BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hello all,

My Indonesian BTS just had babies! Very unexpected, must have been a WC or the previous O had her housed with another skink without mentioning it. Anyways, glad I found out this one is a confirmed female and has given birth to 5 healthy young little ones. My big question is, can they stay with the mother? Any other pointers are welcome.

Thanks,
Paul

I've kept babies with the mother for a short period of time (about a week) and did not have any issues, but when it comes to raising them you'll be best off separating them, as the mother can intimidate the babies when it comes to food.

Interestingly, once my holdbacks were a decent size, they quite contentedly cohabitated with their mother (a confirmed jerk of a lizard) with no problems at all, although she would go after non-related females and the male with no hesitation within seconds of being introduced. I have them all separated again now, but for several months last fall they all lived peacefully together.

I'd still say separate them to raise them up. You can make a temporary cage using a big sweater box and a mercury vapor bulb, and just cutting out the middle of the lid so that you can point the light in. I used a Reptarium for my babies (with a soft tray on the bottom to hold substrate), since that can get folded up and put away when not in use.

-Jen

A good method of sexing,id say a probable wild caught,being baby season in southern hemisphere,any chance of some pics

Id at least seperate from the mother,just to be on the safe side,probably also from each other,but knowing me id personally try them as a group,but be prepared to seperate if need be,im not sure on there temprements compared to northerns though,but in saying that i do have a couple of groups of northerns together,but some are by them selves now due to aggression

Always best to err on the side of caution,u dont need to worry bout seperating if they are kept singly

What a fun surprise! Yes, we need pics!

I've heard of babies being killed by parents. A friend found 2 baby Keis running around in the cage and he went to get his camera and when he came back a baby was in the mother's mouth, dead. Get the babies out of the cage and don't even keep the babies together as they usually will start mutilating each others toes after a while.

KL

I put all my babies into separate tanks as soon as I see them. I've had day-old babies, in a tank with hides and constant food, attack each other. Other people have babies together for a month or so without issue, but it's not worth the risk to me.

I had an Eastern give birth 2 years ago. She attacked one of the babies (was missing it's tail) and it had been eaten. There was evidence of others having been born but were missing and only three live babies when I looked in. It is good practice to remove them, the babies can be together for a short while but keep an eye on them and seperate at the first signs of trouble.

pics please!!!