When do blue tongues become adults

[Thorian]

Hi all!

Just some quick questions.

When do northen blue tongue skinks not grow in size any more? Do they only grow the first year?
When do they become sexual mature? I read somewhere that they become sexually mature after two -three years, but I don't know if it's true.

[donkeybuff]

If you feed them fast enough and do not cool them in winter, you could have an almost adult sized Northern within a year. Keep in mind that they grow their whole lives, but if they are fed enough in their first year, they will do almost all of their growing in that time period. Males usually become sexually mature a little bit before 1 year, so some people breed them in their first season if they are large enough. Females also become mature around this time, but I personally wouldn't breed them until their second season just because reproduction is much more draining on the females.

[Thorian]

Thanks for your answer. Very appreciated!

[Fatal_S]

One of my northerns was originally owned by another lady. She offered the skink 3 home-cooked meals every day. The skink hit full size within 6 months. The downside was that the skink became extremely aggressive (I think the cause was too much energy plus being bothered multiple times every day). Her owner decided to give her up to me. I switched her to weekly meals, and never once had any aggressive/defensive issues. She's probably my sweetest skink - one I can hand off to anyone

I personally try to grow my skinks up over about 2 years. The first year they just get longer and longer (you can basically let them eat as much as they want during this time), and then the second year they really bulk up and look like adult skinks (this is when you have to watch that they're not getting too fat). So I grow mine slowly. Most of the people who buy from me though tend to get them to adult size within 1-1.5 years.