BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hello! I recently got a BTS off of Craigslist for $60 (plus 40 gallon breeder and supplies). I was told that it is a James W. female Northern, but haven't confirmed yet (If you're reading this James W., hatchling name was Boomerang). The skink is thus far great. She hissed at my cats for a bit and then ignored them. She explored my car while I was talking with my neighbor kids, who absolutely love her.

At any rate, when I picked her up from her previous owners, I saw she was healthy and bright eyed. She was active, but calm. I did notice after many tongue flicking that some bubbly foam appeared at the corner of her mouth. Should I be worried about this? I'm not sure how noisy BTS are, but I think I read they do make some noises. There is no bubbling from the nose at this point. I'm thinking URI if anything at all. I'm not eager to pay for a vet at this moment unless it is needed as my vet is a good 45 minutes from me. I will if I have to though.

Second question is, when I brought her into the local reptile shop hoping for insight on gender and the previous concern, another customer asked if I was interested in possibly breeding her. He stated that Northerns are hard to find. Is this true in general in the US? If so, would you breed her? This is assuming she is in face a she and is healthy.


Thank you for your time. I'll be taking photos here shortly and posting them. I've had her two and a half days thus far.

boomerang sounds like a james name,but you would need confirmation from james,im not 100 percent he names babies

the bubbling u see,if just looks like a bit of spit is actually normalish,some do it more than others,if it was a ri u would likely have watery bubbly eyes and nostrils and other symptoms to,open mouth breathing,raspy sounding breathing ect ect

northerns are the most consistantly bred bluetongue in your neck of the woods,whilst not as common as bearded dragons,crested geckoes ect ect,i wouldnt say they are uncommon

pop up some pics when u get a chance,would love to see it,sounds like you picked up a bargain

Wow, that really is a bargain. Glad she is looking healthy. I very recently (as in yesterday lol) received my James Wilson baby skink; he had been referring to the babies by order of birth (mine being #23, I named "him" Marley though I can't tell the gender, he is only 2 wks old). As far as I know he only names skinks if they are holdbacks for himself/potential future breeding. I'm sure he will be around to answer though, PM him if you can.

Pictures of Boomerang would be awesome regardless =]

Thanks! Here are some photos. I didn't get the bubbling photos yet, but perhaps it is just normal. Please ignore the unmade bed in these photos and any mess. I just moved and am still unpacking (and I hate bed making. Lol).

So do you think she looks healthy?

Looks very healthy! Gorgeous, too!

she looks healthy to me and definitely looks great!

Thanks. She's been a bit grumpy and hissing at me. I think I'm doing something wrong according to her. Hopefully we'll figure it out in the next day or two.

you're welcome I think it's a normal skink behavior. if i were you i will let her settle down and adjust to the new environment. anyway, congrats on your new "Boomerang"

Thanks! I think I'll keep the name Boomerang if that's the name the breeder gave her. Otherwise, I'll either go with Squeak or Grunt (if it turns out to be a boy). I've wanted a BTS ever since my first reptile show back in 2009. I still can't believe I actually have one. Lol

It is an addiction.

Leave before it starts feeding off of you.

Lol! I also picked up two frogs recently. I've been bitten by the reptile/amphibian bug.

After taking a look at my old photos, I can confirm that is definitely Boomerang. Boomerang looks great and healthy. He/she was born on 6-26-2011. I choose the name Boomerang because that baby (originally baby G) was my holdback that year. Here is a link to a thread I posted on him with some photos viewtopic.php?f=4&t=18408&hilit=boomerang, and here is another thread with photos of one of his siblings Named Cloud (formerly Baby F) from the same litter: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=18974&hilit=boomerang. In addition, I have posted photos of Boomerang's parents, along with a couple baby photos of Boomerang here as well. I hope this helps.

The Mother (Sheila) is from James Fenn. She has a nice clean pattern with Salmon colored blotches. Her colors can be seen all the way down in to the rings on her short fat tail. Here she is:



The father (Whitey) is an Andrew Seike animal. He is a silvery looking Northern that looks almost anerytheristic or axanthic in comparison to the brightly colored Sheila.



Here is Boomerang as a baby:

Wow! Thanks Mr. Wilson! She/he was an adorable baby!

I did try candling with my iphone's light. I didn't see any sign of male parts, but I also couldn't get light to shine through the thickest part of the tail. I think I'll stick with the name you gave as it seems to fit.