BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hey all!

I know you may not know me in particular very well, but I have a request for the masses of Bluey lovers here...

I am working on a blue tongue skink care book. I've been fortunate in my ability to find research articles, books, and speak to associates who've kept and bred blue tongues, but what I have not been able to get is pictures of various blue tongues.

I love my own blue tongues dearly, but I can't exactly use their pictures throughout the entire book, that's just silly. What I need, desperately, is pictures of specific blue tongue species, as well as set ups, and just plain fun pics of blue tongues.

If you'd like to chip in, message me for my email addy, and we'll go from there. The book is primarily focusing on beginners and beginner level info, and will be mostly about care for Indonesian and Northern blue tongues (the least expensive and most commonly kept types, from what I've found).
I'll need your name for credit for the picture, the sex (if known) of the blue tongue, SVL length, and any other info you'd care to include about your animals. The higher res the pictures, the better.

No promises on if/when the book will be published, but I can't move forward until I have more finished book.

Again, any help would be great. Thanks in advance!!

~Jen

Instead of trying to take new pics (my skinks have decided to brumate, and the 2 that arent wont hold still for pics) you can feel free to go into my facebook (gargoylegardens@gmail.com) and use pics there, or go into my personal gallery here and use those.

If you do, pm me and i'll send you my info for credit.

hurricanejen wrote:The book is primarily focusing on beginners and beginner level info, and will be mostly about care for Indonesian and Northern blue tongues (the least expensive and most commonly kept types, from what I've found).

A couple of things I'd like to point out. I'm really excited about someone doing this, and would love for it to go all the way to publishing!

First thought: Indonesian and Northern are from two different places with different climates. Which is great if you want to go into the slightly different husbandry issues. But if you are planning on keeping it short and sweet with just introductions and briefly mentioning the different needs of different BTS from the different areas/locales then you may want to stick with one area....? Just my thought.

The other thought: You say you want to concentrate on Indonesian and Northern because they are the least expensive and most common.
They are NOW. 10 years from now, could be a completely different story. I guess 10 years ago, Easterns were the "common" ones in the U.S. and IJs were RARE and expensive!
For an article, concentrating on the most common ones would work. For a BOOK that doesn't get reprinted every time changes occur, maybe not focus on any one or two, but an all-inclusive, non specific, equal space for all, and mention why each is unique from the others, kind of thing...?
Just another of my thoughts.

And I have pictures of young Meraukes and a "not classic" IJ, if you want, PM and tell me where to send them, how many you want, in what size.

I agree that a book would be great, and Susann brings up some good points.

What are your plans for publishing?

I think this is a great idea - more good information on BTS is always a good thing! Well, more good information on how to properly care for any exotic pet is always a good thing.

Good luck!

When you really break it down to care information, the differences are not that major. What is really, really that different about caring for an irian jaya and a northern? Humidity, and you don't cycle the irian jayas for breeding.
Take a look at common tortoise care books - the species can be vastly different (red foots vs russians, for example) but some excellent books about basic care cover the generalities, with chapters devoted to the specifics for each species. That's the general model I'm following, with notes on the differences between species. This kind of book model has worked for tortoises, chameleons, and anoles, where the basic care is fundamentally the same, with only minor differences in encouraging breeding and humidity needs.

It's a complex thing and a hard thing to do, but it's been fun and educational. Did you know skinks are pretty much the only lizard family that doesn't pant? The palate on the roof of their mouth doesn't allow for enough air flow to make the behavior useful for cooling down. That's one of my favorite little factoids from research; there's quite a few neat ones.

Anyway, Thanks for those who have volunteered so far! It helps

Working on publishing. I wanted to make sure I'd be able to get all aspects I'd need of the book ready before approaching them.
Thanks again guys!!!
~Jen

If you need specific photos let me know. Either in the next couple weeks or next spring. I have Northerns and IJs.

I'll point out I treat my IJs the same as my Northerns.

Hi Jen! I believe you also requested pictures on iHerp? My husband is on iHerp (we share an account) under Psycho Dragon. I can get you pictures of Coomassie, our male Northern, but it won't happen until this weekend. What is the best way to send pictures?

I did request pics on iherp too! I've been there longer and met a lot of folks from there in Chicago, so I figured that'd be a good place to start.

I'll flip through your pictures and see, thanks for the help!

Thanks Fatal_S as well, I'll PM you details. I keep my indos about the same as well, the only difference being a humid hide.

Whats the deathline for the pictures?
Over 4 weeks i have my new blueys and i think you going te be happy with pics of them.