need help with my first BTS (NEWB)

[zenaku100588]

Hi, Im brand shiny new to bts, so I am in desperate need of help. Now I have many gecko, and other lizards so reptile care is nothing new to me, just this species, but I want to make this little live a long, love filled and happy life! So to start off he was sorta a accident, we where searching for a Northern BTS, and couldn't find one anywhere in Ohio, so we took to the internet to find a breeder within the state that could meet us somewhere locally. Any who we found a breeder who said he had a northern about a year and a half old. Obviously we took the offer up, paid about $150 for the bugger and eagerly counted down the days till we got him. But this was the problem, when we got him, we noticed he looked odd, and eventually we figured out this was no Northern, no instead we got a true indonesian/ Halmahera.....in fact here is what he said:

"Halmahera / true Indo. Be prepared for 80%+ humidity. You managed to get one of the most difficult to care for BTS as your first. I would advise you go to Facebook and join the group: Blue Tongue Skink Enthusiasts. There are a couple of people there that have worked with this species extensively - I have not.
You cannot follow a typical BTS care guide and expect this animal to do well. Let me repeat that. This is not a typical BTS. It's a high humidity animal. Ask the people in the Facebook group for help. I can guarantee you that unless someone that I am not aware of has joined the sub lately, no one will know how to properly care for this animal."

now we are worried on how to take care of him, and if we have the right equipment for him, atm hes in a 30 gallon tank Long, merc/vapor 100w uvb heat combo, plenty of aspen bedding, two nicely sized log hides, temps are at each end cool side at 70 degree, hot side at 85-90 degrees, with 45% humidity. He's been eating lightly, eating a 1/3 of a calcium sprinkled hard boiled egg, and a few meal worms as he wont eat his veggies yet. My question is, are we doing enough, does he look under weight ,and if we are not doing enough please tell me how to make this guy as comfortable as possible. One thing is for sure, he has love and lots of it sorry this is so long but I wanted to paint as accurate a picture as possible.

[Dakota]

Hi. I applaud who told you all that information. Never heard of "true Indonesian", but it is indeed a Halmahera. I'm sorry you didn't get what you wanted.

In my personal opinion, bump the cold side up to at least 75°. 70° with only a 90° basking area is very poor. Give it around at least a 95-100° basking area.

Also, take it off Aspen ASAP. Aspen is terrible for Halmaheras, and I'll never recommend it. I am getting a girl today that was housed on Aspen for a short time, and already most of her toes are gone. Use substrates such as ReptiBark, Orchid bark, top soil, plantation soil, peat moss, cypress mulch, etc. Basically anything that holds humidity.

Halmaheras are very naturally shy skinks. So try to get an enclosure that has a lot of security. I personally use 50 gallon totes from Wal-Mart. They are bigger than 40 gallon breeders, but only $22.

The higher the humidity humanly possible without drenching the animal, the better. 45% is a bit too low. Try to aim more into the 65% range or higher.

Halmaheras are not hard to care for at all. Just need to respect their needs.

[Dakota]

BTW, I am also on the BTSE group. I was the original admin, until I resigned.

You acquired a very pretty Halmahera, if that makes you feel any better. The black on it is gorgeous. I wish I had more room, or I'd offer to buy it and you get the Northern you wanted.

[zenaku100588]

does he at least look a healthy weight, I'm concerned. also we wouldn't be able to get another tank for him for at least a week, do you think he'd be okay in the 30 for that long as long as we swap out his aspen for another substrate tomorrow? Also ty, yes we love him and all his colors : )

[Dakota]

He is a little slim. Not that bad, but could pack on a little more until those hipbones stop showing. Looks like a fresh WC, so having his poo tested would be a good idea.

I suspect he will be hiding almost the whole time in the 30 gallon, so I'm sure it is fine as a temporary cage.

[zenaku100588]

The gentleman told us ( after admitting he didn't really know his morph) said he was definitely a captive bred, though I'm not sure how much I can trust him, hes very tame, like puppy dog tame, and loves to sleep on daddy at night, his poop is watery with a little pill shaped black and white poop.

[Dakota]

Yikes -

I will with certainty say this skink is NOT at all captive bred. Possibly captive born, but not bred. Captive bred Halmaheras won't start coming out until this coming breeding season, hopefully.

[zenaku100588]

well this skink is a year and a half old and 19 inchs long

[Dakota]

Just about finished growing. He might pack on an inch or two at most.

The scale thickness on this animal is very smooth. This is usually caused by a combination of high humidity and a high protein diet. If the guy had no idea what form this was, I'd guess he didn't have him very long.

[wermy]

I'm no expert, but I'd definitely raise his temps a good 10 deg each side as he's from the tropics. Maybe stick a wet sponge or two in there for extra humidity. Also, I'm sure you've read the caresheet, just want to make sure you feed him a beef-based canned dog food as his staple protein, not just egg and mealworms. His poop shouldn't be watery, I hope he hasn't got a viral/parasite problem. A vet visit should clear that up.

Best of luck! He's an absolutely stunning darkly coloured little guy (or girl), I love how his legs are almost pure black like he's got some fierce thigh-high boots on!

[zenaku100588]

@Dakota: So if he is 1 1/2 years old, is it still impossible for him to be captive bred, or captive born, and if he is indeed captive born, will he still likely have parasites? I am starting to freak out, and worry about my little man

@wermy: Thanks, we love his colors too! We very much plan on getting him on Blue Buffalo dog food, collard greens, mustard greens, tomato worms, etc blended togeather asap, as that is what the previous owner had him on.

[Richard.C]

could have parasites weather captive born and bred or wild caught or a baby of a wild caught,id have to say chances of it being captive bred are very very slim,most likely its a wild caught and imported specimen,or at best a baby from a wild caught

food wise you may find that the don't like vegies ,a more protein based diet is recommended,most use a dogfood based diet these days as it takes alot of the guesswork out of balancing there diets

whilst some say being tropical u should have cool end in low to mid 80s and hot end around 100,that's not really giving them much variety and a small mishap can easily see them over heat,not all tropical reptiles love lots of heat,most say harms are more a rainforest dweller which if that was the case,why on earth do they recommend keeping them so hot is beyond me,a safer option is to still offer them heat but set up a large temp gradient that also offers areas to escape heat, which nature offers them to

i guess a good way to look at good temp ranges is to look how python breeders keep pythons that occur in the same area,its not low to mid 80s up to 100 odd

[Dood]

I know of no Indonesian BTS breeders in North America as they havent figured out the right temperatures or brumation pattern for them, even captive bred and born Meraukes are few and far between so I'd say 99 % of these species are imports.

I recently discovered a "loop hole" the pet stores are using by saying their reptiles are captive born but on a "farm" in INDONESIA then shipped over and somehow they feel that's not lying to the customer

[splashy07]

Hi, and welcome! Gorgeous Haly, congrats! I keep my Halmaheras on a mixture of cypress mulch and repti-bark. I spray it down 2x daily, and have not had any problems. Have had them since babies. Problem eaters are usually cured by mixing a little banana or egg to their dog food. Some dog foods contain vegetable matter, but if not (I make my own mixes to vary it up a bit) I put some collards or kale into the processor and chop them up real fine and mix it in. I find they get bored with the same thing every feeding, so I change it up. (I spoil them ridiculous). Agree with previous posts, don't think the little guy has been in this country very long so it may take him a while to acclimate. He is gorgeous and well worth the wait! Best of luck to you and your new pet!

[splashy07]

As Dood said, yes, this is the strategy many pet shops use to sell animals as 'captive born'. In reality they are, but they are born in their country of origin in captivity and that makes them imports. The only difference is they are not taken from the wild, but their parents or ancestors have been, and once over-bred the adults are imported also, and some are seen at expos and will arrive shortly thereafter on Craigslist or the like. Savannah monitors and green iguanas have been farmed for years, as no one will take the time or effort to breed $15 lizards. With BTs, I believe it is well worth the effort and I'm sure with the growing interest in these wonderful pets there will someday be truly captive bred (here in the states) and born individuals available to all.
Northerns have taken hold, and soon enough there will be more information about these awesome Indonesian species.

[Richard.C]

splashy ,not so much even born in captivity there,there hold in concrete floored holding cages until enough are collected fir exporting,if they have babies in holding that's just more to fill numbers,if numbers are filled they don't hang on to gravity ones,they ship em all out,many have babies during shipping,many have babies well after making it into pet trade

farm breeding is just a pretty name they use to fool folk into believing they are all farm bred like cattle,farmers of cattle don't flog off all there breeding stock,let alone gravid ones,holding pens and mass crowding isn't captivity,the whole process is hardly pretty for them,hence they have tried to tart up the terminology of it to try and pretty it all up