BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

James Wilson wrote:I could not have said it better myself. You are truly a breath of fresh air. I wish more keepers could see things the way you do.

I guess that makes us the Three (Old) Amigos.
Well, at least Jeff and me. James is still a strapping young man.

Edward wrote:

James Wilson wrote:I could not have said it better myself. You are truly a breath of fresh air. I wish more keepers could see things the way you do.

I guess that makes us the Three (Old) Amigos.
Well, at least Jeff and me. James is still a strapping young man.

I think you are actually younger than me. I know Jeff is old, as he has a year on me. Poor old guy....

Edward, How is texas, and are you keeping any Tiliqua out there?

Things are pretty good, thanks. And I guess all three of us are mature, respectable, senior skink gentlemen.
Not keeping anything too exotic right now. Except a small group of Hemisphaeriodon gerrardii.
I bet your're enjoying life back in S.D. I haven't been there in years now. Are you gonna be breeding your Northerns?

Any updates on Lumpy?

I haven't had a chance to give an update on Lumpy until now. He has really been doing great. He is bright eyed and alert all the time. He is just as active and mobile as any other northern. He is incredibly agile and he is about my hardest skink to catch because he is so fast. It is hard to believe that he moves as good as a normally formed skink when you look at him, but he does. In fact when you watch him walk/run from above, sometimes you can't even tell there is anything wrong with him. When he puts himself in certain positions, his deformity is almost invisible. As you can see in the pictures though, it is still very evident most of the time. I think he has kind of "grown into" his bent up frame though, because it does seem less severe than it was when he was born. Here are some pictures from today.



The good side of his face









The deformed side of his face




I know he still won't win any beauty contests, but he is growing well and seems to be as healthy as any skink I have. I don't know what the future holds for him, but so far so good!

Such an interesting looking little guy... It's great that he seems to be handling his lumps. Any chance they might smooth out further as he keeps growing?

Edward wrote:Things are pretty good, thanks. And I guess all three of us are mature, respectable, senior skink gentlemen.
Not keeping anything too exotic right now. Except a small group of Hemisphaeriodon gerrardii.
I bet your're enjoying life back in S.D. I haven't been there in years now. Are you gonna be breeding your Northerns?

Pink-tongues are cool. I am glad to be back. I did enjoy Hawaii though. I will let the Northerns have at it again this year. I expect to have some very nice babies with some nice bright orange coloration.

Nice to see Lumpy here. He looks great. Thanks for posting the photos, and I hope we can see more as he grows. Nice work!

This was a great post. I enjoyed reading it.

awww i think lumpy is cute! thanks for the update!!

Lumpy has really caught my interest, are there any more updates?

I definitely have to commend you Jeff. It's a rare soul that would take the responsibility you have for your animals. Many would simply have culled him as useless. Too often people forget why they began keeping first and foremost it should be out of love of the species, all too often it becomes about making a buck.

wow very interesting i think if a reptile was born in the wild in this state it have no chance of survival but in your capable hands can live a forfilled life good on ya mate

lumping looking good and i love the see that he is doing well
btw jeff you have a golden heart

Thank you SO much for realizing he deserves a chance and not just to be thrown in the freezer and killed!!! If he is in no pain then he has EVERY right to live and I am so glad you are caring for him.

Even if he didnt have a chance, putting ANY reptile in the fridge is a HORRIBLE way for them to die...one of the most prolonged and probably painful.


Any more updates?

Good on you Jeff, really respect that you decided to keep him. He looks cute in his own way, and he looks really inquisitive in the photos.

Coomassie wrote:

Scotts1au wrote:Will be interesting to see how it goes Jeff, I suspect it will be in pain. They are such tough buggers though - not sure how you will know.

That is an interesting question. How do you determine pain in a BTS or any reptile for that matter. I know that an external stimulus for pain will cause them to run away (that just makes sense) but how do you determine pain levels when it is all internal?

I know when my bts was in pain he always used to shake his limbs, you could tell that he was in pain. Theres also subtle things too like expressions in there eyes you could pick up on. Its very hard to see sometimes because reptiles are really good at disguising it, but you can see it sometimes.

iLoveMyLizard wrote:I know when my bts was in pain he always used to shake his limbs, you could tell that he was in pain. Theres also subtle things too like expressions in there eyes you could pick up on. Its very hard to see sometimes because reptiles are really good at disguising it, but you can see it sometimes.

Umm... you know how lizards feel and how they respond to pain?

Let's try to keep advice and information given out on this site (and ESPECIALLY in the advanced section) based on facts and not interpretation, speculation or what people would like to believe....

Katrina wrote:

iLoveMyLizard wrote:I know when my bts was in pain he always used to shake his limbs, you could tell that he was in pain. Theres also subtle things too like expressions in there eyes you could pick up on. Its very hard to see sometimes because reptiles are really good at disguising it, but you can see it sometimes.

Umm... you know how lizards feel and how they respond to pain?

Let's try to keep advice and information given out on this site (and ESPECIALLY in the advanced section) based on facts and not interpretation, speculation or what people would like to believe....

The eyes were my observations, the limbs were told to me by a reputable qualified herp vet, does that mean it isnt fact?

The eyes were my observations, the limbs were told to me by a reputable qualified herp vet, does that mean it isnt fact?

IMO, unless there is scientific data to back it up, no this isnt considered a fact, more of an opinion. Vets will make guesses based on their experience. Not saying they wouldn't have been educated guesses or statements. Maybe in the future it will be proved that your vet was right...but until then, its just an assumption based on observations. Also, vets are just people, like everyone else, and sometimes they are prone to get.........creative in their opinions of what is the truth, and can either guess and lie about saying its a guess and act like its truth, or think that somethings true and pass it on. Exotic medicine is still a pretty unexplored field, although its improving a lot.