BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

So, mum comes into my room telling me to come look at this massive shingle she found. Go out there and sadly hes no where to be seen.

Then I spot this guy.





(Just ignore my snazzy...tartan? Plaid?...jacket.... Its comfy ok!!)

He was so tiny!! But unfortunately my camera chose then to run out of batteries, and by the time I got back to the house and borrowed my sisters, he had gone I even missed an opportunity to get a shot of him gaping (He was oh so scary )

Also, its a tad odd for them to be out at this time, considering its August despite being a rather warm day today, but it is a rather pleasant surprise~

Very cool!

Noticed that all mine were out today enjoying some sun in the garden. I guess they are all just happy for the break from all the rain recently.

Wow, how fun would i be to go outside for a walk and find these great creatures in your own backyard! My kids would just love it there, i am very jealous!

so cute <3

Very cool Nae! I have been trying, but I can't really imagine what it would be like to see a wild shingleback living in its natural habitat. For some reason, I can't get my brain around that. It just doesn't seem possible that they could actually survive and be "commom" without me taking care of them. It is a genuine goal of mine to make it to OZ to experience them in the wild one day.

How frequently do you come across them? I know it's different at different times of the year, but especially during mating season, how often do you see them if you are not looking for them? Also how hard is it to find them if you are looking for them?

Acanthurus, its good to know that its not just the ones around here that are out, I was actually slightly worried that something may have happened to the two to push them out of brumation, and was slightly concerned for the baby.

Stacy, when I was younger it was my daily ritual to go out and do a lap around the house, cuddling, de-ticking, removing grass seeds from eyes, fixing shed issues etc from the wild ones, it was definitely a tonne of fun!

, Jeff I actually find it quite hard to wrap my head around the fact that there are shingles living in America and Europe, its such an odd thought that something so familiar and close to home could be so far away.

I come across them quite frequently actually~ Around the house, on the roads, at school even - I was regularly pulled out of class to get a shingle out of the basketball court or away from the little kids bag area Where I used to live you had to be very careful walking around outside - step out the door and theres most likely one under the step, the outdoor toilet, probably about 3, it took about 10 minutes drive out of the garage because we had to check under the car and make sure everywhere was clear, the chicken pens, all the gardens where full - it was seriously crazy! I can not express just how many shingles there were there without sounding like I am seriously over - exaggerating.

(If anyone does come to Aus, I could break us in to that place? Although I seriously could now that I think about it....)

Mating season is awesome, because you come across 2 at a time

Hmm, but Im not too sure how hard they would be to actually go out and purposely find. Ive never tried, haha~ Perth, even though people find them in their backyards all the time, would be difficult to find any. But any country roads and you should find quite a few.

Nae wrote:
...(If anyone does come to Aus, I could break us in to that place?...

Where is THAT PLACE? You have talked about it before, but I still don't understand where you mean. Is it somewhere you use to live?

It does seem a little crazy that there are so many in "that place" that they are almost a nuisance, yet there is still no program to allow CBB shinglebacks to be exported from Australia, even under strict regulation. I guess it is better the way it is, with heartless smugglers cramming them into suitcases in hopes that enough of them will survive the horrible trip to turn a good profit.

Sorry for the OT. I envy your access to the wild skinks. Do you ever see westerns or centrilians?

Yep, somewhere I used to live Its a tad hard to give an exact location considering it was a bit out of the way...Umm... Western Aus, Kellerberrin/Tammin/ Yokrakine area, that narrows it down quite a bit

Here in Aus (well, WA it is) its illegal to keep any wild animal - Shingles, kangaroos, emus, dingos etc. Only very few people hold licenses to take certain reptiles from the wild, those licenses being very hard to obtain and expensive. (in fact, I think there are only 2 in WA with permission to sell what they catch?)
Also, reptile keeping, and thus breeding, is only new in Australia, and so both the amount of captive bred reptiles and reptiles legally taken from the wild is no where near enough to cater for demand, especially ones like shingles, cenralians, westerns, monitors etc. So even if exportation was allowed, there wouldnt be enough surplus in anything other then stimsons pythons and beardies.

Plus I will say that that place was an exception. They were practically a pest there, my guess is because both us and the people who lived there before loved the shingles. Where I live at the moment, the most I would probably see on a good day is about 6-8, and that includes whilst driving.

What with all the smuggled reptiles, telling which reptiles were smuggled and which were legally exported would become a massive headache. Also, shingles, beardies and certain species of python would be all that would be potentially sustainable to export wild caught - most likely not enough species to go through the effort of opening up some sort of exportation scheme.

I see the odd western, but unfortunately I dont live where centralians do (hence the reason I have decided on a centralian, similar to a shingle yet different at the same time~)

I think there is a lot more to discuss in regards to exporting animals from Austria, but it really has nothing to do with the awesome skink you found in your yard, so if I feel the need to vent further I will start a new thread.

ok, someday i really need to take a trip to australia and have one of you guys give me a field herping tour! I'd love to see a shingle irl, or a centralian (oh they are so fluffy!!) plus all the other crazy things you guys see

if some of you could post more pics of blueys in their natural habitat that would be so cool!

Haha, ok Jeff~

Id be more then happy to take anyone around once I get my license.

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Bluey Jackets

I actually got excited for a second that someone was reading my blog...then I realised I had removed my blog link in exchange for my deviant art.... Then I saw the number of posts and realised the spam...

What a downer...

If you go out at the right time of year then it can be shocking to see just how common they are. My best effort was during spring last year when I found 38 on a 2.5km walk through the Perth hills. Even in Kings Park (centre of Perth) they are everywhere.

Despite them being common I still love seeing them crashing through bush, so much personality...

spot on,its amazing how common they can be when u really look out for them,it was 13 here today in melb,found a large green phase female eastern basking next to an old cubby house down the back,must be wintering there id say,only seen a few using the compost this winter,but havnt really kept an eye out,noticed a few of my captives have started popping out to bask the last few days,so it wont be long until another season starts

well sometimes they are hard to find when u loook for them,but always pop up when u dont expect them

Defiantly. I tried looking for them today - Nill.

When Im not looking - they are everywhere

always the way isnt it nae,lol,reminds me of my folks old holiday house in gippsland,i spent hours trying to find a lace monitor,they grow to around 2 metres in length,never saw any,the folks saw a few,even found an egg outside a termite mound and had photos to show me of there finds,but darned if i could ever find any,lol,even when i knew were one had nested

Haha, my mum has insanely good luck when it comes to finding them. Just yesterday we were gathering up rocks for a garden and shes like "Nae, lizard!". Sure enough, there was one of the prettiest shingles ever, she was light brown with white flecks on her side and such, but I was only able to spend a little bit of time with her as I had to help

That is a nice looking wild skink.