BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hey guys, had to share my excitement, I had a lot of issues getting my license, it was 'accidentally' rejected by an intern then the paperwork was lost but the seller was great and waited for it to arrive in the mail. I should be picking up my pair tomorrow and will change the title of the thread when they get here and post pictures.

I am hoping they are of opposite sex as they will be housed together but we will see, the tank is at eye level next to where I work all day so I can keep a good eye on them. The tank is all setup and ready to be occupied Expect pics in 24 hours

I currently have blueys and the main points of care I have read are that the basking temps have to be a bit higher, say 34-38 Degrees C, humidity needs to be very low so many only offer water 2-3 days a week and their diet will consist of less meat. Any other major things to note?

Thanks guys

EDIT: PICKED UP

Woohoo! Man, I'm probably nearly as excited as you are! Don't know how you kept it together to wait so long , or how you will get any work done with them sitting there!

I was told just the other day by a reptile guy that shinglebacks like it hotter than other blues. I asked why they had moved them to a different enclosure where we couldn't pat them anymore and he told me they needed consistently higher temps they weren't getting.

Happy pickup day tomorrow!

Thanks dude!! Picked up my 2 little guys today (hope not both guys tho), they were scared for about 30mins but have been motoring around for the last 3 hours, I put food in just incase and they both ate, a little to my surprise but thats always a great sign. Will get some better lit photos soon, their faces are so great, I haven't had Shinglebacks before

Those are very beautiful guys/girls congratulations, hope they turn out to be a pair because then you can send me some little babies :p

nice one Matt,good solid healthy looking bubs

Nice pick up. They would have been worth the wait .

I don't feed corn to the skinks because the outer sac is indigestible cellulose which could possibly become an intestinal blockage as it works its way through the digestive tract; given skinks don't fully masticate their food.

I'm so jealous!

What kind are they?

What enclosure set up did you end up with? Can you post us a pic? Please?

El Lobo wrote:Nice pick up. They would have been worth the wait .

I don't feed corn to the skinks because the outer sac is indigestible cellulose which could possibly become an intestinal blockage as it works its way through the digestive tract; given skinks don't fully masticate their food.

Ahhh yes I appreciate the input I won't use it again, I put maybe 3 kernels in there but have been hesitant to use it over the years for that reason, I believed it was ok but rarely, I will ban it in future feedings.

My setup is a 4x2x2 melamine enclosure with 2 heat lights and a 2ft uvb tube. Will post photos of it tomorrow.

Thanks everyone for the comments, very happy with these little guys

alichamp,they are eastern shingle backs,the subspecies is Rugosa aspera

Thanks Richard, I thought they are aspera, but didn't realise they could have such variation in their colour flecks.

I removed the photo it was huge my bad
Thanks for the info Richard. Here is a pic from my phone hope its not too big

Hey guys, update time, unfortunately after 2 days I have noticed the little guys have mites, had to strip back the tank and have treated them, took a huge chunk out of my day and it will be sad seeing them on newspaper for 2 weeks but it will at least make sure they won't ever get them again. Seems to be a mites plague on the forum atm

Also in side news, do shinglebacks have a rep for defecating on you while they are being held? Honestly I have put this down to the fact they are babies and probably a bit terrified of what is happening but I never had it with blotcheys or easterns.

Cheers

Yes, shinglebacks do have that reputation. Apparently it is a defence mechanism. But I'm sure Richard and co. can tell us more.

EDIT: Just discovered and started treatment for our blotchie today too. Wow, weird how lots of peeps on the forum are dealing with this at the same time! Could mites be a seasonal thing at all?

MattFab wrote:I removed the photo it was huge my bad
Thanks for the info Richard. Here is a pic from my phone hope its not too big

Oh, I loved that photo! I hope you will repost a smaller version if it was a problem.

alichamp wrote:

MattFab wrote:I removed the photo it was huge my bad
Thanks for the info Richard. Here is a pic from my phone hope its not too big

Oh, I loved that photo! I hope you will repost a smaller version if it was a problem.

Here you go

I don't think it's seasonal because others affected are from different countries where they are different seasons.
Ali, did you change anything over the past few weeks? they could have been there awhile but there was to few to notice.
Hope all the treatments go well.

O yes I agree it was a more of a tongue and cheek comment, just an unlucky few

NickBrahz wrote:Ali, did you change anything over the past few weeks? they could have been there awhile but there was to few to notice.
Hope all the treatments go well.

Thanks. Um, it's hard to say. I don't know where mites could come from. I really only noticed signs the last three days, possibly another day or two before that in hindsight now. We have now had Treasure for 6 weeks so it would be unlikely she got mites from the reptile store where we picked her up. Right? He took quite a few weeks to settle in, wasn't eating that well and was hiding a fair bit. But the last couple of weeks seemed to change for the positive - was more active around the cage and such.

The enclosure has artificial plants and logs and cardboard toilet rolls so nothing there. I did put a little concrete paver in there a couple of weeks ago when I changed the cage around. That's the only thing I can think of. Possible source?

Anyhow, it happens. Good pickup on the mites Matt and hope it comes good. Happy to see the pic back again

It only takes two eggs, two mites, or one pregnant female to start an infestation and it is possible it's taken this long to build up to where you definitely notice them.
Reptile mites can only come from other reptiles. So getting an infestation from, for example, a sealed bag of store-bought substrate is extremely unlikely. (There can be mites in the substrate but they aren't reptile mites nor are they harmful to reptiles in any way.) It could possibly come from other objects, IF those objects were in contact with an infested reptile. So if you've put something in the tank that was in contact with another reptile without sterilizing it first, then it's possible it came from there.
My money is on them already being on your skink when you brought her home.