BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

I wasn’t going to make any changes in the skinks’ temperatures to “force” a brumation, mostly because Jazz and Maddie are barely one, and are siblings, so I wasn’t planning on any breeding to happen come spring.

Now I suddenly have 5 skinks in my house, 3 of them adults. Andrew Seike, who I got the 3 adult skinks from, says I have plenty of time to brumate if I wish.
I wasn’t planning on trying to breed right away ....but now I’m thinking.... why not TRY? Why not start learning first hand how to do it, so that, when I’m ready and want to seriously try, I’d have SOME experience. Chances are extremely small that I’d get babies from my first try, and even if I DID it probably wouldn’t be the end of the world.

So. I will be reading everything I can get ahold of on brumation, and later, breeding. But if someone out there has tips, ideas, knowledge, experience, and feels like sharing, I would promise to bake them cookies if ever we meet! (...or at least, buy some that looked home-made!)

I seem to remember a while back—with my memory, we could be talking years—someone posted pictures of their “brumation-station”; pictures of the containers, what went in them, thermometers, and the shelf they were on. I don’t suppose anyone felt like showing me how they do it with pictures? ( Wait.... is it my “Swedishness” again, or does that sentence look wrong...?)
I would be eternally grateful for ANY info, pictures or no pictures.

I PM'd you

Susann wrote:I don’t suppose anyone felt like showing me how they do it with pictures? ( Wait.... is it my “Swedishness” again, or does that sentence look wrong...?)

I think it should be feels instead of felt.

I might skip brumating, you have Meraukes, brumation doesn't seem to work. Instead, start pairing them now. This may be the right time to get breeding behavior in Meraukes.

I use brumation boxes for my skinks. I'll post pictures when I'm back home (if I remember, you may need to remind me).

I would agree with trying to put them together now. I would probably give them a week to adjust to their new surroundings, then try pairing different couples and see what happens.

This advice would only be for meraukes/indos, and possibly Keis. All the other species seem to breed with a more formal cooling cycle. If you don't see any breeding behavior, or at least start seeing some seminal plugs from the males, you still have plenty of time to try a more typical cool down. People have been trying that for years though, with very limited success. A lot of things I have noticed seem to suggest that meraukes "want" to breed Oct.-Nov., at least this far north of the equator.

do indos brumate? shes not eating and sleeps all day. even though her lights are still on. O.o

Even if they've been in the US for years and years? You think they'd still be on that cycle?
But more importantly, WHAT IF THEY KILL EACH OTHER?!
Is there anything you can do when two BTS start fighting?!
How will I know if it's "breeding" behavior or "kill you" behavior?! Is there a difference?!
You think I can handle this??? I mean, just, like, put them together? Not knowing anything?
I'm willing to try, but those of you who have seen the violence in breeding, do you think I should?

Rule #1. Don't let them kill each other. Bad for future breeding.

Yes, even if they have been in North America for years or were ever born here, they seem to be on a different cycle. I would let them settle and watch for sperm plugs. When you see sperm plugs, try pairing. If you aren't willing to put them together, then you probably won't get babies! From what I've seen, if they are super interested in getting out and males are dropping plugs then try pairing. Stay close so that they can't hurt each other.

Sperm plugs seem to coincide nicely with drops in humidity (not just in the enclosure but with the overall humidity for your area), at least for me - not sure if you get a drop in humidity before winter in Utah.

I will be the first to get a baby... I can promise that. Just let me know when you get some, let me pick out mine, then ship him over

First off, relax

It's not the same cycle as wild Gigas. Wild gigas would have already given birth by now, or just be popping.

It's very easy to stop them from causing too much damage. I'd also say that Meraukes will probably be much safer to test with than bigger, angrier species (Northerns).

Put them together and be ready to intervene if needed. If they grab head/tail/leg then give em a poke/pull to make them let go and retry. If they're attacking each other head-on or if one is after a skink who's trying to escape, separate them and try again another time.

You'll be amazed at how much they can work out between themselves. They have a lot of body language that I never would have guessed. Try it and you'll learn quick.

Dealing with a skinks that want to kill each other, I have found that using a 24" snake hook is great with separating the skinks. Its just an aluminum rod with a rubber coated hook at the end. So if they bite it, its atleast semisoft.

Its pretty easy to see fight vs breeding behavior. Mine will start huffing/hissing/etc and most will also inflate and tilt their bodies towards each other. Im assuming this is to make themselves look bigger.

Mating behavior typically involves a lot of chasing and the males biting at the sides and tail base of the female.

But besides the snake hook, I also tend to keep a towel near me incase I need to break up a fight.

Fighting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgxTjzE4yOw
Mating/Fighting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AKmfANUEac
Breeding:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVQzjOgIGv8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECGh9Ac9 ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xC9hFEH ... ure=fvwrel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3x_ycPtb_E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPxzhTTQyO4

Wow!
I have a feeling I'm going to be up late watching any BTS mating videos I can get ahold of.
Edit: ML, you are now my hero!!!!!!!!
How exciting!!!! I'm flippin' out! ...but in a good way.
Snake hook, GOOD idea! I was thinking nothing short of welding-gloves and a 10 foot pole would ever be enough to get one off another.

I will definitely think about it.

wow in video 4...that poor skink, so much blood!!

these are fascinating, thanks for the links!
now i know what to expect if any of my guys are male/female.

Here is some more fighting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue7wcR-J ... re=related
The owner of these animals is something else...

That video is just awful Ml I mean, the little one was so desperately trying to get away, yet the owner didnt separate them, just let the bigger one go at it....

The owner of those bts fighting in the video should receive a nice kick in the nuts for making this!

Completely agreed. The video may be educational to us, but trapping two fighting skinks in a tub is akin to dogfighting

Why do they even allow crap like that on YouTube? I did not watch it but think that things like that should be deleted.

Ridge wrote:Why do they even allow crap like that on YouTube? I did not watch it but think that things like that should be deleted.

I would have to disagree on that. I hate that this happened, but I think the fact that other people have the ability to see it could possibly stop others from doing the same thing. A lot of people have the attitude, "Lets do it and see what happens." By being able to see what happens without doing it yourself, it takes away the "unknown" factor.

In addition, putting skinks of unknown gender together is always risky. I think it is good for unknowledgeable people to see what can happen before they decide to give breeding a try.

Just my opinion. I completely respect your opinion as well Ridge.