Mucus?

[DianaBlueTongue]

Okay, so I watched Burrito, my adult northern, poo out this today. This is exactly the way it came out and was the only one. The last two "sperm plugs" looked exactly like this before I stretched them out to take a picture and was told they were sperm plugs but I watched my other northern, which is most definitely a male, poo out sperm plugs yesterday and they look nothing like any of the supposed sperm plugs that Burrito has passed. Any ideas what this is? The first two pics are the first two times I've seen this and the third is the one from today. All three are from within the last 30 days. I had to "unroll" the first two to get them to look like that, did it because I assumed they were sperm plugs and wanted to get a good pic of them, but I left the third exactly the way I left it and that's the way all three were dropped. The last pic is the true sperm plug my other male northern dropped yesterday. Are these sperm plugs Burrito is dropping or something else?

[Linnea]

Burrito is most definitely male. First two pics and the last one are all really ordinary sperm plugs.
the one on the black background looks......different though. i have no idea what it is, apart from a very strange urate with a.......is that plastic metallic paper?........but i hope someone else can guess. something about it looks....off.

[DianaBlueTongue]

Okay...the first two looked exactly like the third when they came out. I had to physically roll them out and remove the urates attached because I thought at the time they were sperm plugs. The LAST picture is from my other northern, Aggie, who is definitely a male. I posted the last to show the difference between the two skinks. I've had two separate males try to breed, not fight, Burrito and have been told that he is probably a she now.

[DianaBlueTongue]

I watched all 4 of these things get pushed out by my two skinks. The definite sperm plug in the last pic I saw the tips of both hemipenes come out as the plug was expelled. With Burrito, nothing of the sort ever presented itself with any of the first three pics

[Linnea]

Have you successfully locked Burrito with one of your males?
if so, it would explain why they are expelled this way. It would also mean you let them lock with Burrito. Burrito could still be male, until you see skink babies.

if not, burrito is 100% male. 1,2,4 are definitely sperm plugs. and by definite i mean super definite, indefinitely.

[DianaBlueTongue]

Okay...I keep trying to say that pic 4 is a DIFFERENT blue tongue. A definite male. Only 1,2,and 3 came from burrito and all came out clear, single, in a ball and attached to a small urate. The shape of 1 and 2 was NOT anything like the pic, I stretched them out because I thought they were sperm plugs but 1 and 2 looked EXACTLY like pic three. The first one wasn't white like it looks and neither 1 or 2 really had that "tail" looking part. That was my fault. 1 and 2 looked EXACTLY like 3. Number 4 is a DIFFERENT animal. This is why I'm questioning it. I've been told they look like empty belly poops or maybe mucus being expelled because something upset burritos stomach.

[donkeybuff]

Well whatever #3 is, if it is what #1 and #2 were before you stretched them out, #3 is definitely something with sperm/plugs in it! I've never seen a sperm plug come out like that from my confirmed male, all of them have looked normal like from the skink who produced #4. So you saw these come out from the cloaca and not the hemipenes? When was the last time Burrito locked with a male (if he/she has ever)?

[DianaBlueTongue]

I saw all three come out of the cloaca and absolutely nothing resembling a hemipene peeked out with them. When my other male pushed out pic 4 I definitely saw the tips of the hemipene come out as the sperm plug was expelled and the whole act looked completely different but nothing of the sort came out of burrito. It was out of the cloaca. He/she hasn't eaten yet since coming out of his/her own cycle but twice and I was told that all three could be empty belly poos. He/she did lock with my male northern 2 days ago (new male was supposed to be a female and thought burrito was a male) but pics one and two were prior to that.

[DianaBlueTongue]

And during they're encounter Burrito acted as a female

[donkeybuff]

Well, I'd say that the sperm is not Burrito's then. I don't know what it means about Burrito's gender because the sperm was rejected, and I don't even know how, if, or why sperm rejection happens in BTS. What you saw for #4 is normal, and I don't think a skink's own sperm could come out any way except through eversion.

[BlueTonguesOfSA]

We could sit here and speculate all day, personally I don't mind staring at skink sperm all day, but we're really searching for results and it doesn't seem that plugs are going to deliver that. So, i would say monitor as many evacuations as possible and wait 'til the end for that final push when the hemi's are usually everted. Plugs are just too subjective and often misinterpreted.

[Richard.C]

I can only see 1 set of sperm plugs,pic number 4

[DianaBlueTongue]

Yikeys these guys are hard to sex! lol. Even sperm plugs can't give a definite answer! Ya'll can understand my frustration with this. S'ppose I should mention though that in 17 years I've never seen even a hint of a hemipene, shouldn't I have seen SOMETHING by now? Granted I've always called Burrito a boy ever since a few weeks old when I got him, I can't even remember why at this point, but lately has really been acting a LOT like a girl. S'ppose I'll just keep an eye and keep snappin pictures. Thanks guys!

[DianaBlueTongue]

We could sit here and speculate all day, personally I don't mind staring at skink sperm all day

lmao, whenever my husband walks by the computer and there's a pic of the plugs up he just smiles, puts his head down, and walks away...lol.

Love the live web cam by the way!!!!

[StaceyLeigh]

I am still voting female for Burrito. I think the sperm plugs that came out of her were from the male that mated her, as I have never seen sperm plugs come out of my guys rolled up. I also do think you would have seen a hemipenes or sperm plugs sometime in 17 years, you are obviously very observant of your animals!

[DianaBlueTongue]

This is the newest one from today. Again saw it come out and no sign of hemipenes. It's hard to make out but where you see wet is where the clear jelly-like stuff is just like the others and again it just a little blob.

[Jeff]

I am not an expert on skink sperm, but I have seen hundreds of sperm plugs in person, and witnessed literally hundreds of hours of skink sex. I really don't think males inject sperm "plugs" into females. I may be wrong, but my take is that when sperm is being produced by a male, and it doesn't have the opportunity to leave his body for awhile, the sperm closest to the outside kind of turns to a gel. At that point the male can't get the good fresh sperm out until after he expells the "plug". They shoot these plugs anytime and anywhere during breeding season so that they are ready to breed when they have the opportunity. They DON'T hold them until they lock up with the female. They get rid of them before mating in order to allow the fresh new sperm enter the female. The fact that they will sometimes drop sperm plugs 10 minutes before breeding supports this theory.

The point is, I don't think a sperm plug could come out of a female after being put there by a male. Also, I really don't think most of the things pictured are sperm plugs. After seeing a couple in person, there has never been any doubt in my mind about whether something is or isn't. In person it is VERY easy to tell if you are looking at a seminal plug or not.

[Richard.C]

Thats my exact thinking to jeff,males tend to get rid of plugs before mating,not pop them into females,ive had quite a few males not super keen suddenly drop plugs then get right in the mood,like theu know they have to clear plug first,other males just keep dropping plugs galore

I see this behaviour in northerns,easterns,blotchies,westerns and stumpies,once i start seeing plugs its usually not long before they start mating, middle of mating cycle is when they drop the most then it tapers off again when interest wanes