BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Sorry, too wiped out to snap non-cell pictures, but uhhh I picked up a couple of baby pink tongue skinks at the SD super show today.



HALP. I'm going to set them up as my 'desk pets' at work, and would love any and all information you guys can provide on their care. I have loved and wanted this species for YEARS, and I'm stoked to have a couple. They're ITTY BITTY little babies, and I really really want them to do well.

So yes. Any and all advice welcome if you've kept these before or raised them or bred them - anything! Information on them is super sparse, all of what I know is basically from reading Rhacodactylus, that out of print amazing book by de Vosjoli, Fast, and Repashy, and they're only referenced as inhabitants of a multispecies vivaria with crested geckos.

Thanks guys!

-Jen

I'd be afraid of losing them, their so tiny.

Sorry that I can't help at all but I do want to say: holy wow is that little guy not the cutest thing I've seen in my life. I'm sure other more experienced people on here will have tips for you but if not tomorrow ill get out my old reptile encyclopedia and see if they reference them at all.

Hi Jen! I can help. I also have a (slowly growing) little baby. You can find him in the "Other Skinks" section of the off topic board under Bandit the PTS. I got almost all of my information from the BTS bible which actually has a substantial amount of information on them. They are feisty little guys. They feed primarily on snails in the wild but mine will happily take dogfood/veggies mix I make for my BTS, Coomassie. Bandit was really tiny when I got him so I started him on snails every other day (one at first, cut up, he is now up to 2 or 3) and dogfood on Saturday when I feed Coomassie. I have him on cypress mulch (also used for Coomassie) with lots of hiding places. He also really likes to climb so he has a small piece of drift wood in his enclosure. PM me if you want to compare more notes or anything! I'm always up for talking skinks of any kind.

I picked up 3 PTS babies a bit over a year ago. One did not thrive and passed very quickly. The other 2 are doing great. I have them housed individually in tall glass cages with cypress mulch substrate and climbing branches/cork bark. They do climb quite a bit during the day but spend the evenings burrowed down into the mulch. They also have a small water dish in the cage. I live in an arid area (Colorado) so I mist the cages down about 3-4 times/week and also have some plastic covering about 4/5ths of the screen top on each cage. I feed them pretty much what I feed my BTS - dog or cat food mixed with veggies and also well-hydrated Mazuri Omnivore biscuits. I also feed chopped, canned or frozen snails occasionally. They will take defrosted small pinkie mice but I have only fed them that a few times their whole lives - same for mealworms. I supplement them with calcium/D3 1-2 times/week. Their ambient temp is low 80's with a basking spot of right about 90. They don't seem to bask a whole lot though. Mine are far less tame than any of my BTS but that's probably because after the one of them passed, I decided not to monkey with them too much and just left them alone, more as display animals. By "not tame" I don't really mean they are aggressive, more like they poop and pee on me when picked up and try to smear it around with their tails. They will sometimes try to bite but it's not like a lunging, fast bite - more like opening their mouths and try to latch onto some skin almost in slow motion. So it's really easy to avoid them latching on. I have to say that on balance I like my BTS more than my PTS, but they are interesting relatives to have and watch.

Thanks to those who helped out! Your advice plus talking to the breeder at the show (I've never understood why people don't ask the breeder at shows when they buy animals) helped me put together this vivarium for my new babies. They've only been in it an hour, but they are really cruising around and active - I'm so thrilled to have picked them up.

I'm lighting their cage with some new ExoTerra lights, one of them a reptile 'vision' bulb intended to provide a wider spectrum of light than we can see, and the heat/UVB source being the new Sun Ray bulb. The Sun Ray and fixture was pricey, but time will tell if it was worth it. I'll be sure to let you guys know how it does, my thoughts on it etc. So far with the 50 watt bulb, it's emitting a nice dense beam of warm light and really illuminating that side of the cage. I love the fixture, the adhesive is practically like cementing it to the side of the cage, and it is much nicer looking than having multiple little domes all over the top.

I seriously can't get over how tiny they are.




Before scurrying into the foliage




The cage, fully set up. Basking spot is reaching the mid 90s, cool side is room temp which right now is 77 degrees.


Getting some heat


Cruisin around


These are a complete first for me, I'll be offering them some food for the first time on Wednesday. They booth had nice solid little poops in their cup on the way here, so they must have been eating something for the breeder.

Thanks again for the help guys!

-Jen

Adorable! Please keep posting lots of photos. Pink tongues are super cute.

I love the tank too; spoiled little lizards. My only question would be is the screen going to end up blocking all the work the fancy bulbs are doing?

Fatal_S wrote:Adorable! Please keep posting lots of photos. Pink tongues are super cute.

I love the tank too; spoiled little lizards. My only question would be is the screen going to end up blocking all the work the fancy bulbs are doing?

I'll need to borrow our UVB meter again to see, but my experience with similar intensity bulbs is that even with the screen, a significant portion of UVB still goes through. The bulbs are designed to be used with the terrarium that I have, and it seems like a silly oversight for the bulbs to not be effective through the screen of the very cage they were designed for. I'll doublecheck though to be sure, as that's a very valid point and with these being so new, I really don't know how they do with screens.

Stay tuned!

cage looks great jen

these guys are crepuscular to nocturnal,but can be active during the day,they are a heat sensitive species,they like warmth but need to beable to escape it to

part of the reason for there smallness is they have huge litters for live bearers,though they are a leaner species when compared to tiliqua

Richard.C wrote:cage looks great jen

these guys are crepuscular to nocturnal,but can be active during the day,they are a heat sensitive species,they like warmth but need to beable to escape it to

part of the reason for there smallness is they have huge litters for live bearers,though they are a leaner species when compared to tiliqua

Their cage is 24 x 18 x 12", and the heat light is only 50 watts - so far they have been actively seeking it out to bask near (but not directly under) the hottest point, and cruising the rest of the cage. The way the fixture is designed, it seems to be keeping the basking area fairly limited, so it has been alright so far.

Still hunting down a UVB meter. Thanks again for all the help guys!

Even after being on all day, the light fixture is keeping heat pretty localized. Cool side is still 75 to 77, warm spot hitting about 95. They bask near the heat but only right under the light briefly, right after eating.

I've been calling them the Itty Bitty Skinky Committee, but they do need real names, lol.







-Jen

sounds spot on jen