BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hey everybody, this is my first post here so I apologize if I managed to mess anything up.

I just got my first Blue Tongue Skink yesterday after several months of prep and research. With that being said, actually owning one is a lot different than just reading about them. Everything is going great so far except for the fact that I can't seem to identify what type of BTS I have. I know it's an Indonesian species, captive bred and born in 2014 but that's about all I can figure out.

He's roughly 12 inches long. Pretty calm, a little bit of hissing at first but he got over it pretty quickly. It can be a bit hard to see but his legs aren't solid black - It's easier to see in the first and third pictures. The lines on his tail are clearly defined throughout the whole length which along with not having solid black legs is supposedly a good indicator of it being a Merauke. He's got a pinkish belly but I forgot to get a good picture of it. From tip of the nose to hips he's 7 inches and from his hips to the tip of his tail he's 5 inches. I haven't had a chance to weigh him yet but I'll be doing that as soon as I can find a scale (Heh.) that will work with him.

I appreciate any help and guesses! If you do guess please tell me why you think it is what it is so I can start learning too!

Irian Jaya /Merauke cross?

I didn't even realize cross breeding was a thing haha. That definitely complicates things somewhat... I've gotten a lot of people saying my BTS has a lot of mixed characteristics but one thing that definitely keeps coming up is Merauke. I guess I may have to wait until it grows up a bit to see what happens.

Thanks for the response!

Doesn't look like a hybrid. Just looks like a merauke. There isn't a textbook picture all meraukes will fall under. Its also highly unlikely its captive bred. Unless you by a merauke directly from the breeder who produced it its a safe assumption that its a wild collected animal. If it IS a hybrid its probably a natural intergrade and not a hybrid. Calling something a hybrid refers to someone purposefully breeding two different species or sub species of bts together in captivity.

Very pretty little skink though! Congrats on your first bts!

According to the person I bought it from it's a captive bred, but it's entirely possible that he wasn't entirely truthful or he didn't know himself. He said he keeps them himself and has seven BTS, two of which he suspects are gravid. With that being said, he didn't seem to know what type of BTS mine was and said he bought it from another breeder. Obviously I'd prefer CB but after having this little guy for a bit I'm glad I got him whether he's CB or not.

And thanks everybody for your advice and guesses. I'll keep trying to figure it out but at this point it seems like I might never be able to tell for sure.

Was viewing on my phone earlier. I'm thinking just a variant of T. g. evanescens having a better look.

Here's a pie chart showing what the "votes" are so far. It's leaning fairly heavily towards Merauke but it's still only at a little over half. The rest of the votes are spread throughout several other species.

It is definitely, without a doubt, not an Indonesian. I'm leaning it is just a Merauke with more vertical stripes down the body that most do not encompass.

Just to make the pie chart prettier and because every other indo variant has almost been said including cross breed,clearly that means its a tannie

Here's an updated list. I've got threads on Reddit and here so if I get any more votes I will continue to update it.

I added another little chart just for Richard C.

I assume you got the Indonesian vote from Reddit. Tell me why this doesn't surprise me. Lol.

It was from Reddit, but in their defense they said they weren't sure and it was only a guess. Plus it was from the general reptiles subreddit and not a specialized BTS forum like this is. Although I DID post in the BTS subreddit and they're pretty much saying the same thing you guys are.

Apologies for two replies in a row, but I think I may have made a bit of a breakthrough. While reading through other posts on the forum I stumbled upon an identification guide in the FAQ section of this board. At the bottom the author describes something like a cross between a Merauke and an IJ with almost identical characteristics to mine which he calls a "New Merauke".

I can't seem to find anything else about it anywhere but it seems to fit almost perfectly with what people have been guessing so far. What do you guys think?