% all year round. (which is nice and comfy for me!)

That makes it super easy to get the humidity up to 70-80% in an enclosure where it normally isn't so easy in a less humid and colder climate.
I put tin foil on top of the cage and the humidity stays at perfect levels all day even with a heat lamp. I will also sometimes mist the cage, especially when he's shedding just to make sure he gets the humidity he needs. He's shed perfectly twice now.

That being said, you wouldn't have to do anything to raise humidity for a northern, and would not have to do much for a higher humidity BTS species.

I purchased mine from https://www.omnireptiles.com/collection ... s-for-sale - one because he is local (I wanted to do a pickup in person) and two, I've read good things about him and he was a pleasure to work with.
He actually has a large selection of captive born Meruke's right now (just checked!) That would be roughly 2-3 hour drive for you to get one in person I think?

Good luck and hope this helps!
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Re: Some questions about owning a BTS

Postby kingofnobbys » Wed Dec 20, 2017 9:12 pm

This is very close to the strategy I apply for my two pet 8 year old EBTS.
http://www.completecritter.com/blue-tongue-skink.html , I never give process dog food to my skinks , there better sources of protein that are much better for them , including a good proportion of live insects (silkworms, crickets and snails).
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Re: Some questions about owning a BTS

Postby kingofnobbys » Wed Dec 20, 2017 9:14 pm

Karbon wrote:Hello fellow Floridian!

I just purchased my first BTS 2 months ago this week - a Halmahera - knowing it needed higher humidity than other BTS species.

HOWEVER!
Florida humidity, especially in southwest Florida where I am, is much higher than most of the US - so in my home it stays between 50% and 60% all year round. (which is nice and comfy for me!) <<< this is fine for all species of Australian BTS. Might be a tad low for Indonesian BTS.

That makes it super easy to get the humidity up to 70-80% in an enclosure where it normally isn't so easy in a less humid and colder climate.
I put tin foil on top of the cage and the humidity stays at perfect levels all day even with a heat lamp. I will also sometimes mist the cage, especially when he's shedding just to make sure he gets the humidity he needs. He's shed perfectly twice now.

That being said, you wouldn't have to do anything to raise humidity for a northern, and would not have to do much for a higher humidity BTS species.

I purchased mine from https://www.omnireptiles.com/collection ... s-for-sale - one because he is local (I wanted to do a pickup in person) and two, I've read good things about him and he was a pleasure to work with.
He actually has a large selection of captive born Meruke's right now (just checked!) That would be roughly 2-3 hour drive for you to get one in person I think?

Good luck and hope this helps!

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