A few quick Centralian questions + Ed. tank progress pics

[Nae]

Well, Ive start making all the fake rocks and stuff for my tank! Now, the tank is a bit narrow for my liking, so it will be only a temporary home, but its all good, Ill have had 'making rocks practise' for his future enclosure, plus the tank will afterwards be home to either a beardie or most probably a stripe-tailed pygmy monitor - so no waste.

Anyway, first up, how tall are they? Yes, tall rather odd word to use when refering to a bluey. Ive made two hides which I think will be big enough, but just to make sure.

Water - Do they need a water bowl 24/7? I just remember reading something about desert species should not have a water bowl all the time as its unnatural and raises the humidity.

How long does it take them to grow to their full size? So I know when to start working on a new enclosure

Like shingles, are they an exception to the 'one bluey' rule and you can house more then one together? Just another thing I vagualy remember reading.

Ill probably add more questions as I keep making, and perhaps some progress pics!

[Toxique]

I'm not sure on the tall question, my little guy is still a baby himself, but if you give a substrate they can burrow into, they'll be able to fit under a lot.

As for water, yes keep water on them at all times. Better to be safe than to have a skink get sick (or worse) from dehydration

Growth is a variable question, some can grow fast, some grow slow, some grow a lot if fed a lot, some grow slow if fed slowly. I'm not sure on a definite answer, someone more experienced could probably help on this one more than I.

And no, don't house multiple blueys together, I don't think centrals are an acception to this rule either; that's a straight ticket to missing toes, tails, and possibly death.

[Katrina]

I'm not sure on the tall question, my little guy is still a baby himself, but if you give a substrate they can burrow into, they'll be able to fit under a lot.

As for water, yes keep water on them at all times. Better to be safe than to have a skink get sick (or worse) from dehydration

Growth is a variable question, some can grow fast, some grow slow, some grow a lot if fed a lot, some grow slow if fed slowly. I'm not sure on a definite answer, someone more experienced could probably help on this one more than I.

And no, don't house multiple blueys together, I don't think centrals are an acception to this rule either; that's a straight ticket to missing toes, tails, and possibly death.

Let's please wait for someone who has experience or knowledge on Multis specifically to answer these questions. Remember - this site is very focused on North American species, which isn't always relevant or accurate information for the rare-to-us species.

[Nae]

And some pictures of the tank!~



That is a heat mat there, but I have no intention to use it. It is literally stuck to the bottom of the tank, I cant get it off, the person I got the tank off of isnt even sure if it works, and Im not game enough to try...



And the pile of foam that was originally distributed throughout nearly all the cupboards in the house, making everyone else wary of opening a cupboard in the event an avalanche of foam would come out at them... (I realized just a few moments ago that I forgot about the other cupboard in the garage full of foam...aw well )

And the awesome thing about having no floor coverings? Being an artsy person, I can do what I want and not have to worry about ruining anything! Unattractive,but awesome. The only problem is that Ive gotten so used to it when we finally do get floor coverings, Im going to need a massive plastic mat in my room...

Blocking out basic shapes... (Foam.Gets.Everywhere! )



And day 2 -



I also got the other side slightly finished and started on making a background! So yeah..

[Fatal_S]

Nice! A couple tips: be sure to seal it really well so it's easy to clean, and be sure to build it so it's easy to get at the skink when you want/need to. This is just speaking from my past mistakes. I can't wait to see more pictures as it comes along!

[Nae]

Thanks! Yep, Im defiantly taking a multitude of things into consideration, so many in fact Im paranoid I may have missed something Like I had to experiment with how to get the background in with that glass bit in the middle of the roof, taking into account the fact that foam is more flexible then the finished piece will be! I may have to cut it in half...

And while Im making the sides fairly detailed, I am trying to keep the bits he will come into contact with fairly simple for ease of cleaning (although I do tend to go overboard so me being me I most likely will create a tough spot or 5 )

Do you have any photos Fatal? I would really like to see them =D

[Katrina]

Looking good! Thanks for posting pics, please keep them coming and let us know how it goes!

[Nae]

Heres how the tank looks atm~



The plaform on the left is the basking platform. It also has a fully enclosed hide underneath which is almost the same size as the platform. I was wondering, in regards to hides, are blueys at all like snakes, they like they hides snug?

The one on the right will have his water bowl in some way embedded into it so it stays out of the substrate and such, and is also where Im going to place his food plate during meal times. Underneath is another hide that extends right to the tip of the ramp. Im not 100% sure Im happy with how thus side turned out, it still looks too artificial to me. I am planning on maybe having an arch coming from the pile of rocks and into the background, and the gap in the corner is where Im going to place a large fake plant, so hopefully they might help.

And the background is purely for decoration, and is going to have holes in it for me to place some more fake plants. I found a shop on Ebay that sells Aussie plants, like kangaroo paw and bottlebrushes! Which is awesome.

[Red Ink AUS]

Well, Ive start making all the fake rocks and stuff for my tank! Now, the tank is a bit narrow for my liking, so it will be only a temporary home, but its all good, Ill have had 'making rocks practise' for his future enclosure, plus the tank will afterwards be home to either a beardie or most probably a stripe-tailed pygmy monitor - so no waste.

Anyway, first up, how tall are they? Yes, tall rather odd word to use when refering to a bluey. Ive made two hides which I think will be big enough, but just to make sure.

5 - 7 cm at their thickest point

Water - Do they need a water bowl 24/7? I just remember reading something about desert species should not have a water bowl all the time as its unnatural and raises the humidity.

Definitely not... treat them like stumpies as dry as possible.

How long does it take them to grow to their full size? So I know when to start working on a new enclosure

Roughly 3 years they should stop getting noticebly longer

Like shingles, are they an exception to the 'one bluey' rule and you can house more then one together? Just another thing I vagualy remember reading.

Yes they can be housed together with ample space male female pairs or trios. Unlike stumpies they don't like close quarters as much..

Ill probably add more questions as I keep making, and perhaps some progress pics!

This info is from a mate of mine who has them...

Cheers

[Nae]

Thank you very much!

[Richard.C]

yep,centralians live together quite well,ive never noticed squabbling with mine,though 2 adult males could so always good to keep an eye on them,just for piece of mind,dont keep a water bowl in with them 24/7,you want to keep them warm and dry,so best bet is to offer them water a couple of times a week then remove bowl after they have had there fill,they love a hot basking spot,and even some night warmth

i like how you are setting your cage up,hide areas down low with an elevated basking spot

as for tallness,they are one of the tallest,big fat round bodies 5 to 7 cm as was said in anothr post,if your asking that to know about height of hide areas,remember they can squeeze into lower hides,some like the feeling of being in a tight hide,but its better to have it higher,and add substrate in there so they dig it out how they like it for that

[Nae]

Awesome, cause I have big plans for a much larger enclosure, and so would like to keep more then one bluey in it, and so am currently tossing up between centralians or shingles~

For the night warmth, I have tonnes of boxes of red night globes - should I use those at night? I could just see the lighting set up getting complicated with two globes possibly..

Since the tank isnt big enough for my liking, it was the best way I could think of to maximize flooring space, hence the reason even the non-basking area is raised, so as to have a spot to put the food and water and have a place to sleep, whilst keeping that open bit in the middle. Glad you approve, re-enforces my confidence that I am going well for a newbie =D

Thats one of the reasons I love them so much - they are so pudgy! And yep, it was for the hide heights, Ill make sure to measure them some time this week, havent done much work on the enclosure lately as Ive had exam revision, ugh...

[spandangle]

Hi Nae,

Have you thought about getting westerns by any chance? I was doing my homework on centrals and westerns a while ago and I had found that there seems to be a shortage of centrals at the moment in WA. Western seem to be available though. The odd thing is over here in WA centrals are cheaper than westerns.

I am looking at getting some centrals and westerns at some stage. Hopefully sooner than later but it is depending on how long it takes me to find the time to put together some more enclosures. At the moment with family and work commitments (I am often interstate), I just don't seem to find the time for anything.

[Nae]

Indeed I have considered Westerns - in fact, I initially thought that the place from where I am getting my Centralians from sold Westerns instead of Centralians - I read the scientific name wrong And even though I know now, at the time I also wasnt too good at telling what was what from pictures, so for ages I was thinking I was going to be buying a western! X 3

Although, I am interested in the where abouts of these westerns, as all Ive been able to find are centralians and shingles? And I chose Centralians over Shingles as I have grown up around shingles, and centrals are similiar yet different.

And I know what you mean. I seem to have so much time yet not enough and nothing ever seems to get done, its just really strange...