BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Ok guys dump more photos. :-)

This is a male Alpine Bloched from a batch of babies last year. I'm hoping I might get it to breed next year.

It can look reddish, pink or orange depending on a number of factors, the reddish colour extends from it's face to the tip of the tail. Very unique. Hard to see in the photos though.

Hes a ripper scott,even orange on his noggin

He's gorgeous! I love that coloring.

Chunky boy Very beautiful! I just love these guys.

Definitely a keeper that one Scott. Really beautiful.

Scott,a question on these guys if i may

When your females go into blue,week leading up to a shed or there abouts do they go extremely pale,almost white blotched in appearence,ive noticed it with my male vic alpines,but hadnt seen it before in this form,the 3 older ones i got from you i never saw that kind of paling,may have missed it though,but the babies never did it either until this shed cycle,all of the youngens have done it,the females suprisingly have been paler though

Perhaps ive just been more observant this year?

Great. Thanks a lot Scott.
That's the most gorgeous Alpine Blotch I've ever seen. He will haunt my dreams now.
I'd really appreciate if you'd come up with a name for him, so I can call the object of my fervent affections something other than "Scott's Blotchie".

...you've posted picks of him before, right, when he was smaller? I swear I recognize him...

Now I yearn!

He has developed very nicely! To me, it looks like it's not just his orange that is unusual, it also seems that the white/yellow extends higher up the sides of his body than normal, and that his face/head is lighter.

Wow- love that Salmon color- Gorgeous

Nice! Do you have any idea how much he weighs at 1 year? Interested in comparing to my almost-yearling, who's growing steadily but rather slowly...

Here's a few pictures of 2013 offspring.

Scott, I love the colors on that Blotched. That is one of the best I've ever seen. How do you guys capture the colors so well. My camera just tints everything yellow and makes the orange seem faded.

KL

kl wrote:Here's a few pictures of 2013 offspring.

KL

Same question as above KL...weights?

Weights? I have never weighed a lizard. All I can tell you as these were born the last week of June and are approximately 14 inches. They are a bit thinner than usual as I did not feed them as much as usual over the Winter even though they were not being bromated.

KL

Interesting. I weigh all my skinks at least twice per month and usually even more frequently. Since their lengths never go down but weigh fluctuates both up and down I find it the best way to monitor their general health. I actually do this with my other reptiles as well. Guess I'm an outlier on this...

By the way, some great looking blotchies in this thread!

Hi all, I haven't weighed the one in the photo - guess about 300g as it is only a sub adult. My mature males are about 500g. 400g is pretty much their minimum reproductive weight but I have a smaller one who has fathered a lot of babies but is very aggressive.

The females are a bit all over the place in relation to shedding prior to birth. I have a few that shed only a couple of weeks ago but are now pale again prior to giving birth, so a real mixed bag.

I'll post some more photos.

Scotts1au wrote:guess about 300g as it is only a sub adult. My mature males are about 500g. 400g is pretty much their minimum reproductive weight but I have a smaller one who has fathered a lot of babies

Really helpful info Scott - just what I'm looking for. Thanks!

They are looking good Richard. Kim those look great too.

I have terrible difficulty trying to get good photos of them. I find that if I wash them for a photo - they come out shiny and you don't see the colours. If too strong light the colours look washed out in photos but not in real life. If in the dark the you can't see the face or other characteristics which set Alpines apart.

Yeh Jeff, these ones are a mixed bag. I have a couple of females with dark heads and more dark patterning on the body but I don't think I've ever struck the perfect mix of colours with those individuals. I have found that the colours - particularly reds in my ones come out better in lighter background ones.

My lot are very variable with good genetic diversity so the babies are also very variable and robust.

This is the pictured lizard's mother called Liz. She looks orange in this photo but she is very pink. aargh.

Note the other one behind in milky phase, also the young female bottom left will probably be going to live with Richard. She actually has beautiful subtle red tones that don't come through well in digital photos.

Ahh,thats the milkyness im seeing,i must just be more observant this season,it is hard to get there true colors in a pic,the one in my last pic,cant remember who u said her parents were scott but shes also quite pink,phone camera makes her look orange still,they do go from orange to red to pink though

Definatly pics never do them justice

Ive not had one before that has retained those colours as an adult like this one. Have had plenty of babies that have had red tones, even very red heads at birth but tend to loose it after a few months.