My new Merauke! (corrected)

[codycr6]

I just got my first blue tongue, believe she is an Merauke. If she isn't, maybe some of the more knowledgeable on here can correct me. Her name is Jinx, and here are a few of her first pictures I took.

[Kurt]

I'm no expert but i'd say thats a merauke

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

Beautiful merauke!!!!!
Where did you buy him?

[codycr6]

I bought her at Repticon in Memphis from Fleming Reptiles out of Atlanta, GA.

http://www.flemingreptiles.com/

[ssr]

Nice! She's beautiful!

[Fatal_S]

Merauke, and a very pretty skink Congrats!

[codycr6]

So, will there be any special precautions I need to take with a Merauke? She seems like she will be a complete sweetheart!

[MiMi]

hello new person! (I'm a new person, too) *waves*

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

Rapid weight loss, too much sneezing, mouth rot, scale damage, eye damage.

[Bird_Brain]

Rapid weight loss, too much sneezing, mouth rot, scale damage, eye damage.

Huh?

[Katrina]

Rapid weight loss, too much sneezing, mouth rot, scale damage, eye damage.

Uh - the poster asked about precautions he might need to take with a Merauke rather than any other species / subspecies.

Welcome to the forum, Cody. Lovely Merauke! There isn't really any precautions I can think of for Meraukes, other than Meraukes are likely wild caught or captive born to a wild caught mother, so getting a fecal sample checked for parasites would be a good idea.

[El Lobo]

Rapid weight loss, too much sneezing, mouth rot, scale damage, eye damage.

Are you trying to be as cryptic as the Oracle at Delphi?

Maybe you could enlighten us as to which of those conditions, in your experience, are specific to Meraukes and not others.

[Susann]

Oh, beautiful Merauke! Did they say anything about gender? Without a picture looking straight down, I will guess and say female...?
What about age? Not a baby. What did they say about origins?

Read through the Caresheet a couple of times, get in the habit of offering her LOTS of veggies mixed in with some quality dog food, don't start spoiling her with fruits and snails. She looks big enough to only need to eat once, or at the most twice a week, but for a new skink don't even worry if it takes a few weeks for her to be super excited about food.

The most important thing to fix right off is her tank and temperatures. A Merauke needs a cooler side of around 80 degrees, a warmer side of around 95 degrees with a basking spot of around 100-105 degrees.

Don't know what you had prepared before buying her, if anything, so temperatures and something for her to hide in/under--substrate, shredded papertowels, cereal box, doesn't need to be fancy.

That's about it for the first few days. Again, Caresheet, Caresheet, Caresheet. Did you get that? Caresheet.

And have super lots of fun! If this is your first experience with a BTS you will quickly notice that they are the coolest, awesomest animals on earth, and most of us don't stop at just one. They are like potato-chips; you WILL WANT MORE!

Good luck, and WELCOME!

[Katrina]

I wouldn't classify snails as treat food - if you have a good source of snails they are an excellent feeder. But definitely keep fruits to treats.

[codycr6]

I've read the caresheets, I just didn't know if there were any specifics to her subspecies. I've kept green iguanas and bearded dragons, and absolutely enjoyed them. I made the decision to go blue tongue next, and spent the last four months waiting for Repticon to get a better look at them in person. I was considering buying online, but I just wanted to see what was going to be available locally at the show. The vendor had many beautiful animals that looked well cared for, and she had a very sweet disposition. He said she was captive bred and a female, but honestly it didn't matter much to me. As long as she was healthy and had a good disposition, that was good for me. She will visit my local reptile specialist that has taken care of my previous reptiles. I have my custom 90 gallon tank I had for my dragons, I am just changing substrate in it. I will temporarily go with just towels until she is comfortable, then I am thinking Aspen bedding. She may have to occasionally spend the night in a smaller tank at my girlfriend's when I am there or traveling, but in those cases I will keep her out as much as possible except at bedtime or when I have to visit a client. All I have fed her so far was a few cut up grapes for moisture when I first got her settled in, then tried her on some turkey flavored high quality dog food just to see if she cared for it. I'll pick up more vegetables this week, which seem to have the most nutrients?

[codycr6]

slightly more overhead shot, I will try to take more this week. Have to remember, those pics were the first day I had her!!!

[Katrina]

Here is a link to an older thread about greens and veggies - it has a good list. http://bluetongueskinks.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17182

You don't need to offer a ton of variety (it can be expensive, especially if you don't eat it as well), but I like to have a healthy green like dandelion, collards, arugula, endive or something to offer and then add some other veggies that you have on hand. Squashes are great, feed them grated up. Most veggies are fine in moderation and good for variety if you happen to have them on hand. Others offer frozen veggies or else buy lots of veggies and mix them up in large batches and then freeze in meal sized portions to reduce waste but still feed variety.

If she has to stay in a smaller enclosure, you don't need to keep her out as much as possible. She does need certain temperatures, so a smaller enclosure will be fine for a while as long as she has good temps and a place to hide.

[Susann]

She is very round. Is there ANY chance she could be having babies? Is anybody else here seing signs like that? I know it's a bit late in the season, but my 2 Meraukes were born exactly a year ago, so not impossible.
Otherwise, I wouldn't be super worried about feeding her a ton...
Don't get me wrong, I'm not calling your new baby-girl fat
just Meraukes are usually pretty slender...

[Katrina]

She looks overall in good condition to me - the tail isn't slender and there is a bit of a jowl. Usually the gravid imports are huge with very skinny tails, I'm not seeing gravid just overall in good condition.

[codycr6]

Here are a few pictures of her first day home... I still have to work more on her cage, but at least it's a start!

Yawning!