BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

I have been looking into these guys for a while and haven't been able to answer these questions, could you help me?
1. How territorial are they (Can I keep them in pairs or trios)?
2. How arboreal are they? I hear that they are semi-arboreal but a reputable breeder told me that his prefer to burrow.
3. Should the terrarium have more height then length or vice-versa?
4. Can they live in a naturalistic terrarium or would they tear it up.
5. Would a small ficus or pothos be ok?(I heard pothos are toxic though some species are tolerant to some extant sometimes even eating it)
Thanks

This is posted in the wrong forum (for being the person to always call others out you show know better)

ReptileKing wrote:This is posted in the wrong forum (for being the person to always call others out you show know better)

Generally we have had a few people discuss PTS in the general forum. You could put it there if you think it will be a good discussion, if you think it will be more chatty then put it in the Off Topic. If you put it in the General forum you can say that Kat says it ok there!

He asked first, although he should have mentioned in the original post that he had permission. I just figured we always let Kevin Saunders post PTS stuff here and since they are so closely related that PTS topics are ok in here.

Kids, take the chatter to the OT forum!

xxmonitorlizardxx wrote:I have been looking into these guys for a while and haven't been able to answer these questions, could you help me?
1. How territorial are they (Can I keep them in pairs or trios)?
2. How arboreal are they? I hear that they are semi-arboreal but a reputable breeder told me that his prefer to burrow.
3. Should the terrarium have more height then length or vice-versa?
4. Can they live in a naturalistic terrarium or would they tear it up.
5. Would a small ficus or pothos be ok?(I heard pothos are toxic though some species are tolerant to some extant sometimes even eating it)
Thanks

1) They are generally great in groups, but should be introduced as babies. Adults are not as accepting.
2) Semi-arboreal is correct. They'll spent most of the time anywhere they can hide, but are also capable climbers.
3) They need floorspace, not much height. They are only semi-arboreal.
4) They's probably be fine with a natural terrarium. They're not as destructive as BTS. Also, smaller.
5) The plants would probably be okay, but not if eaten. MTS eat pothos, but to most animals it's deadly.

They love planted enclosures,they like it humid compared to aussie blueys,they are rainforest wet forest inhabiting so like it a little cooler than tiliqua,a big temp gradient is good so they can escape the heat.

They are ok climbers, though not as good as true arboreal animals i think floor space is more important and more horizontal climbing options,they can get feisty, even when raised as a juvie group,though others get on fine,so seperation and group establishment needs to be considered

Food wise they love snails and slugs,some dont want any thing else,so may need coaxing onto other foods if snails ect are hard to aquire

They are also crepuscular,most often seen when suns going down,so if hiding all day dont stress,lol, though they will bask and be active during the day to

I agree with most/all of what the others although they do climb very well and I go for more height in their terrarium:







Mark.

love your set up for them mark,great display animals

that is one spoiled PTS!

Richard.C wrote:love your set up for them mark,great display animals

Thanks Richard - they do make a cool display. One of my females is birthing as we speak, around 12 or 15 babies so far...

Mark.

KellyandLindsey wrote:that is one spoiled PTS!

Cheers!
Mark.

mark_w wrote:

Richard.C wrote:love your set up for them mark,great display animals

Thanks Richard - they do make a cool display. One of my females is birthing as we speak, around 12 or 15 babies so far...

Mark.

What are your plans for them Mark ? Are you expecting anything else this year too?

PTS are native to where I live but rarely seen outside natural bush areas. The elongated toes are common amongst those species that climb rocky areas with narrow crevices.

A pic taken by a rock-climbing friend.

that is awesome thanks for posting pictures

Love that pic norm,lovely patterned one and great shot of a wild southern one in the wild

El Lobo wrote:PTS are native to where I live but rarely seen outside natural bush areas. The elongated toes are common amongst those species that climb rocky areas with narrow crevices.

A pic taken by a rock-climbing friend.

Marco 006-1R.jpg

Now that is a fantastic picture of a fantastic skink. I love the dark banded NSW animals. Are they often found on rock faces like that?

Mark.

iLoveMyLizard wrote:

mark_w wrote:

Richard.C wrote:love your set up for them mark,great display animals

Thanks Richard - they do make a cool display. One of my females is birthing as we speak, around 12 or 15 babies so far...

Mark.

What are your plans for them Mark ? Are you expecting anything else this year too?

I am planning to sell most, but to swap a few for some unrelated animals to maybe start a second group. I have Australian tree skinks, Cunningham's as well so far...

I really like the look of the cunninghams, as i do these, what are they like to keep?

They are common in high rainfall coastal locations as well such as Port Macquarie in NSW I've encountered them in groups, hanging out literally in dense low bushes, making them impossible to catch :-)

mark_w wrote:Now that is a fantastic picture of a fantastic skink. I love the dark banded NSW animals. Are they often found on rock faces like that?

Mark.

The picture is a bit deceptive. What looks to be a high cliff was actually only about a meter above a walking track.

As per what Scott said, PTS are more likely to be found closer to sea level than the one in the picture which was about 900 meters. It has generally been accepted their range in the Blue Mountains to be below this level, mostly below 700 meters, but this specimen and another of which I am aware have been found at around the 800-900 meters mark; one in temperate rainforest and the pictured one in drier open eucalypt forest, but both rocky terrains. From above 700 meters the only sub-species encountered in this area are Highland Blotchies.