BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hello Folks,

I just joined this board today. Just wanted to say hello and give a brief background on myself.

I am a retired Canadian Army Medic that lives in Newfoundland (I'll know you're Canadian if you start telling Newfie jokes!!!). I used to have an Iguana and several beardies when I was in my 20's - 40's. That iguana was the best pet I have had in my life. I have always been interested in reptiles, and at one point devoured anything and everything written by Melissa Kaplan and I still have a signed copy of the Green Iguana, The ultimate owners guide written by James W. Hatfield III

Being retired now and living in a small house. I no longer have the indoor space for a large active species like an iguana. I started researching last November to both update myself in the husbandry of various reptiles and which I thought might be interesting and rewarding to take care of. ...I finally narrowed it down last night to the Eastern Blue Tongue.

I am not on any social media (showing my age, I think). So thought hrrrmmm where is a good place to find folks both interested and experienced in these amazing creatures,
Then I remembered Bulletin style forums used to be really popular and here I am. Hoping this one is still very active and filled with BTA's (Blue Tongue Addicts).

Welcome. Glad to have you on board! Eastern Blue Tongues are amazing. Also much harder to find and more expensive in North America than some of the others. If you don't mind me asking, I'm curious as to what sold you to an Eastern as opposed to a Northern, which would be much more readily available?

Thanks for the Welcome,

I think all the Skink subspecies are amazing. Especially when it comes to just very minor differences in some. It is almost like taking a small jump in the Evolutionary scale seeing how some minor environmental differences can cause some changes.

Now if I say something that is not accurate please correct me. I'm new to the world of blue tongue skinks and although I've done the research it is sometimes hard to sort out what is fact from fiction.

As the board waits to see if I'll say what 99.9% of new folks say when wanting an Eastern Blue tongue say....I'll say it at the end of the post.

There are several minor reasons I choose them over Northerns (or as my first if I get bitten by the bug).

My understanding is they are shorter, leaner and a big one for me can handle temperature drops better than northerns. I live in an area where power outtages happen on a regular basis in the winter. I'll have hot packs ready for that occasion and I have no problems at all crawling into a sleeping bag with the critter to help keep them warm etc. My biggest concern is it happening while I sleep. I don't want the little feller or gal getting a respiratory disease from a change in temp. My understanding is there is another subspecies that can tolerate even bigger temp variations. Can't remember it's name right now. It occupies the Southwest region of Australia. I don't think those are in the pet trade outside of Australia though.


..and yes I do like the Easterns that have the banded eyes.

The Eastern Blue Tongue Skink does inhabit a large range reaching all the way to the southern and cooler parts of Australia, while the Northern can only be found in the more tropical areas of north Australia. I believe the skink you are referring to is the Blotched Blue Tongue Skink. If you can find a breeder who produces Easterns, I think you'll be happy with your choice.

I did make a mistake in one of my previous responses. That skink I was thinking of that can tolerate greater temperature variations inhabits the South east not South west part of Australia.I really do need to get back online and find the name of that sub species again. I was very fortunate when I was researching Pink Tongues, I reached out to several Blue Tongue breeders asking if they knew of any Pink Tongue Breeders that I couid approach for information on them. As their appeared to be a lack of or hard to find information that I could verify. Turns out one of those Blue Tongue breeders has Easterns and is located here in Canada. I did reach out to him yesterday and found out he didn't breed them this year. Which isn't a big problem for me. I'm not impulse buying. If things go right ordering my enclosure at the end of the month. Found an amazing background that I would like to get as well. On top of that have to get all the lighting. My brain is about to explode with all the information I crammed into on lighting. I'm estimating it will take 4 different lights to achieve what I'm trying to do. For vertical and horizontal gradient. I am also hoping to approach some of the schools close to me to indtroduce the little ones to my pet once he is settled in. There are no indigenous reptiles on our island and for some this might just be their only exposure other than TV to a reptile.

At the end of the day, I don't think you can really go wrong with any of the blue tongue sub species in the pet industry. They are all amazing creatures. It just means a slightly different enclosure setup for some.

...and yes I have a tendency to ramble on at times...