Picking your brain....

[bobwelding]

Hi Everyone!
We are interested in getting a Northern Blue Tongue Skink and my husband is also interested in the going rate for a Melanistic Black Blue Tongue Skink. We live in the high desert of Southern California and thought the Northern would be a good fit for our location. We are planning to build a 4ft x 3ft enclosure, but we have a 40 gallon breeder tank we can use till we get the enclosure finished. We'd like to know if you know any reputable breeders in the So Cal area. Also we'd like some input on your enclosures and how you feed your Skinks. We do have experience with large lizards because we have had Savannah Monitors in the past and currently have snakes. We understand the Northerns can be very docile, but can be aggressive at feeding time. What is your experience? Temperament is very important because we have grandkids and would like them to have all their fingers when they grow up. Lol!!!
Any input would be greatly appreciated!
Thank-you for your time,
Bob and Barbara

[K.lib]

Blue-tongues are super friendly once tamed. Breeders will usually tame them as a baby but some just don't care and are trying to make a profit. To tame just hold them every day for about ten minutes and if they are bity, where so leather mans gloves. Eventually they will get used to you and they are very good when it comes to human interaction and handling. I don't know of any breeders in your location but backwater reptiles will ship anywhere and they have quality animals. I checked and they do have blue-tongues available. I hope this was helpful!

[Susann]

Lots of BTS are plenty friendly from the start and need no "taming" per se, even if tiny ones can be a bit skittish and flighty. It is however extremely rare you should need to put on gloves of any kind with any small skink.

Whether breeders tame them or simply "don't care" has a lot more to do with how many babies they have in a season versus the amount of care they have. Most breeders also have a job to make an income in addition to breeding skinks, so I beg to disagree with putting breeders in only the two categories of having the time to tame little ones or not caring more than the possible profit.

There are lots of threads about taming, both little ones and big ones; I suggest, if you haven't already, to start by reading the thread at the very top of this General Discussion Forum called PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE POSTING; it contains quick links to several places, including our search function, that will be of great help for you with any number of questions you may have.

A hyper-melanistic, IF you can find one for sale, will likely be priced in the thousands, but they just aren't available; they're out there, but extremely rarely are people selling.

Here is a list of our recommended breeders, there are two highly regarded breeders in CA, not sure how close to you they are though. If you have a hard time getting a hold of either, let us know and we'll help you track them down. But any breeder worth their salt will be highly adept at shipping, so don't let location keep you from getting a high quality animal from a breeder.

I absolutely recommend a BTS for you, and think it would bring years of enjoyment to both you, your children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren! Good luck, and we're here should you have any other questions.