Pinkish/red coloration at the base of his scales.What is it?

[AndersBlueTongue]

Hello everyone,

I have a male Northern BTS, Anders BlueTongue , who is 7 years old and in good health.

His home is a 40 breeder tank, ambient air temp kept between 75-80 in the cool spot and in his hot spot its about 90-100 degrees. His tank is spot cleaned daily with substrate (coconut fiber) changed every 2-3 weeks.

For the past 7 years he has had this pinkish coloration at the base of his scales,mostly on his belly,that come and go. sometimes its a darker pinkish red,sometimes pale.sometimes his stomach is white with no pink. The pink also appears at the base of his neck scales and his sides.

Anders doesnt seem bothered by it; he eats, he is alert and active, he doesnt have any discharge or unusual stool. We had a vet test his stool and it is normal. Ill post pics later as im on my work computer right now.

What could the possible cause of the pinkness be? Its not septecimia, he wouldnt have lived this long with the redness coming and going like it has been.

thanks,

Megan

[donkeybuff]

Do the color changes come and go with sheds? Some northerns will have pinkish belly scales. The pink is more intense after a shed and becomes white like you are describing before a shed. If you are still concerned, you can post a picture, but it sounds pretty normal to me.

[Richard.C]

Sounds like normal scincoides pink flush to me to,some show it better than others,some it comes and goes,others have it most of the time except for when they are coming up for a shed

Welcome to bts.net

[AndersBlueTongue]

Thanks.how do I post a pic here?

[Roarschak11]

On the screen to write a reply, under the box where you write, there is a tab that says options ( it says disable BB code and other such stuff) , you want to click the tab next to options that says upload attachment, then you can browse for the picture you want to upload.

[AndersBlueTongue]

Anders red scales.JPG

ok most files come up as "the file is too big,max size allowed is 3MiB" only one attached...

[AndersBlueTongue]

yeah all my other pics are too big, i have no idea how to fix that issue ill try to take more

[donkeybuff]

Looks normal to me.To post some pics, you'll have to resize them so that they are 3 mb or less.

[AndersBlueTongue]

on his stomach the pink is much darker and in runs in lines down his stomach. Again, its been coming and going for years ,bloodwork and fecal tests havent shown a thing. as soon as i figure out how to reformat ill post. i think my phone camera is too high resolution,all pics are 4mb or greater...

ok, I had to cut alot of the pic out in order for it to be cut down to 3mb, I apologize for the sloppy look of it.

[donkeybuff]

on his stomach the pink is much darker and in runs in lines down his stomach. Again, its been coming and going for years ,bloodwork and fecal tests havent shown a thing. as soon as i figure out how to reformat ill post. i think my phone camera is too high resolution,all pics are 4mb or greater. i think its such a great resource to find a forum on this topic, ive always wondered what was up with his coloring.

That sounds pretty normal too. If the color comes and goes along with his sheds, it's just his pattern.

[AndersBlueTongue]

Ok,last pic. I have to edit these to get them under 3mib and its a pain.

Im glad its his coloring. Yeah it does seem to get more intense after a shed.

I appreciate the input,it makes me feel better knowing this isnt unusual

[donkeybuff]

Also, he does not look pure Northern. Possibly northern x irian jaya. Either way, he will still make a great pet, although I wouldn't recommend breeding him.

[Seadation]

Welcome! He looks normal to me the only thing is you mentioned he was a northern I'm pretty sure he is a hybrid. I'm not an expert but others should help you out on the species. He's a beautiful skink.

[Richard.C]

Actually lookd more ij than northern but yeah could be a mix of the 2

[AndersBlueTongue]

Ill have to look up pics of that other type of skink,I was told he's a northern bts.he's from a local breeder that worked with the owner of a pet shop I worked at a long time ago. I don't ever plan on breeding him(,and I actually don't know the gender, I got him when he was about 5 weeks old and was told he's a male)

He's a fantastic pet. He takes food gently from your fingers, chills on the couch on his blanket,and likes to watch people. He's been handled and amongst people every day since we brought him home, a true part of the family and my buddy <3

[Roarschak11]

To be honest I wouldn't trust the word of any pet shop keeper when it comes to species and such, no matter how reliable they may seem. Most have basic or general knowledge on the animals they keep, but usually don't have specialized info on specific species, habitation, ect. I've worked with people in the pet trade and can honestly say they are usually unreliable teenagers. Just a word of advice. My male Iranian was labeled and sold as a northern female when I bought him and only lately because of this forum found what he really is! This forum is loaded with wonderful advice knowledge and people I have found though!!