Bts with other pets (pic heavy)

[Angcious]

I didn't want to hijack another thread about introducing our skinks to other pets so I started this one.
My Tequila has met my cat, never really responded any differently with her. My cat is 18 ½ years old though and acts very much her age, so I wasn't really worried about how she'd respond to Tequila, plus she is used to having to share the window with my bearded lol.
The bigger surprise for me was the relationship that Tequila has with my bearded, Precious.
Precious spends most of the time that I'm home outside of her cage and I was starting to feel guilty every time I had to put her back to bring Tequila out. Then they actually met accidentally when Precious was walking around on the floor and Tequila was up on the bed with me. I was talking to Tequila and so Precious climbed up on the bed to see what was going on, she seemed jealous and shocked when she saw Tequila, but not aggressive. Tequila, on the other hand, was so excited to see Precious and went running right to her! After that, when Precious was done exploring and had found some place to relax, I'd bring Tequila out and she would always go straight to Precious.
Now, they immediately look for each other when they come out of their cages, follow each other, rest, snack, and even curl up to sleep together. I believe Precious helped Tequila get over some of her shyness, she seemed to have more confidence and be more bold whenever Precious was around...and she always copies everything Precious does. They are absolutely adorable!
I don't know if this will last. I am prepared that Tequila may mature and/or if she's a boy, might get territorial or aggressive but for now, I can honestly say they enjoy and seek each other's company.


Family photo



Earlier pic of Tequila and Precious



This was all because Tequila wanted Precious's attention but Precious was busy watching something outside


Found them under the covers like this

Snack time...I think Tequila strategically was trying to block Precious from getting more worms than her...but Precious is faster when it comes to food

[JoshChimera]

That's is hilarious, that Bearded dragon doesn't even care that their is a skink on her back!

[Susann]

We generally put up disclaimers against these kinds of pictures as it is not advisable to have your animals "hang out" together like this.
We do have lots of younger members on these forums, and seeing pictures like these makes many of them feel that this is a perfectly safe practice, when it so often is not.
Cat bites are among the worst we've seen and can be extremely hard and expensive to try to heal. An annoyed or ticked off beardie can do considerable damage to a skink, and vice versa. As can any other animal, including another BTS as well.

Please do not put your animals together like this.

Angcious, obviously you know your animals well; you seem to have a good take on their personalities and watch over them when they are out; I am not trying to attack you or criticize what you do, but for the sake of the well being of skinks of owners who only think they know their animals as well as you do, I must advise against "socializing" animals in this manner. We have seen so many cases where different pets seemed to get along just fine only to have one of them, in a split second, tear into the other, causing considerable damage before the owner could react. Often, when members weighed in later, it turned out, what seemed like getting along, or what seemed like cute "snuggling", was in fact displays of dominance.

Not saying you're not allowed to have your animals together, not saying you're not allowed to post pictures of your animals together, just saying we advise against it, and I personally will always take a stand against risk over safety.
They are extremely cute together. But that's exactly what makes the pictures so dangerous for other BTS whose owners want their cat to be cute with their skink too...

[Angcious]

Suzanne, you are absolutely right. I never gave any thought to how these pics could get misconstrued. I simply had what I thought were cute pics that I thought I'd share.
For what it's worth, my cat has been around my lizards only a few times and for brief moments, while I was right there.
When my lizards are out of their cages, the entire 2nd floor is closed off with a pet gate (keeping my dog and cat on the first floor) even though the lizards are in just one bedroom.
I actually took the pic of the 3 of them simply because I wanted one pic of them all together when I show people pics of my pets (to people I work with, etc.) The few people I have shared that pic with got a chuckle and when I saw the post about skinks with other pets, I thought I'd share the pic.
I was naively not thinking of how sharing these pics could give off the wrong impressions, intentions or assumptions...and I do stand corrected and I apologize.

[JoshChimera]

I was asked by my roommate a few times to put my blue tongue skink and other lizards together. I let him know the bts would bite the other lizards for sure. Pretty much my roommate despises my animals.