BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

I've recently suffered a minor bout of physical trauma in my life, and have come to find i am most calm and collected around my close friends and my blue tongue Allos. I've been perfectly fine emotionally since the event due to constantly having a friend, family member, or lizard around. But college is nigh, and i'll be moving away from home. I've never been dramatic, and i dont see myself suffering a breakdown, but i do have mild OCD and being on my own in a new place may trigger strange hooblah, most likely in the form of joint pains (my body takes the blows my emotions refuse to take!). I was curious just how prone to stress blue tongues are. I plan on taking her to college with me, but i dont want to make her upset or sick. What are their limits? Would she be fine in a public location on a warm day? Im moving to a small town in Georgia, and the weather is very pet friendly. I just dont want a couple of walks and public adventures to hurt my little buddy! I can manage without her, but it's one of those "i'll feel safer" situations if i could cling to her until i get settled. Feedback? Thanks!

And my dorm does allow pets

Are you planning on having others pet or interact with her? I have some that would probably do just fine if it was just me, but most of my guys flip out around others.

It is inevitable I like to say that people will want to touch her. She's never had an issue with new people, my friends all adore her! And she's always been a mellow little beast. I just want to be sure that taking her out and about won't make her beg for death. It's hard to tell when a reptile is stressed unless it is crapping on you....

Start slowly. First of course, the lizard needs to settle into it's new home. Then it needs to get used to just leaving the tank with you. Exploring the house. Then short trips outside to quiet areas. Then longer trips or slightly busier areas. Etc. It's up to you to watch your skink and know it's signs of stress. Usually when they're happy they'll just lay around and nap, or wander around checking everything out. If they're stressed they'll try to hide, or they'll start acting just a bit off, etc.

Remember to make all out-of-tank times enjoyable for the skink. Most skinks like exploring, so that's a treat itself. And of course food/snacks are a good way to win a skink over. If everything is positive, and safe, and the skink knows you respect it's limits, you'll both have a fantastic time. Always take a towel or two with you too, and if the skink starts to get freaked put the towel over it and hold it against you. Warm, snug & dark = a happy skink.

Dracorex5 wrote:It is inevitable I like to say that people will want to touch her. She's never had an issue with new people, my friends all adore her! And she's always been a mellow little beast. I just want to be sure that taking her out and about won't make her beg for death. It's hard to tell when a reptile is stressed unless it is crapping on you....

In my opinion, we (humans) are giving our animals to much of human emotions.
In nature they DO have stress, for example when chased by predators..

What will teachers say about it?! I don't think it is a good idea to take animals with you to class.
Why? What's the point?
To you it's a friend, for her it's a usseless journey. They are still reptiles, they don't make friends with humans!
Perhaps I'm to old for this, but it's my right to give opinion..

Teachers would probably say its a class distraction,think you hit the nail on the head there kenn,i totally agree with your comments

Its not in there best interests to be brought to school just so they can hang with you so to speak,it may make, you feel better,but what about the animal,if say at school,u cant just pop ot back in its cage if it wants that,if weather turns,ect ect,plus your stuck having to watch it the whole time,plus having it in crowded situations opens it up to unnessacary risks,it other wise would be exposed to,only takes one small mistake for something awful to happen

Just my thoughts though,its hard to know for sure what goes through there minds,what stresses them ect,so erring on the side of caution never goes astray

I take once or twice an animal to schools for education..but there is a difference between what was asked above and what we do, Lea

Stress in an animal is difficult to define. There are the outward signs such as attempting to hide or defensive aggression to indicate they are not entirely satisfied with their circumstance. However, with animals such as BTS who are more prey than predator they will hide symptoms to disguise what is happening internally, and it is the internal aspect that has the real consequence for healthy longevity. The only real means of knowing if an animal is exposed to significant stress is by establishing levels of cortisol and/or glucose in the blood. Impractical, and even the gathering of samples is likely to induce even more stress. Blueys are not naturally social animals and continual exposure to new people and surroundings would have to be stressful.

I don't plan on bringing her to classes, that's distracting for everyone involved! Mostly just those sunny weekends where I want to be out and about but not alone.... And yes I do have a habit of perceiving natural habits as a sense of emotion. I know how reptile brain anatomy works and understand they aren't capable of certain things, but it doesn't stop me from using what I know to comprehend it. It's an availability heuristic that grows the more I learn about my animals and about science, and so far it's only allowed me to try harder to keep my creatures healthy and content!
I like the idea of slow introduction, and honestly just spending time with her like that may prevent a need to have her clinging to my side in general. I care immensely for my pets, especially my reptiles. I'd be devastated to find I made a mistake and took a few years off her life span. Ownership is a learning experience but I don't like going in uninformed!

I tried a bit of new people intro today. Some friends came over for a Dinosaur Movie Night and I brought her out with her special towel to hide in if she was scared (she gets territorial about that darned towel). She was too busy being curious to be flighty. I feel she has a lot of potential as an exploring and social specimen of her kind. I was more worried about her trying to climb up something she wasn't capable of tackling. And boy was she a hit!

And yes, they aren't the most social of all animals. Their mating behaviors alone express that. But I don't believe they are completely above adaption as long as special care is taken to respect them, their space, and their health. If they just don't like people then heck don't bring people around! I am just curious as to if there are ways to see just what my bluey is willing to handle and what I should make the limit.

I just want to stress that she is not a play thing to me. I knew getting into reptiles that these are solitary, and sometimes "look don't touch" creatures. The bond I've formed with little Allos was an accident but hopefully not a mistake. I don't care if i go into painful shocks when she isnt around, it isnt worth making a creature's life miserable over something I could take some medications for. I'm hoping one day to get over it all in general, or at least find a more suitable animal for the job (a dog is easier to walk a trail with than a lizard after all!). Emotionless or not, I see her as a friend. A scaley, stoney, unaware-of-our-bond friend, and I will respect her needs before my wants.

This is what happens when you're raised in a highly pagan culture! You struggle with the science of animal being even when you know it by heart and can name all the components of the brain stem.