New here, interested in blue tongues

[Boosh96]

Hey, my name's Brett and I'm 16. Lately I've been in the market for a new lizard and I've stumbled upon blue tongued skinks as an option. What all can you tell me about their personalities and stuff like that? Or maybe the long-term costs of keeping one? I've been reading care sheets and stuff like that about Blueys and they seem like they're a ton of fun to keep. I'd like to know all that I can before I get any new animal, and these lizards are no exception. I should probably point out that i know absolutely nothing about locales and stuff like that. Thanks, and feel free to provide any questions or comments!

[Dakota]

Blue-Tongued Skink personality varies. You can get some that are skittish, some that like to just sit around watching the world, and some that like to explore!

Long term cost, not counting the the cage and the skink itself would probably be around maybe around $20 a month? Maybe even lower, that is just what I can think up of off my head.

Post pictures, and we can most likely easily ID the little dude.

Maybe reading and looking at this: http://bluetongueskinks.net/ to learn, it has really taught me much of what I know today.

[Laurenk]

Welcome to our friendly little community! Most Blueys can be somewhat easily tamed, I mean, it's taken me about 2 weeks, and Cocoa's almost coming out voluntarily! Some may take longer, some may be quickly tamed, it depends on the BTS's individual personality. Also, I'm so jealous about the Rottie!

[Boosh96]

So, are all blue tongues as smart as the care sheet says they can be? How would you compare their intelligence to, say, a monitor lizard?

[ljhinders]

welcome

[Linnea]

id say its different from lizard to lizard, and they handle every situation according to their own will.
for being lizards, doing what lizards need to do, they are smart. but that doesnt mean they cant do really stupid things seen from a human perspective.

[UroFreak13]

My advice is to make sure you get a captive breed , it eliminates most of te possible parasites pr other problems. Also personalities tend to better personality but it depends.
I was in the same situation, i was on the market for something new and a light bulb turned on hey a blue tongue. But i sordof rushed in and got the first healthy one i saw, even though i love my wild cought indo i wish i got a baby captive

[StaceyLeigh]

I hope you don't mind, but I am going to get on my Parent soap box just a min. and say first since you are a kid make sure your parents are on board first, you may need help with Vet bills, getting to the Vet, expenses in general. That said Blueys are awesome pets! We got our first for our son's 11th Birthday 2 years ago, we now have 3 and I love them as much as he does I would absolutely recommend captive bred & born. When my son was first looking we almost got a wild-caught from a pet store, but thankfully we found this site, did our research and found a great breeder on this site. This forum is a wealth of information, learn as much as you can, that is why it is here! Speaking of reseach, I made my son do a small research paper on BTS before he could get his, I will share it here for you. https://sites.google.com/site/ourblueto ... ink-report
I thought it was pretty good for an 11 year old Take your time with the decision, these guys live 20+ yrs, you will have your bluey a long time, learn to care for it first!

[UroFreak13]

Good paper, nice to see a parent as interested as their child

[Katrina]

So, are all blue tongues as smart as the care sheet says they can be? How would you compare their intelligence to, say, a monitor lizard?

Welcome! They aren't as intelligent as varanids, I'd describe them as curious. It varies of course, but I would think the caresheet describes the extreme.