BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

The outdoor housing photos from the caresheet can't be viewed anymore. Does anyone have photos of their outdoor skink housing?

We have been having some hot, dry summers here and I would like to put my skinks out when the weather is appropriate. I am interested in size, layout and what escape-proofing and predator-proofing people have done.

Thanks!

Hi there, one of my favourite (Australian spelling) subjects.

You will find on here photos I've posted previously of my old enclosures by doing a search. Here are a few of my recent addition since I moved house.

You may not want to build something like this but I believe there are few considerations that may be of use.

The basic elements are:
-A barrier which the blueys cannot climb. Generally something 18 inches or so is adequate, preferably 2ft but the higher the more light will be blocked out. Lower barriers will also aid air movement/ventilation and prevent overheating in hot weather.
-A sunny position that gets at least 6 hours sun a day in the warmer parts of the year.
-The ability of the blueys to have soil contact as a means of helping them to regulate their temperatures.
-Adequate vegetation- this helps to provide shade and security for the blueys, also localised humidity levels which helps in shedding.
-A combination of rocks and hollow logs which they can move around, get under, or inside of.
-Generally barriers need to be dug in at least 10 cm or 4 inches or so and back filled around the trench with crushed stone or a couse concrete mix to stop them digging under (generally compacted stones are adequate, particularly if filled over the top with clay.
- Bird netting or similar (such as shade cloth over the top) - note that shade cloth provides shade so use strategically. ~
- Something to provide shade, including a blind that can be put over the enclosure.
- Dog or other animal proof wire that can be integrated into the design, see from my photos.
- A lockable door.
- A mounded area for the blueys to sleep under objects such as logs, or other waterproof barrier (above where it is likely to flood).

Notes-
-pay attention to aspect (where is placed relative the the travel of the sun) during the warmer part of the year.
-consider planting edible plants such as strawberries, dandelions, aus native plants such as ruby saltbush.
-have a designated feeding area with overhanging wood or other feature nearbye that will make the blueys feel secure - make this near the door to make it easy to access.
- have designated pavers etc in the enclosure to prevent stepping on the blueys.
-Make the enclosure high enough so you can walk in it comfortably. If you don't then you wont go in there and maintenance will suffer.

Note that this has only been there since about Sept last year so the plants are only new. I need to improve where they brumate, there are a lot of small edible native plants in there which ironically are now fruiting, just when the blueys are brumating. Anyway, they will be fruiting again in spring/early summer should all should be good.






This is what they are being protected from :-)

You might find this of use. It is a video I took a few years ago describing an enclosure that I built.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA-HTQZA ... e=youtu.be

One of my favorite outdoor enclosures:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=9374&hilit=turtle+pellets

Very few people use outside enclosures outside of Australia though.

love your new and old cages scott,did i spot an easterns head in that video?

outdoors is great if u can do it,but you have less control over conditions,and as u see in scotts pics and video,you have to offer lots of options for trying to cater to there needs,as well as containing the lizards,theu can escape if you skimp on things,plus you have to try preventing something getting in

its easier if your climate is similar to where they occur in nature,but there are alot of options to if your climates different,options help cater to that

I think there could be a lot of scope for people in the Northern Hemisphere to keep - particularly temperate species outdoors for much of their warmer parts of the year. Within the bounds of common sense. I suppose that I was hoping that a some of stuff that I wrote above might stimulate thinking on the issue and help folks adapt their own setups to their particular environment. I understand that there are reasons like "fireflies" and racoons etc that complicate things - so it is really a matter of "horses for courses" in constructing for what risks you might face. Also someone who I used to correspond with in Arkansas used to tell me about their ridiculous climate extremes with temperature swings of more than 30C in a 24 hour period which are hard to comprehend for most of us Southern Hemisphere folks. But as I understand it, you can normally know when this sort of weather is coming.

Wow, that is the most horrific predator I have ever seen