Looking for advice

[Bristles]

I'm looking to get a Skink for a pet. The goal is something my son and I can share together, as I attempt to foster his interest in animals and career as a vet.
I found a local shop here in Utah that sells Skinks. They have Blue Tongues, Berbers(Schneiders) and the Red Eye Croc variation.
This is our first reptile so I was a bit turned off by the $200 pricetag on the Blue Tongue. The Croc is more nocturnal which is a deal breaker for my son, even though they are by far the neater looking of the three (If I'm wrong here, help me out). Which leaves Berbers.
They are $39 at the store, it seemed more skittish than the Blue we held. My main concern is the wavy tail it has. The pet store employee said they're born that way alot of times. I've read that it can be a calcium problem or something else entirely.
Does anyone have some good advice? I want to buy a healthy Skink regardless of subspecies. I'd love a Blue but the $$ isn't something my wife is ok with right now.
There aren't many places to find info on Skinks to begin with so I hope you all don't mind me asking about Berbers here.

Thanks!

Also, if anyone has more experience with the Crocs I'd love to hear about them

[Bird_Brain]

I have never handled a berber skink before but to my understanding the majority of them are wild caught. I have both blue tongues and red eye croc skinks. The croc skinks are not a cuddly, handlable skink. They get stressed very easily. You can find cheaper skinks from breeders. If you can wait baby season is just around the corner in the US. While you may find them cheaper, I still would not expect to spend less than $100.

As far as the kinked tail, I would not pay full price for the skink. I feel it would be more than a cosmetic defect and as you mentioned, a calcium deficiency. Hopefully others will share their experience with Berber skinks. Ultimately though, spending $100-$200 for a blue tongue that can live over 20 years isnt really that expensive.

Also, are just limiting it to skinks for a reason? There are many other great reptile species that make great pets for less money. Of course the majority are going to be biased towards our skinks

[Bristles]

We had initially looked at Bearded Dragons. They seemed docile enough but my son (who's 7) didn't like their nails and how they wanted to hand on his shirt. He felt alot more comfortable holding one in his hands or having it rest on his arm. We looked at Leopard Geckos but the Nocturnal bit knocked them off the list. Snakes are a no go with my wife.
If anyone has other suggestions I'm open to them.
I really liked the diet/nutrition spectrum to the Blue Tongues and Berbers. The versatility seemed to be a nice plus.

[Bird_Brain]

Yes the diet of blue tongues is a huge plus!

My next suggestion of lizard would be a Uromastyx. From my research, dont seem too difficult to care for. Even though crested geckos are nocturnal, I still highly recommend them as well. Very simple care (room temperature, commercial powder diet you mix with water, calm temperament, etc).

[Bristles]

I'll take a better look at the Crested Geckos. We went to a guys house that had a Uromastyx. It was a mean little sucker.
It could have just been that one in particular.

[Karen]

I'd also make a list of all the supplies needed to set up a reptile (tank, heat/light, food, substrate, etc.) and what they will cost and see what you can safely buy after that. Depending on what kind of set up you want, just the housing and necessaries can often end up being more than the animal itself. Also keep in mind a wild caught might end up costing you more than you expect in vet bills since they are put under so much stress, which often leads to out of control parasite loads and infections. Just something to keep in mind. You might pay more up front for the captive bred animal, but it will be healthier and have a far better temperament than something imported.

[Bristles]

Thanks for the advice Karen. I'm definitely wanting the best home possible for the lizard. I'm a dog person by nature but unable to have one in our current location.
I say that because I'm very aware of how important it is to treat your pets like family.
Brad, I checked out the Uromastyx and that sucker gets alot bigger than what we're wanting. Lol.

[Bird_Brain]

While it depends on the species, I am fairly sure that majority stay under 2ft in length. I know the Egyptian are one of the largest and they average the 2-3 ft length. The other common species, Mali, typically get no longer than 18" which would be on the smaller size of blue tongues.

[critterguy]

Leopard geckos are not strictly nocturnal. If fed during the day, and/or if the lighting is dim, they will come out and move around. So I don't think this should be a huge deterrent from getting these. You mentioned your son didn't like the beardies claws-leopard geckos are very plush little things.

[Spindown]

If hes scared of the beardie wanting to climb his shirt, he may want to rethink a Bluey...all mine loooove to climb up my shirt and hang out (very carefully) on my shoulders.
Not saying blueys arent awesome, of course (i have 4 and am going to be fostering a 5th...)

[critterguy]

ST: I can't figure out how to get mine to climb, let alone hang out on my shoulder. I've seen people walk around with them like that-I'm positive mine would fall if I tried that. His nails are pretty short however.

[Spindown]

lol critterguy, i cant get mine to STOP climbing! I even had my Indo climb up my braid when i had longer hair quicker than you could say..."what?" and she perched on my head. I had to have my boyfriend rescue me
they tend to like my bf's shoulders more than mine because hes a big guy and has more room for them lol, but doesnt stop them from going for it...they can be fast litter buggers when they really want something.

[Bristles]

I think the climbing thing with the BD's was mainly because he hadn't been around an older one yet. He had only seen one that was a few months old. We saw one today at the pet store that was 5yrs old and it was a monster in comparison to the one year old BD he had on his shirt. I'll do some more looking into the Leopard Geckos as a few have recommended. We both really liked the Berber/Schneider Skink but as I mentioned before the multiple crooks in the tail had me worried.
I might call their other location and see if they have any others we can look at. The employee mentioned they typically buy a new one once they've sold the current lizard.
They get them from some place in Florida.
I have an add running locally in hopes someone in Utah/Idaho will have a Blue at a price we can agree upon.

Thanks so much for all the input so far!

[mv2sa]

BTS are awesome, mine in particular is really easy going and don't mind handling at all, but BD are really awesome too, I am thinking about getting one...

[Bird_Brain]

Im not exactly sure where you live other than Utah, but you may want to take a look at attending a local reptile expo. You will be able to buy directly from the breeder as well as getting better pricing on the animal. Basically it is taking out the middle man (the petstore) thus taking out their price markup. The only one that I am aware of is the Repticon show, but there are probably other ones as well.

http://repticon.com/

[Bristles]

Thanks for the added info ReptileKing.
These dates are perfect, it'll give us some more time to figure things out as well.
February 11 & 12 Boise, ID (plus we could stop by and see grandma and grandpa while we're at it )
April 28 & 29 Salt Lake City, UT

[Barrie]

Another option would be to check out any local reptile rescue organizations. We recently adopted two BTS from our local group ($50 each!), and they're both in great condition. The one needs a lot more handling, however the bigger of the two is fantastic. Those $200 BTS from the pet stores often end up in rescue places as people don't always do the homework on what it takes to care for them properly.

[Susann]

There's a big expo in the fall (Wasatch Reptile Expo--I missed it this year ), but that's a ways away. Bristles, did you get my PM?

[Katrina]

Welcome! I can't add anymore helpful advice, but I do think it is wonderful that you are supporting your son's interest in becoming a vet. There is always a need for more good, exotic vets.

[Bristles]

Good news in the search for a pet. My son has decided he wants to save up and pay for whatever he chooses (mostly, he is 7 after all).
I showed him the ReptiCon website and he's totally excited about it because it's right after his birthday.
This gives us some time to do more research on our part.
I called the pet shop that had the Skinks and the one berber they had with the twisted tail was the only one they have in either location.
So it looks like April will be the month of excitement!