First time BTS mama! Lots of questions (Photos)

[hiighpriestess]

I just brought my lowland blotchie home this morning, and I absolutely love him! I'm so happy that he doesn't seem anxious or stressed, which I was really worried about after reading so many posts on huffy and skittish BTs! He's been happily exploring his new 3ft tank and basking on his rock

I've decided to name him Imoogi, after the mythological Korean imoogi dragons. Or Moogi for short, which I thought sounded adorable! His name directly translates to "great lizard", which so far has been pretty spot-on!

I've only had him for a day, but already I'm so in love with this teeny guy. He's so playful and curious, and hasn't huffed at me a single time for handling him

Here's some photos of him and his tank! Hopefully they make up for the crazy number of questions I have lol. I've got it set up with a CHE, 5.0 UV tube, thermostat, dual digital thermometers, and a timer for the light to come on from 12pm - 12am every day.

Sorry for the huge photos - I'm not sure how to make them smaller!






Aaaand here's my long list of questions:

1. The pet store marked him with a green sharpie because I'd reserved him, and told me it'd come off with his next shed. Is there any way I could safely get it off earlier? It's a bit of an eyesore lol.

2. I was told that he's between 3-6 months old. How old do you guys reckon he looks from his size? He measures 8.5" from head to tail.

3. I know it's hard to tell from photos, but does he look like a male or female BT?

4. How often/how much should I feed him (in tablespoons)? The store was feeding him daily, so I'm not sure which stage in the bts.net food chart I should follow. Should I continue the same routine of feeding daily? I've frozen a batch of food mix: premium dog food, arugula leaves, green beans and a little strawberry.

5. How often should I do a full change of the bedding if I spot clean his poops daily? The 3ft tank takes about half a bag of Kritter's Krumble to fill :O

6. I know BTs like burrowing, so how deep should the substrate be?

7. Is it difficult to find their poop? I'm just concerned I might not be able to spot clean well since he (and presumably his poop) is so tiny, and the tank is huge! It doesn't help that the substrate is brown lol.

8. How can I get him on a pooping schedule to make sure he doesn't poop outside of his tank?

9. His tank is at about 27.5 and 37 degrees celsius. Is 27.5 a little too high for the cool end? If so, how can I cool it down?

10. Should I add a hide in the warm end? He's been burrowing under the substrate of the warm end and sleeping there.

11. How much time can I have him out of his tank in a day without stressing him out?

12. Is it necessary to trim BTs' nails? How? When are they too long?

13. Do loud noises startle/stress BTs?

14. Is it okay to have the lights in the room on when the lights in the tank are off? Will that disrupt his sleep cycle in any way?

15. Does anyone have any idea how I can straighten out the creased leaves of the fake plant? They're made of a weird plastic-like cloth.

Sorry for the barrage of questions- I'm pretty pedantic and I want to make sure Moogi is as happy as possible and thank you so much in advance for the responses!

[NickBrahz]

1. Not to sure.
2. Looks to be a few months old at the most.
3. One of the Blotchie breeders such as Scott may be able to answer this.
4. I would feed him still daily personally but he is getting around the age of when you start to feed them every second day, 1-2 tablespoons.
5. Full clean and disinfect should be done about every month, i just changed from kritters krumble to sugar cane mulch from bunnings 500x cheaper.
6. I use to be a bit more conservative when i was using kritters krumble as it was very costly to use but with the mulch i have it maybe 8cm deep so they can choose how deep they want to be.
7. To be honest yes the poop is hard to find i rarely find it as it dries out and gets burried.
8. If you feed him at the same time he should poop roughly at the same time aswell, as bubs all 3 of mine used to poop on me now i havent been pooped on in months i think they learned when they pooped on me or wherever they was outside the tank playtime was over as i would put them back in enclosure, i suggest taking them out with a towel on your lap.
9. 27 should be fine the only other way to have the cool end colder while keeping basking spot at that temp would be to get a 4ft + tank.
10. It's a good idea to have some cover near the basking spot so a hide there would be good.
11. No idea on this i just took mine out daily for a little bit didn't keep track really.
12. Yes they need to be trimmed now and then when they start to either hurt you a lot when holding or if they start to curve it will impact the skinks life.
13. Like every living thing a loud noise can startle and stress them yes.
14. It shouldn't be to much of a problem as your guy would be burried and unable to see the light and it would only be a small indirect amount in his tank.
15. Maybe try bending it in the opposite direction or put it in between heavy books

Better to ask lots of questions then to suffer in silence, happy to help.

[alichamp]

Hi and welcome! He (or she) is lovely!
Go Nick! Straight out the gates! Awesome reply.

1. I suggest giving him time to settle in but maybe you could try gently patting or rubbing it with a bit of paper towel wet with tepid water...?

2. Yep, agree with Nick, probably about 2-3 months old. Very similar size to mine when we got him home at two months old (we have a highland/alpine blotchie, so does Nick). I suggest weighing him now too as he is new and you can monitor growth.

7. Yes it is. Housing them on plain paper towel or newspaper might be good for the first couple of weeks so you can check they are pooing normally.

12. Yes x2 what Nick said but you shouldn't need to worry about that for a while. They are tiny when this young and can risk hurting them with unnecessary trimming.

Also make sure you check out all the threads in the FAQ section, the care sheet and the diet chart.
viewforum.php?f=24
http://bluetongueskinks.net/care.htm
http://bluetongueskinks.net/foodchart.html

[NickBrahz]

Glad to hear the little bub isn't timid or aggressive, i must admit mine was very relaxed when i got him aswell, huff or puff the day after and an odd huff here and there but mainly when he has just woken up so he isn't much of a morning skink.
When i got my bub he was roughly 3 months old, measured in at 24cm (9 1/2 inches) from head to tail and weighed in at 105Grams.
Just measured and weighed him and he is 31cm head to tail and 167Grams, hasn't grown much the past 5 or 6 weeks being winter and all.

Edit: Sorry clarity for #8, when i say if you feed them at the same time they should poop roughly at the same time, it takes about 24 hours generally for them to digest and there is usually 1 poop per meal.

[hiighpriestess]

Thanks so much for the replies and advice!

NickBrahz, thanks for letting me know about the sugar cane mulch! I just checked it out, and I'll definitely get that when I run out of kritter's krumble- $15 for 15kg, oh my goodness lol. I picked up a cheap new hide to put near the basking spot, it's quite small though so I'm sure he's going to outgrow it in about two months!

Allchamp, I tried rubbing the green mark with a wet paper towel, but no dice- the mark didn't budge at all! I guess I'll just have to wait for him to shed before it comes off how often do they shed, and how can I tell when one is happening soon?

Moogi seemed a little skittish when I fed him at about 1pm today, when I opened or closed the tank's sliding door he'd flee into his hide! But he calmed down a lot towards evening.

And I just got a temperature gun, but I'm a little confused now about the basking temperature- the basking rock itself goes up to 43 degrees, but the thermometer readings for the warm end of the tank are at 36. Should I turn the temperature down so that the rock is at 38 degrees? Or is it okay for the rock to be fairly warm?

[alichamp]

Allchamp, I tried rubbing the green mark with a wet paper towel, but no dice- the mark didn't budge at all! I guess I'll just have to wait for him to shed before it comes off how often do they shed, and how can I tell when one is happening soon?

Yeah, I figured. I think sharpies are supposed to have staying power. I guess you will just have to wait. They usually shed often when they are babies because they grow so quickly. Maybe every couple of months? They tend to get very dark and dull in colour in the days leading up, the patterns go cloudy on their bellies, and they might be a little more grumpy, go off food, hide more etc.

There is also a search function for the forum. If you type in shed you will get heaps of hits from other posts as well as some great pics (I have posted a bit on this for my BTS's first shed - check them out they are cool pics, at least I think so ).

And I just got a temperature gun, but I'm a little confused now about the basking temperature- the basking rock itself goes up to 43 degrees, but the thermometer readings for the warm end of the tank are at 36. Should I turn the temperature down so that the rock is at 38 degrees? Or is it okay for the rock to be fairly warm?

Again, I had the same problem. I think it's OK, you will probably just find that he doesn't bask on his rock but know that when he's sitting next to it up that end its warm enough.

[hiighpriestess]

So I don't need to worry about 45 degrees burning him or anything like that, right?

I'm quite pleased that my old mac tends to heat up a little when I'm using it- it serves as a perfect spot for Moogi to hang out! He's right on top of the keyboard as I'm typing this

Also, I just measured and weighed him: he's exactly 22cm long, and weighs 64g (after food). Is it safe to assume he's probably around 3 months old?

[NickBrahz]

He should be smart enough to not sit on it if its to hot or if it starts to burn, i would wager he is 3 months old roughly.

[wermy]

I've never had to trim mine's nails. He has a couple of big rough, grainy stones in there and plenty of substrate to dig in, so he's able to keep his nails short on his own. Your little cutie probably much too young to tell gender, wait till he's a year old. As for the mark, young bts shed every couple of weeks, so it shouldn't be long now!

[NickBrahz]

At that age i found mine shed roughly every 3 weeks depends on how fast he grows.
Using rocks and such can help keep them down or at the very least make it so you don't have to trim them often as Wermy stated, my 3 bubs are 6 months old and only now are they starting to get long nails, not dangerous long for there help through.

[hiighpriestess]

I've just got the one basking rock and a piece of driftwood, the rest of the tank furniture is plastic and probably isn't rough enough to keep his nails filed.. Fingers crossed this will be enough- the thought of trimming his nails is quite intimidating, because his toes are so tiny and fragile!

Also, is there any rough estimate of how much snacks/treats we can give them? Should I need to worry about overfeeding and obesity at such a young age?

[NickBrahz]

While growing if they get a bit chubby it doesn't matter they will just put that to growing and then return to a normal size.

[hiighpriestess]

If only that applied to humans too! lol

[alichamp]

As for the mark, young bts shed every couple of weeks, so it shouldn't be long now!

At that age i found mine shed roughly every 3 weeks depends on how fast he grows.

And because mine has to be so different to every other BTS out there, we have had Treasure for about 3 months and have only had one shed. Yet another way he has to have his own way! Such a cheeky thing...

[hiighpriestess]

And because mine has to be so different to every other BTS out there, we have had Treasure for about 3 months and have only had one shed. Yet another way he has to have his own way! Such a cheeky thing...

Woah, that's a long time! Hopefully Moogi doesn't take that long to shed- that darn green mark! lol

Is there any rule of thumb to follow when it comes to the amount of time I can have Moogi outside of his enclosure? He seems more than happy to either explore or fall asleep on my computer where it's warm (37 degrees- perfect basking temperature, as well!)- do I need to worry about having him out too long? He hasn't exhibited any signs of stress that I know of.

[NickBrahz]

With my bubs i make sure i have them in enclosure for aslong as i have them out, so i may take one out for half hour and then put it back for half hour to soak up heat and bask before i take him out for another half hour, vice versa with longer periods.