northern considered rare???

[reaperreptiles]

I am always searching for northerns to add to my family but it seems (at least on the east coast) that they are pretty hard to come by. I can easily find irian jayas and indos but not northerns. other than the top couple breeders (you know who you are ;p) I cant find them anywhere else (other than the classifieds on this forum). and I have NEVER seen a northern at a show. Has anybody else noticed this?

[Fatal_S]

Northerns require someone to do the work to get a pair and breed them. Indos and IJs only require someone to import, and even "CB" ones are often only obtained by accident when a mother is gravid or multiple are housed together.

[Jeff]

In the U.S., 95% of the northern babies are born in June-July every year. They seem to sell relatively fast, so for the rest of the year you rarely see them advertised. Adults are very rarely available because breeders hardly ever sell them. The only real source for them is from people who get tired of them and either sell them or trade them in to a pet shop for something else.

Once in awhile you will see a breeder downsizing though. That is probably be the best way to get an adult.

[Adalon]

Where I live in California, skinks in general seem to be uncommon and apparently don't sell well. A local reptile specialty shop had a resident Northern male for something like 8 months before finally selling him and shortly after they acquired another male Northern that has been sitting there for almost 2 months now. The first male was quite aggressive though so I can see how he would be a hard sell, but the newest one seems to be pretty calm.

We also have several large chain pet stores with reptile departments (a few PetsMarts as well as a big local shop with a very impressive reptile department) and I don't think I've ever seen a blue tongue skink ever on display. In fact, I had asked one of the reptile department's employees a question about substrate for my skink and he didn't even know what I was talking about.

Kind of odd really, I've seen people carrying around iguanas at local events and from what I can tell there are a bunch of reptile enthusiasts living here. You could just assume that anyone seriously considering a BTS would order online I suppose, but you would think they would be popular in pet stores for how well they socialize with people. Then again, I don't think many people even realize that a lizard could have the qualities a BTS has (or just think bearded dragon/leopard gecko only).

[EvoSolley]

^^ Funny you should say that, i live in Ky and i got my adult northern from a local Pets Mart. He had been on display for right at about a year before i picked him up. I couldn't believe he had been there that long!

Funny thing is i had gone to the pet shop many times before and always wondered why this one certain tank was empty. I mean every time i went in there nothing was in it. One day my sister told me about the poor guy, took me to the empty tank, and boom! out of nowhere she picked up a full grown skink that was burrowed under the substrate! I guess being a burrower dosent help the sell-ability of these lizards haha. Really glad i got him though Raptor is awesome!

[reaperreptiles]

Well i got my female northern, Toby, from varanus inc. (also known as tarantula inc.) a year or so back. I picked up my male from a local petstore that i knew bred northerns. I happened to pop in one day and they had a classic northern with neon yellow porthole side markings. They told me it was a fluke bc the parents were just plain old northerns, they had 16 babies born that year 3 of them being vibrant yellow so I grabbed mack since he was the most beautiful. But other than that petstore i have never seen northerns in my area. A few times a year ill see some adds on kingsnake but other than that nothing. From talking to some of you it seems that northerns are more readily available on the west coast than over here on the east coast. I know alot of people out west that have them but i don't have a single friend over here on the east who owns one.

[Jeff]

From talking to some of you it seems that northerns are more readily available on the west coast than over here on the east coast. I know alot of people out west that have them but i don't have a single friend over here on the east who owns one.

There is a guy in Florida that might have a few. www.thunderbayherps.com

[reaperreptiles]

thanks! Just looked through all his babies and saved him to my favorites, I am really fond of his easterns. Thinkin about gettin some down the road. Thanks again:)

[Raven_Vivi]

IMO, if you're looking at Ray's babies, you should DEF give him a call. He's extremely helpful.

plus, if you want the most updated news on what he has it's the best way to go.

By Ray's babies I'm referring to the guy in fl and thunderbay herps site