BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hi there, I have been wondering for a while what species of blue tongue skink I have. The pet store I got him at didn't know what he was. He is a captive bred blue tongue skink that I have had for about 8 months. I have always thought that he was an irian jaya, but I think he may be a merauke. Thanks for the help

Could you get a bird-eye's view? Bands look IJ, but Meraukes can have thick bands as well.

ETA: I would be willing to bet that this is a Merauke, just need to see that one stripe down the neck to confirm.

Dakota Nivens wrote:Could you get a bird-eye's view? Bands look IJ, but Meraukes can have thick bands as well.

ETA: I would be willing to bet that this is a Merauke, just need to see that one stripe down the neck to confirm.

Completely agree. The band should decide it. Looks like a thick banded Merauke to me.

Newer form Merauke is my bet. Beautiful animal. Looking forward to more pics

Merauke

if they dont know what it is its a good chance its not captive bred either,looks merauke from what i can see ,nice looking skink

I'll post some more pictures tomorrow. I got him as a baby. The pet store had two baby blue tongue skinks from a breeder, I think they didn't know what kind of skink it was because when I got the skink, the worker there was the one I asked the questions to, the owner of the pet store wasn't there. Thanks for your help

I know of one breeder in Ontario that has been hybridizing/crossing Meraukes and Irian Jayas but his babies were born in March. The captive bred baby blue tongues I've seen here are born between March and July. October- January babies are almost certainly wild-caught. 99% of the Meraukes sold in pet stores here are wild caught.
That looks even "newer" than my "new form" Merauke so I would lean toward it being a cross.

Usually with a cross, the skink has 3 stripes down the neck, with the middle stripe being the most biggest/dominant with thicker bands like this one depending on the IJ. Every skink has it's own pattern.. but if this little dude just has one, I would lean toward it being a full Merauke, just the "thick-banded" locale.

Knowing people now-a-days trying to get money, or just to ignorant to even tell the difference is way to common and I wouldn't doubt it.

Kinda looks like he has three stripes, but the two on the sides are small

Yeah, definitely looks Merauke. Could have a natural intergrade with an Irian Jaya on down his family tree, but that can occur with any skink.. I would just simply call it a Merauke or New Merauke whatever you want to call it. If you decide to breed on down the years, look for another "New Merauke", though. They have the stripe down the neck, but thicker bands.

General rule: Breed with a skink that looks like yours.

My Irian Jaya has bands thinner than your Merauke.. lol. Now that I think about it, my IJ has thinner bands than all my Meraukes, lol .