A question on cohabitation

[LariLobstar]

So I've had my eastern bluey for a couple months now, Polaris is roughly 3 years old and I bought her from a pet shop that was selling on behalf of the previous owner. The owner was selling her along with a 1 year old male (who I'll nickname Scar for now because of a scar on his back that didn't change with shedding), both Scar and Polaris had always been housed together until their separation when I bought her, from what I understand you're not supposed to house bts together?

My question is, could they remain housed together? Would that be safe? There have been no previous issues? From what I could tell, when I was visiting them prior to Polaris's purchase, they seemed quite content together?

[lunarisx]

As long its the same locality and not male with male i think its ok. My local pet shop put a pair of wild caught all time and have no problem with them. But then again I only know Indonesian species and the last news is about Local police securing 12 adult BTS before they shipped out of West Papua. They were kept in one plastic container and they dont kill each other.

[kingofnobbys]

I speak from experience of my pair of easterns, my girl mugged her brother one day when she cornered him in a hide , bit him on the head hard enough to take some scales off the top of his head , they were babies about 4 months old at the time , I heard the sudden commotion and rescued poor George from his sister Mildred and separated them then on. They were and still are similar sizes.

I think the problem will be amplified if you house a juvenile or baby who is much smaller than the bigger skink …. BTs are quite territorial and perfectly capable of killing each other with a bite. This is a reason why I've rarely encountered two or more BT skinks in the same small area in the wild. The only exception I've seen and heard about is mothers will tolerate the presence of their own young until they become subadults.
It's a different story with shinglebacks who mate for life and form extremely strong bonds with their mate and even care for their young.

IMO it's not worth the risk unless you plan on mating them .

They do better housed by themselves.

[LariLobstar]

I speak from experience of my pair of easterns, my girl mugged her brother one day when she cornered him in a hide , bit him on the head hard enough to take some scales off the top of his head , they were babies about 4 months old at the time , I heard the sudden commotion and rescued poor George from his sister Mildred and separated them then on. They were and still are similar sizes.

I think the problem will be amplified if you house a juvenile or baby who is much smaller than the bigger skink …. BTs are quite territorial and perfectly capable of killing each other with a bite. This is a reason why I've rarely encountered two or more BT skinks in the same small area in the wild. The only exception I've seen and heard about is mothers will tolerate the presence of their own young until they become subadults.
It's a different story with shinglebacks who mate for life and form extremely strong bonds with their mate and even care for their young.

IMO it's not worth the risk unless you plan on mating them .

They do better housed by themselves.

Okay thank you, I wasn't sure, had thought maybe because they'd spent a year together it would be alright?

But not worth the risk by the sound of it.

[splashy07]

With Northerns I say absolutely not. They all seem to hate eachother regardless. I have successfully raised two Eastern girls (sisters) together with no issues, but they have been together since birth. Large outdoor enclosures with plenty of space for all will work, but that is uncommon here on this side of the planet. I have heard of pairs of Easterns being kept together all year but in very large cages that are not suitable for the average household. And one always seems to want what the other has, so an abundance of food is necessary at feeding time.
Possibly the one with the scar got it in a spat with the cagemate….

[LariLobstar]

With Northerns I say absolutely not. They all seem to hate eachother regardless. I have successfully raised two Eastern girls (sisters) together with no issues, but they have been together since birth. Large outdoor enclosures with plenty of space for all will work, but that is uncommon here on this side of the planet. I have heard of pairs of Easterns being kept together all year but in very large cages that are not suitable for the average household. And one always seems to want what the other has, so an abundance of food is necessary at feeding time.
Possibly the one with the scar got it in a spat with the cagemate….

I'm not sure my enclosure would be big enough at 100x40 odd, although they had been housed together in a much smaller space previously without issue. From what I've seen their personalities somewhat complement each other, he tends to be out and about but she likes to hide a lot.

From what I was told he got his scar when he was very young, fighting with another male baby, so not so sure it's too relevant

[kingofnobbys]

With Northerns I say absolutely not. They all seem to hate eachother regardless. I have successfully raised two Eastern girls (sisters) together with no issues, but they have been together since birth. Large outdoor enclosures with plenty of space for all will work, but that is uncommon here on this side of the planet. I have heard of pairs of Easterns being kept together all year but in very large cages that are not suitable for the average household. And one always seems to want what the other has, so an abundance of food is necessary at feeding time.
Possibly the one with the scar got it in a spat with the cagemate….

I'm not sure my enclosure would be big enough at 100x40 odd, although they had been housed together in a much smaller space previously without issue. From what I've seen their personalities somewhat complement each other, he tends to be out and about but she likes to hide a lot.
that to me indicates she is scared / intimidated / dominated by him .... hence perpetually stressed ..... a skink (or any lizard) who is scared/stressed will tend to spend a lot of time hiding ..... whereas one that is not, will spend much more time in plain view.

From what I was told he got his scar when he was very young, fighting with another male baby, so not so sure it's too relevant

Also , it's not fair to her or healthy for her to be perpetually forced to cohabitate in a very confined space with a male who will harass her constantly in breeding season , in the wild male skinks have a very large territory cf that of individual female skinks who form his harem , the male is not with any individual female very long ,he does the rounds of the 8 or 12 females in his territory , mates and moves to the next .
Your male cant do this.

[LariLobstar]

With Northerns I say absolutely not. They all seem to hate eachother regardless. I have successfully raised two Eastern girls (sisters) together with no issues, but they have been together since birth. Large outdoor enclosures with plenty of space for all will work, but that is uncommon here on this side of the planet. I have heard of pairs of Easterns being kept together all year but in very large cages that are not suitable for the average household. And one always seems to want what the other has, so an abundance of food is necessary at feeding time.
Possibly the one with the scar got it in a spat with the cagemate….

I'm not sure my enclosure would be big enough at 100x40 odd, although they had been housed together in a much smaller space previously without issue. From what I've seen their personalities somewhat complement each other, he tends to be out and about but she likes to hide a lot.
that to me indicates she is scared / intimidated / dominated by him .... hence perpetually stressed ..... a skink (or any lizard) who is scared/stressed will tend to spend a lot of time hiding ..... whereas one that is not, will spend much more time in plain view.
I thought that too, but from what I've seen she just appears to prefer it, even when she's on her own and relaxed. In stress free environments she (unless basking) will almost always choose to hide - but in saying that most of her life has been spent in someone elses care so I am unsure as to how she was raised or any habits she may have picked up etc

From what I was told he got his scar when he was very young, fighting with another male baby, so not so sure it's too relevant

Also , it's not fair to her or healthy for her to be perpetually forced to cohabitate in a very confined space with a male who will harass her constantly in breeding season , in the wild male skinks have a very large territory cf that of individual female skinks who form his harem , the male is not with any individual female very long ,he does the rounds of the 8 or 12 females in his territory , mates and moves to the next .
Your male cant do this.

Yeah that was very much my concern with the cohabitation, although I was unware of the territory part - in hindsight it makes a lot of sense and I probably should have thought of that.
And to clarify, they are not currently housed together nor will they be, I was just curious of the dynamics when it comes to skinks who have already been in cohabitation.