BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hi, I am a somewhat new owner of this BTS, his name is Guilbert and he's a little over a year old from what I've been told. What I was not told was what species he was, the only information I got was "We have a breeder". Lately he's been quite stressed and I'm concerned as to why, I originally thought he was a Northern because I read that was one of the more common types, but after researching a little more I think he could maybe be an Irian Jaya, but then again he's my first so I have no other experience. Not to mention I haven't seen side-by-side comparisons of the different species so it's harder for me to really tell the difference. The article I was reading said Irian Jayas could be classified as either gigas or scincoides, which I tried looking up but it was hard for me to see a difference if there is one at all because a lot of the same pictures showed up for both of them. Any help would be great.

EDIT: Looking back at my old post I noticed it looks like he's lost some weight as well??

EDIT: I realized that's probably because of brumation

It kinda looks like a cross to me Irian Jaya and Northern. They will breed together and offspring are not sold as pure anything. Unless you plan to breed it, which I wouldn't. Just enjoy it as a pet. They are great friendly lizards. I have used them for more than a decade in classroom presentations.

There are many more folks here with more experience than me.

Hey Lily! Is this the same skink as your other post? If it is - surprised how different the face/jaw is here! When was this picture taken compared to the other (if it's the same skink)

Also agree with craigb with it being a hybrid (didn't see this post until after the other!).

Hmm, the weight - how much have they lost? Just with reference to the other post, if it's the jaw causing issues then that doesn't sound good.. It's weird, as with brumation - Northerns do definitely have a brumation period; but the majority of Indonesians are known to either slow down a little, or may not even go into brumation. But if we're right suspecting a hybrid, then can't say for sure which way that will happen.

craigb wrote:It kinda looks like a cross to me Irian Jaya and Northern. They will breed together and offspring are not sold as pure anything. Unless you plan to breed it, which I wouldn't. Just enjoy it as a pet. They are great friendly lizards. I have used them for more than a decade in classroom presentations.

There are many more folks here with more experience than me.

I don't have any intention of breeding him, I'm really just curious because I want to more about my little guy and I want to do whatever makes him the more comfortable. He has characteristics of both IJ and Northerns so I don't know what is exactly right for him. I was hoping a classification would help me improve his life!

kayla990 wrote:Hey Lily! Is this the same skink as your other post? If it is - surprised how different the face/jaw is here! When was this picture taken compared to the other (if it's the same skink)

Also agree with craigb with it being a hybrid (didn't see this post until after the other!).

Hmm, the weight - how much have they lost? Just with reference to the other post, if it's the jaw causing issues then that doesn't sound good.. It's weird, as with brumation - Northerns do definitely have a brumation period; but the majority of Indonesians are known to either slow down a little, or may not even go into brumation. But if we're right suspecting a hybrid, then can't say for sure which way that will happen.

Yes it is actually the same skink! These photos where taken seconds apart actually, if you want more I can provide. His face isn't too off but in the other photo I feel like it's really exemplified.

I haven't been weighing him because there's no scale available to me, but I do think he went into brumation because there was a month where he wouldn't eat and stayed buried most of the time.