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Need help to ID species!
Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2017 7:10 am
by Darylmatthewlee
Hi guys, going to pick up my new blue tongued skink tomorrow. The store owner sent me this picture of it. I think its an irian jaya, but i would love a second opinion.
Can anyone help? Thanks!
Re: Need help to ID species!
Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2017 10:51 pm
by tcopitho
That is a classic Indonesian, tiliqua gigas gigas. Maintaining a high humidity will be important for this fellow, aim for 60-80% ambient. A bedding like cypress mulch or coco husk will help you there.
This type of bluey is usually wild caught, so ask the pet store if they have done any de-worming. If not you should line up a fecal float with your vet to make sure he's clean of parasites.
Congrats on your new bluey.
Re: Need help to ID species!
Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2017 12:14 pm
by Darylmatthewlee
tcopitho wrote:That is a classic Indonesian, tiliqua gigas gigas. Maintaining a high humidity will be important for this fellow, aim for 60-80% ambient. A bedding like cypress mulch or coco husk will help you there.
This type of bluey is usually wild caught, so ask the pet store if they have done any de-worming. If not you should line up a fecal float with your vet to make sure he's clean of parasites.
Congrats on your new bluey.
Thanks for your reply. My pet store said it was a captive bred skink and its doing great so far. He ate some dog food the moment he reached home!
Regarding bedding, i found exoterra sand mat and moss mat at my local pet store. Has anyone had experience with any of these? I'm thinking of getting either one as it seems relatively easy to maintain.
Re: Need help to ID species!
Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2017 10:27 pm
by tcopitho
These guys are burrowers and will be much happier and less stressed if they have a good couple inches of bedding to burrow in. Gigas in particular are susceptible to respiratory infection as well as shedding and scale issues if the do not get high enough humidity, so having a real substrate will help you there.
I've also found having substrate is easier to clean than reptile carpet. It's more absorbent and can simply be spot clean as needed. Where are a mat or carpet likely needs to be removed and washed to clean daily. They also tend to walk through their waste and trail it. So more absorbent is better to keep that from happening.
It's not recommended to use sand with these guys.