BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

This is my first thread on this forum. I hope to learn a bit more about these guys from you skinky people. I was asked to share my pictures of my skink enclosure here from my friend, Melanie (Fatal-S). This is one of her babies, and we adore her/him.

It's a 4x2x2 Melamine enclosure that I got off a friend which was pretty much just a wooden box for a python. I had alot of work to do on it before it was skink ready but I think it turned out pretty nice so far. I added vents because it didn't have anything for ventilation at all. I also had to wire it up for a heat bulb.

Any other suggestions?









Here's some pictures after the build... I have nothing from before but it was pretty gross. I'm surprised I got it clean.

How could I forget? This is our skink. Fyre.

Again, I love the setup. So much stuff to climb on, under, and around. She's going to have so much fun living with you!

Looks great,shes gunna love that,lots of options in there

Nice looking northern to

snakeyez wrote: you stinky people

Nice setup!

Niels D wrote:

snakeyez wrote: you stinky people

Nice setup!

Supposed to say skinky... I uploaded these pictures from my tablet and it's go that stupid auto-correct lol.

Thanks for the compliments.

Awesome setup and beautiful baby! Best of luck with your new little guy.

Welcome to the forums! What a pretty little baby, looks almost golden

snakeyez wrote:

Supposed to say skinky...
Thanks for the compliments.

Stinky, skinky... in my case you're right either way. Went for a beer yesterday and I haven't taken a shower yet...

Looks like a skink playground in there! Beautiful skink too. Love the zipper stripes down the back.

Thanks everyone. I like to provide natural enclosures for all my critters where I can. I'll be working on a bunch of my asian ratsnake enclosures as well soon. Recently built an indoor pond for our turtle too.

Pictures please!

Melanie has been producing some awesome babies, congrats on getting one. You won't be disappointed! I agree with Mel, your setup is FANTASTIC. Perfect for a baby- with all of that stuff to climb around on and hide under.

Alioop wrote:Melanie has been producing some awesome babies, congrats on getting one. You won't be disappointed! I agree with Mel, your setup is FANTASTIC. Perfect for a baby- with all of that stuff to climb around on and hide under.

Thanks. As the little guy gets bigger I'll remove some of the smaller hiding places and add some bigger peices of wood to bask on and such. Would these dimensions be suitable for an adult? From the research I have done, yes. Any thoughts?

snakeyez wrote:Thanks. As the little guy gets bigger I'll remove some of the smaller hiding places and add some bigger peices of wood to bask on and such. Would these dimensions be suitable for an adult? From the research I have done, yes. Any thoughts?

It'll be great for a BTS as an adult. Minimum cage size is about 3x1.5x1.5, so you're doing even better.

I'm curious as to how you guys manage to use Melamine without it bowing, rotting, or otherwise becoming quickly uninhabitable for reptiles. From what I know, this material soaks up water, and is very weak, not really suitable for long-term caging. Did you use some kind of a coating, or maybe a plastic kind?

Cage set up looks great!

tylociraptor wrote:I'm curious as to how you guys manage to use Melamine without it bowing, rotting, or otherwise becoming quickly uninhabitable for reptiles. From what I know, this material soaks up water, and is very weak, not really suitable for long-term caging. Did you use some kind of a coating, or maybe a plastic kind?

This melamine is 3/4" thick and it's built quite strong. My enclosure is quite dry and shouldn't swell all that much. If it does, I will line it with lenolium or something like a shelf liner to keep the moisture on one side. That's what I did for my tortoise enclosure. There used to a large JCP in this enclosure that was kept alot more humid for 5+ years and it only bubbled a little bit which you can barely notice, which isn't that bad. All the corners are sealed with silicone as well.

When and if that time comes I can make some slight alterations.