BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Posted: **Fri May 12, 2017 1:11 am**

Hi guys, I went to my local shop to check out what sort of tanks they had, and they had a 48 x 18 x 18 vivarium from ND Aquatics - The problem is, its wooden all around and has sliding doors on the front.
I'm attracted to this tank because its versatile. If I don't find the BTS I would ideally like, it can be used to house my snake when she grows a bit more, or I can put a beardy in there.

Would it be outright wrong to house a BTS is a wooden viv? The size seems okay, I can't go much deeper unfortunately or it won't fit in the space I have, but I can go longer to compensate - I feel like a long thin tank isn't pleasant for the BTS though

I want to get it right and only buy one tank for Bruce ( My name for the BTS hahaha) so rather wait to see what you guys think.

Is there a general measurement I should be using - Like with my snake, the length of the tank plus the depth should be greater than the length of the snake - Is there such a rule of thumb for the BTS?
I'm slowly treading through the caresheet, but my god it has a lot of info!

Posted: **Fri May 12, 2017 2:47 am**

RoflOnMyWaffle wrote:Hi guys, I went to my local shop to check out what sort of tanks they had, and they had a 48 x 18 x 18 vivarium from ND Aquatics - The problem is, its wooden all around and has sliding doors on the front. <<<< I have two eastern BTs , and each has a DIYS timber viv 48 L x 24 W x 18 T. I was told by the breeder this was the appropriate size for a single adult BTS.
They dónt need much in the way of tank height - so long as the tank is high enough to fit the incandescent par38 basking globe , or a MVB if you decide to use a MVB in your tank , I'm running 80W Philips par38 globes for my basking globe and currently have 26W UVB150 compacts for the UVA and UVB mounts in NanoHoods. This seems to work good.
For me the wattage of the available basking globes and physical size and a basking spot at 35degC under the spot globe , was the governing factor in determining the height of the BT tanks , otherwise I'd've likely gone to maybe 15in tall.

My BT boy is 20 inches long STT so he needs every bit of the tank width to confortably turn around.

I'm attracted to this tank because its versatile. If I don't find the BTS I would ideally like, it can be used to house my snake when she grows a bit more, or I can put a beardy in there.<<< to narrow for either an adult BTS or an adult beardie (he'll need 4ft x 2ft x 2ft minimum).

Would it be outright wrong to house a BTS is a wooden viv? <<<< Wooden vivs are fine , they are easy to build as a DIYS job on a weekend too. All my BTS tanks are made from marine ply with sliding glass front doors .... they've been in their two tanks since they were upgraded from their 100L plastic rearing tubs at about 18 months old , now both nudging 8 years old.

The size seems okay, I can't go much deeper unfortunately or it won't fit in the space I have, but I can go longer to compensate - I feel like a long thin tank isn't pleasant for the BTS though

I want to get it right and only buy one tank for Bruce ( My name for the BTS hahaha) so rather wait to see what you guys think.

Is there a general measurement I should be using - Like with my snake, the length of the tank plus the depth should be greater than the length of the snake - Is there such a rule of thumb for the BTS?
I'm slowly treading through the caresheet, but my god it has a lot of info!

Posted: **Fri May 12, 2017 3:12 am**

Mate. Sliding front doors are WAY better than a tank. A BIG reason is that you come from the Bluetongues Line of sight and thus NEVER freak them out by been a predator from above. It also allows you to just open a door and offer them the choice to come out. Or slip sneaky treats in.

Speaking from limited experience, you want something that the bluey can turn around in, along with an area to do a little jog. A bluey trying to run after a cricket is adorable, with their little legs. Anyways, on topic.
Bluetonges can grow to be HUGE. My 8 year old girl is almost 1 1/2 foot long. if her nose is smooshed into my elbow, her tail hangs over my fingertips. So I would argue get a home that is 2ft wide/deep or at least 1ft so they can turn comfortably. I'd say at least 3ft long as well, so that they can do their four or five stride jog if the need takes them.

They don't require great height at all, which is a bonus really. HOWEVER, that doesn't mean they don't like height in a sense. If you want to make some decent use of height, you could design a 2nd floor with a ramp to go up. My blue tongue loves to go up ramps and rocks, she also LOVES to explore. So giving them more than the general flat ground works wonders for their curiosity. Doing this could ALSO allow for food and water on a raised area, meaning a shorter cage would be ok for them in the sense of exercise.

Lots of people have actually made their own platforms and such out of various crafting materials that are perfectly safe and quite cheap. a google search would easily bring up countless designs, even print out versions of parts for templates, that could let you max out the use of space.

I used to keep my blue tongue in a 2ft by 2ft cage when I was gearing up her new one, and she was 100% fine. However I gave her 2 - 4 hours a day of exploring the house so she could move around. So if you're going smaller, be prepared to compensate with good exercise and entertainment.

Posted: **Fri May 12, 2017 3:26 am**

Okay so I'm better off trying to get a 4 x 2 x 2 Viv if I can? I only say this because I have a Ball Python too, so I want to try and keep them all a similar size so they stack on top of each other well, but the BP doesn't thrive in big open spaces, and a 48 x 18 x 18 is already pushing it a bit too big for her...

Weird how everywhere I go I get conflicting answers for the BTS haha

I have seen the little ramps, and its cool cause the platform then doubles up as a hide for the BTS

I have no idea what you guys meant about the lights - so I will google those next! I know they need a basking area and some UV but yeah beyond that I need to brush up on this - Hoping to be ready for my BTS end of June

Posted: **Fri May 12, 2017 7:33 am**

RoflOnMyWaffle wrote:Okay so I'm better off trying to get a 4 x 2 x 2 Viv if I can? I only say this because I have a Ball Python too, so I want to try and keep them all a similar size so they stack on top of each other well, but the BP doesn't thrive in big open spaces, and a 48 x 18 x 18 is already pushing it a bit too big for her... <<< I'd recommend (only have two BTS and only had them for about 8 years) the 4 x 2 x 2 viv as a front opening arrangement for your BTS , plenty of space, a bit of height so you can have climbing activities up ramps and flat rocks etc .
Weird how everywhere I go I get conflicting answers for the BTS haha

I have seen the little ramps, and its cool cause the platform then doubles up as a hide for the BTS

I have no idea what you guys meant about the lights - so I will google those next! I know they need a basking area and some UV but yeah beyond that I need to brush up on this - Hoping to be ready for my BTS end of June <<<< keep in mind you need the UV light to inside a given (per manufacturer's recommendations) from the basking spot and so you'll need to take that into consideration as well as getting the basking spot temperature right based on wattage of the bulb and available tank height.

Posted: **Fri May 12, 2017 8:39 am**

RoflOnMyWaffle wrote:Okay so I'm better off trying to get a 4 x 2 x 2 Viv if I can? I only say this because I have a Ball Python too, so I want to try and keep them all a similar size so they stack on top of each other well, but the BP doesn't thrive in big open spaces, and a 48 x 18 x 18 is already pushing it a bit too big for her...

Weird how everywhere I go I get conflicting answers for the BTS haha

I have seen the little ramps, and its cool cause the platform then doubles up as a hide for the BTS

I have no idea what you guys meant about the lights - so I will google those next! I know they need a basking area and some UV but yeah beyond that I need to brush up on this - Hoping to be ready for my BTS end of June

A BIG thing to consider is the fact that skinks can be from different countries now. American skinks are more inbred and thus smaller in a sense than your Aussie ones, at least according to my research. Temperaments can Really be various between countries too.

I come from Australia, and am giving you the specs we use here for ours. Though my girl is pretty big. It ALSO can depend on the age of your blue tongue. My previous post was to give you specs for a FULLY grown bluey. the One and done specs.

Light wise. You need your UV light for bluetongues, which is usually a tube. This one doesn't have to be close, so its easy to have on the top.
Then your heatlamps, to keep it at around 20 - 25degrees celc during the day, 18 - 15degrees at night.
Your basking spot is where your lizard can lounge and absorb heat at its hottest in your cage, as if they were basking in the sun.
This spot should be around 48cm away from your heatlights HEIGHT WISE and large enough length and surface wise that your bluey can lay out.

My basking spot is about 1 ft wide, 2ft long. It SHOULD be raised by another foot BUT I had to use substrate from her hill to replace some I emptied when cleaning. Ran out of supplies to fully lift it. Both lights are 70watt ceramics, which has been ok for her.

BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

48 x 18 x 18 tank big enough for an adult BTS?

48 x 18 x 18 tank big enough for an adult BTS?

Re: 48 x 18 x 18 tank big enough for an adult BTS?

Re: 48 x 18 x 18 tank big enough for an adult BTS?

Re: 48 x 18 x 18 tank big enough for an adult BTS?

Re: 48 x 18 x 18 tank big enough for an adult BTS?

Re: 48 x 18 x 18 tank big enough for an adult BTS?