sex and species please

[sarah]

What do you think? The man I bought her from stated it's a female IJ

[justyna.ewa]

Looks a bit wide for a male, so probably a female. But IJ... I don't know about that... Looks like a Merauke to me, but I could be very wrong. IJs are usually a bit more bright, more orange.

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

IMO Male Merauke

[justyna.ewa]

IMO Male Merauke

I'm curious - what makes you say male?

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

It appears to be flattening out it's body, so it would be a little bit on the slimmer side. I also think I see hemi-penal bulges at the base of the tail.

[Richard.C]

Looks meurake,definatly not ij,as to sex hard to say,i cant see pronounced buldging,pics not best angle to see,what blueys above it in the pic?

[sarah]

The skink above is my male Ij.Is there a better angle pic I could post to help determin sex?

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

It's not an IJ it is a Merauke.
And if you say it is a male, why ask the sex?

[sarah]

I am unsure of the sex of this skink,When I said male I was takling to Richard C who asked who is the skink above in pic.

[splat868]

Sexing by head shape is very hit and miss, as are most methods of visual sexing from a photo.

Having said that, if head shape were the only thing to go by, I would guess at a male also.

[Richard.C]

Ml,theres a bit of another bluey showing at top of pic,thats the male,meurakes im not sure head size is reliable in sexing,tail buldging seems more reliable,sarah maybe a birds eye pic of tail base and a 45 degree angle shot to ser if buldging is evident may help,sometimes there just plain hard to sex,especially from pics,but even in person

[Vegasarah]

So I have a question now... If the other one is for sure a male, and they do not react to each other, would it be safe to say it is also a male? I thought that if it was a female and they where introduced there might be some mating behavior? Or is that only if it is 'the season' right after burmation? Always looking to learn!

[Toxique]

Welp, I wouldn't be introducing two skinks regardless of male/male, female/female, or male/female. They're not the best social animals and gender really only plays a part (from what I understand) during mating. And even during mating they have to be watched because they can take chunks out of each other!

Have you seen any poops from the skink? Sometimes males will leave sperm plugs behind )which look like milky white bulbs with trailing bits after them) when they go. I often get these when I give morti a bath, as its always then that he decides the need to go.

But I agree, the bands look to slim to be an IJ and the legs a bit to dark. My morti has spotty legs and thicker bands, he's confirmed IJ.

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

So I have a question now... If the other one is for sure a male, and they do not react to each other, would it be safe to say it is also a male? I thought that if it was a female and they where introduced there might be some mating behavior? Or is that only if it is 'the season' right after burmation? Always looking to learn!

Just because you put two skinks of different sexes together it doesn't mean they are going to mate.
Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS4gJR9ce_g

[Vegasarah]

I didn't say they are going to mate... I was merely suggesting that you could possibly find out the sex through their behavior. Which is what is outlined on the care sheet on the main site as a good way to find out the sex of a skink. So sorry if that somehow made you think that I was an idiot or something...

Example: If they met and the new skink twitched her tail at the male or something you might guess that it's a female.

Again, I understand that its not 100% proof, as no opinion we can give through the internet/ through pictures would be.

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

I didn't say they are going to mate... I was merely suggesting that you could possibly find out the sex through their behavior. Which is what is outlined on the care sheet on the main site as a good way to find out the sex of a skink.

Yes that could happen, but doesn't always. Like in the video I showed you, two skinks of the same sex could act normal around each other. But they could make sexual advances upon each other.

Example: If they met and the new skink twitched her tail at the male or something you might guess that it's a female.

I think I've seen that with both breeding and defensive(fighting) behavior so I wouldn't use that to determine much except for that it' about to do something.

So sorry if that somehow made you think that I was an idiot or something...

I never said that.
I said it won't make them mate, and showed a video of that.

[Richard.C]

Males can tail wiggle at other males,they can also get on well with other males,and sometimes females can be the aggressor and chase males around,behaviours can give clues but never 100 percent,ideally its best to introduce at mating time to go off behaviours

[Vegasarah]

Males can tail wiggle at other males,they can also get on well with other males,and sometimes females can be the aggressor and chase males around,behaviours can give clues but never 100 percent,ideally its best to introduce at mating time to go off behaviours

Thanks for that great info, Richard! I appreciate you helping explain that type of behavior to me