BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hi!
So just a little update on Juno. I know that I only got her a few weeks ago, but I feel like updating you guys on her anyways
Overall, she is eating well, although sometimes she only eats a couple of bites, but I know that that's normal because she is still adjusting. She drinks her water (I am assuming, I have only seen her do it two or three times) The thing is, I have never seen her bask before. Her basking rock is raised off of the ground, so I'm not sure if it is because she can't find it (I know, she probably can but I still worry) or because she simply doesn't want to. There is a bit of a heat wave here, so her temperatures are a bit warmer so maybe she doesn't need too? I have a flat basking rock and am planning to replace the one that she has now, but I want to give her a little while longer before I disturb her by messing with her home.

She is adjusting quite well, but really hates it if she is all snuggled in her aspen and I disturb her She doesn't really huff much, some days are better than others; sometimes she huffs and opens her mouth when I try to take her out of her tank, others she doesn't make any noise at all.
She has pooped twice since I have had her (got her on July 24th), both times while I had her out Her second one looked a little bit green (I know I know, gross, sorry). Is that something to worry about? As far as I'm aware, she has only peed twice! I don't know if maybe she is peeing and I can't tell (I check her aspen) or if she just isn't...any thoughts?

She has explored her tank a couple of times, but mostly she just stays under her hide, but again, I know that she is still getting used to her new home.
The reason that I tell you all of the gruesome details about her bowel movements is so that you experianced skink owners can tell me if something is tottaly not normal, or something to worry about.
Anyways, I absolutely adore having her, she is so cute and really sweet (most of the time)
Lastly, the moment you have all been waiting for...PHOTOS

The green poop is a sign of serious illness. I mean deadly, fatal illness. Send her to me immediately for treatment!



She's stunning and seems to be in fantastic health. Her face is to die for <3 Don't worry about the food intake (their stomachs are only so big) or the weird poops (unless it happens time after time). Skink pee is just excess water, the urate (bad stuff we pee out) is the white stuff that usually comes when they poop. Really, it sounds like she's doing everything a skink should be doing

If you're not going to send her my way, more pics please?

She is such a little cutie!

Oh my! What lovely colouring! She looks like a delicious caramel coated candy bar!
If you don't mind the question, where did you get that huge cave/hide? It looks like a good size! Bigger than anything I have seen in my local pet stores anyways.

She looks great, and I'm glad she is doing so well. I can't help but notice her short fat tail! Northern tails have become a topic of interest for me lately. They seem to vary greatly as far as length and thickness goes. Yours seems to be on the extreme short & thick end of the spectrum (my favorite). I am pretty sure that this is a genetic trait, but I would love to see pictures of the parents, and I don't remember if you said who they are.

The obvious theory would be that northerns with short, fat tails are more likely to be from the eastern part of their range, closest to the natural range of the easterns which have much shorter tails than the average northern. I have no real ability or hope of proving that, but I like to compare tails anyway. It may at least be possible to determine if tail length/girth is truly genetic.

Haha-Thanks Fatal, I will get pics up ASAP. Her little face is pretty cute I got her big hide from PetSmart. It was on sale for $18. I really like it, and it is also her basking spot.
That is a very interesting theory Jeff. Her tail is stubby, and it's cool how the colour stays bright/consistant all the way to the end. She is from Pink. T Monkey, and her parents are Annie, and I am not positive of the name of the male.
Thanks guys, she does have very light colouring. Anyone have any thoughs on her not basking?

bella3 wrote:...Jeff. Her tail is stubby, and it's cool how the colour stays bright/consistant all the way to the end. She is from Pink. T Monkey, and her parents are Annie, and I am not positive of the name of the male...

Dang! I was hoping that the parents would be skinks we could see pictuures of! Pink.T NEVER posts pictures. I know that he produces really nice northerns though, so your skink's tail will change a lot as it grows. The color will likely disappear, and the banding will turn into a fuzzy speckled pattern that looks completely different from the rest of the body. That's what happens to all pure northerns. The end result looks even cooler than the baby tail in my opinion.

The last photo made me want to jump into the screen and hug your bluey!! So beautiful

AnnaMonroe wrote:The last photo made me want to jump into the screen and hug your bluey!! So beautiful

Same feeling over here.

Jeff wrote:The color will likely disappear, and the banding will turn into a fuzzy speckled pattern that looks completely different from the rest of the body. That's what happens to all pure northerns. The end result looks even cooler than the baby tail in my opinion.

That's really cool! I'm excited too see that.

Thanks again guys, she really is a cutie

;__; i wanna hug her too.

great photos, and first and foremost thats a very cool northern.

She's SO beautiful... I love how light brown she is uniformly. Just goes to show a skink doesn't need to be high contrast to be beautiful!

Don't worry too much about the basking issue. As long as you provide a basking spot for her, she will use it if/when she needs it. In the warm summer months it is quite common that they don't bask.
CUTE little pudger you have there!

Thanks Susann, that's kind of what I figured

Omigosh, she is sooo adorable. I love that last photo of her chubby self. <3

Thanks. I think she may be going into a shed because her colours were duller, now they are super bright again.

Jeff wrote:

bella3 wrote:...Jeff. Her tail is stubby, and it's cool how the colour stays bright/consistant all the way to the end. She is from Pink. T Monkey, and her parents are Annie, and I am not positive of the name of the male...

Dang! I was hoping that the parents would be skinks we could see pictuures of! Pink.T NEVER posts pictures. I know that he produces really nice northerns though, so your skink's tail will change a lot as it grows. The color will likely disappear, and the banding will turn into a fuzzy speckled pattern that looks completely different from the rest of the body. That's what happens to all pure northerns. The end result looks even cooler than the baby tail in my opinion.

Good work Jeff!!! Hey I posted some a couple months ago :-)

Here are Juno's parents

the parents are very nice looking northerns,really love the lass,but males striking to,be great to see how juno develops,should improve with age,looks great already

The odd colored poop could be from parasites. Worth a fecal if you havent done it already.