Questions Before Purchase.

[ReptiFoot]

Hey everyone! After weeks of research and saving up, it looks like I may get the chance to pick up a Buley this Saturday. However, I do have a few questions that I haven't found straight answers to on other websites.

1) I notice a good deal of people seem to feed dog food as a source of protein, is there a certain brand I should be looking for? Or ingredients that it should have/lack? (Wet or dry?)

2) I have looked over the food chat provided here, as well as various threads, and think I have a pretty good idea of what a meal should look like. But just to be sure, I should feed a mix of dog food/insects/other source of protein mixed with finely chopped veggies and fruit twice a week? (For an adult) Also, could I suppliment with calcium dust?

3)What substrate seems to work best for you? I live in Texas, and the weather gets pretty dry during the summer. For my Crested Gecko, I use just natural organic soil in her planted viv and have no problems with humididty, but I don't believe ever reading that as an ample substrate for these guys.

4) Besides clear eyes and nostrils, good looking scales, flush jaws and whole toes, what should I look for in a healthy skink? If I'm lucky, someone will be selling them at my local expo. Besides asking if they're captive bred, age, diet ect, is there any other big ticket quesions I should ask the vender?

5) At the moment I have a 5.0 exo-terra UVB bulb, one 60watt heat lamp, one 75 watt heat lamp, and one red night bulb. I'm mostly paranoid about not offering enough UVB, is this enough to prevent MBD along with healthy calcium intake?

Also, my dad and I are going to build a big custom enclosure for my new critter depending upon what I end up with. (Hopefully a Bluey) But during the time it takes to build it, I'll be setting up a temporary home. Do you have any suggestions on how to get the biggest amount of space for a resonable cost? I could afford something like a 40 gallon aquarium, but they're super pricy for not that much space. Would it be possible to buy a big sterile bin to use for a few weeks? If so, how could I do so without risking plastic melting/warping from the heat lamps?


Thank you so much, I look forward to hearing some answers!

[Bird_Brain]

1. IMO, not really. Many recommend the higher quality brands (Wellness, Blue Buffalo, etc) but the larger breeders/keepers tend to use the cheaper dog food (Pedigree) with great results. I personally follow the breeders suggestion and use the Pedigree canned dog food. The majority of people use the canned food.

2. I honestly would eliminate the fruit and only feed as a treat. I would also suggest using calcium on almost every meal and maybe calcium with vitamin D3 once a week.

3. I personally love, use, and recommend cypress mulch. I get it at the local home improvement/hardware stores. Other options are aspen bedding, carefresh, coconut bedding.

4. When buying at an expo, I would stress to read up on how to identify the different species of blue tongues. Typically the majority of the animals I see at expos are wild caught indos, meraukes, and irian jayas. IMO, I would look for a captive born and bred animal. Also at expos, the animals are typically not getting enough heat to truly "be themselves". There are many stories of owners getting a skink from an expo that was calm, lazy while there. When they bring it home, it is a very aggressive, defensive animal that does not tolerate handling very well. This also corresponds with buying CBB animals. These are typically your calmest and well tempered of the skinks.

5. Coming from a bluey owner who does not use UVB (I do have a couple bulbs on a few skinks), I would not worry yourself over not enough UVB. As mentioned in #2, pick up a calcium powder that contains Vitamin D3. This will help make up for any missed UVB.

I actually have all my skinks housed in totes. I personally love them and your skink would be just fine in there for a temporary home. I just hang the lamps above the tote. For the correct temps, I typically use 40 or 60 watt light bulbs. I have been using this setup for several years with no melted plastic.

[ReptiFoot]

Okay, thank you very much for responding. I'll definitely do read up on the traits and types of skinks so I know what to look for. In regards to the animal not acting as it usually would, I am a bit worried about. I know they'll more than likely be stressed and cold while on display, so of course there is the chance I'll pick up an agressive, not formerly handled skink. If this does happen, can they be tamed down with time and handling?

[Bird_Brain]

Yes the vast majority of blueys "tamable" and will tolerate handling quite well. The ones to accept this the quickest tend to be the CBB. Some WC can be stubborn, but the vast majority of the time, with patience and time, they tame down nicely.

[Susann]

I'm wondering if it wouldn't be better for you to try to buy from a reputable breeder rather than an expo? If you want to make SURE you get a tame animal that will fit the heat, and humidity levels and the set-up you are planning, a breeder might be a better option in my opinion. Having the support of a breeder who genuinely cares, can be worth a few extra dollars over all the years that you will hopefully enjoy your BTS. In my experience, that has been PRICELESS!

If you DO end up finding something you are interested in at an expo, feel the seller out as far as willingness to give you the name (and hopefully even contact info) for the breeder of the animal. If they can't (or won't) give you that info, I would suspect that the animal is a WC, and plan accordingly.
WC animals can be amazing pets as well, don't get me wrong, but initially you might want to plan on putting in additional work and money (--taming, treating parasites).

Since you seem like a responsible owner, doing research BEFORE getting an animal, I would suggest that one of your first steps be locating an exotic veterinarian who is willing and able to care for a BTS. Ask the office if you can come in and meet with the vet, hopefully free of charge, to talk about the things the vet would suggest as far as recommended care, and prices of common reptile treatments. That will quickly give you a feel for whether the vet knows anything about BTS, and how willing or open s/he is to listening to different opinions, and seeking further knowledge from other, more experienced sources.

Welcome to the best forum in the world! We will be anxiously anticipating you finding the perfect animal--which we of course know is a BTS, but should you for some reason choose another animal, you are welcome to still stick around here, and post on our "Everything Off-topic" forum.
You already have gotten good advice from one of our excellent experts THE ReptileKing, so you are already off to a good start.

And we only ask you do one little thing in return:
as soon as you bring your animal home, put it down, take some pictures, AND POST THEM!!!

Welcome, and good luck!

[Katrina]

Welcome!

Your questions have pretty much been answered - I'd just like to also recommend going with a breeder rather than an expo if possible... Many, many times people are selling "Captive Bred" blueys of species that have almost never been bred in captivity, so you have to be careful. Not all BTS listed as captive bred are actually captive born and bred, if you can go with a reputable breeder you can avoid this problem.

I think Zach still has some babies left, if you check out the main site - that might be a good option! Shipping isn't a problem. Good luck, welcome and let us know if you have more questions.