My first blue tongue (Halmahera)

[KadenA]

I just got it yesterday, I don’t know if it is captive bred or wild caught. I put bananas and superworms in its food bowl but it doesn’t seem to be hungry. Which I’m sure is fine, I watched a Clint’s reptiles video about them and he said they are hardy. It is being housed in a twenty gallon zoo med tank, with coco fiber sub, a water bowl for bathing and drinking, a food bowl, a 75 watt lamp, and a cork bark hide. I don’t think it’s fully grown but it is pretty big, I have yet to measure it.

[splashy07]

It is definitely imported. Halys are not captive bred here in the states. I would recommend a vet check as soon as you can as they often come in heavily parasitized. Loss of appetite is a sign, but he also needs to settle in. Try something really smelly like a hard boiled egg or a high quality dog or cat food. The more it stinks the more they like it! Good luck, and see if you can have him checked out ASAP. High humidity and a basking temp of 95+ is essential.

[Janella]

I couldn't agree more. One more thing to add is I would get a bigger enclosure asap. 20 gallon aren't very big. Skinks need a lot of floor space. I personally don't do anything smaller than 4ft.

[KadenA]

It is definitely imported. Halys are not captive bred here in the states. I would recommend a vet check as soon as you can as they often come in heavily parasitized. Loss of appetite is a sign, but he also needs to settle in. Try something really smelly like a hard boiled egg or a high quality dog or cat food. The more it stinks the more they like it! Good luck, and see if you can have him checked out ASAP. High humidity and a basking temp of 95+ is essential.

Thank you, I’m a kid, so I’d have to ask to get him checked out, he has been sneezing quite a bit since I got him. He ate some pieces of strawberry, and I’m pretty sure some kale was missing from his bowl, so he has eaten a bit. I want to get some premium cat or dog food for him too.

[KadenA]

I couldn't agree more. One more thing to add is I would get a bigger enclosure asap. 20 gallon aren't very big. Skinks need a lot of floor space. I personally don't do anything smaller than 4ft.

I’m a kid, so I would have to ask to get a bigger cage, and who knows what my parents would say. I’m worried I won’t have enough space as well in my room because I also have a lot of tarantulas and a Leopard Gecko.

[KadenA]

It is definitely imported. Halys are not captive bred here in the states. I would recommend a vet check as soon as you can as they often come in heavily parasitized. Loss of appetite is a sign, but he also needs to settle in. Try something really smelly like a hard boiled egg or a high quality dog or cat food. The more it stinks the more they like it! Good luck, and see if you can have him checked out ASAP. High humidity and a basking temp of 95+ is essential.

I’ve seen a couple websites selling them that said farm bred, but at the same time, one of those was under ground reptiles, so it’s probably still ridden with bad stuff.

[KadenA]

Question, how active is this forum usually?

[splashy07]

Farm bred means imported. There are said to be breeding 'farms' in their native country. They are more than likely warehouses where natives capture gravid females and young skinks for export. Halmaheras can get quite long, I kept them some years back and a 20g just won't do it. It's also near impossible to provide a temperature gradient in a tank that small. It will be ok for a bit while he's small, but they grow alarmingly fast. They also have high humidity requirements. I would not call them a 'beginner' species of BTS.

[Janella]

I couldn't agree more with what was posted in the previous thread. You will absolutely need to get a bigger tank asap. I would talk to your parents. If you taken on this reptile it is up to you/your parents to provide the proper care. There is pretty much always someone who will respond to a post within a short amount of time if you have questions.

[kingofnobbys]

It is definitely imported. Halys are not captive bred here in the states. I would recommend a vet check as soon as you can as they often come in heavily parasitized. Loss of appetite is a sign, but he also needs to settle in. Try something really smelly like a hard boiled egg or a high quality dog or cat food. The more it stinks the more they like it! Good luck, and see if you can have him checked out ASAP. High humidity and a basking temp of 95+ is essential.

I’ve seen a couple websites selling them that said farm bred, but at the same time, one of those was under ground reptiles, so it’s probably still ridden with bad stuff.

If it says farm bred - don't buy from them , I have a friend who visited Indonesia recently and he saw what is called "a lizard and snake farm" and he was shocked , , he more or less expected something like a scaled down version of what we have here in NW WA , NT and NE QLD for crocodile farming , or a scaled up version of some of our bigger breeders here ie he expected to see a bunch of large pits ( or converted colorbond garden bed styoe "pits" or aviary style setups , or very large comverted caged tanks like those used to ship water or chemicals about ( that some guys here use to breed larger skinks , dragons and smaller monitors in ) , but he was shocked and appalled , this is not what he saw, it was a open sided shed with racks full of hundreds of filthy plastic tubs with not a single UV globe in sight , he said the place stunk something shocking and , he thought the they had adults in 60L tubs that had wire lids , and quite a few had reptiles looked in very bad condition even dead in them. He tried to take some photos but the workers became very aggressive and he thought he was in danger so left.

I think if the advertiser say's lizard farm , I'd be very wary as you are unlikely to get a real captive bred skink from a REAL captive breeding program , it'll be essentially wild caught , likely trafficked, and very likely not well cared for prior to the sale ( likely infested with paracites, sick, injured , malnourished and not people friendly / tame) and if you already have pet reptiles , you risk introducing exotic paracites and deseases to the other reptiles unless you are very diligent with quaranteening and sterilizing , long and the short = not worth the risk..

[kingofnobbys]

I couldn't agree more with what was posted in the previous thread. You will absolutely need to get a bigger tank asap. I would talk to your parents. If you taken on this reptile it is up to you/your parents to provide the proper care. There is pretty much always someone who will respond to a post within a short amount of time if you have questions.

If you can get access to the woodworking classroom in your school ( do they still teach kids woodwork and metalwork in years 7 to 10 ?? ) you could make it your school project to build a nice 4ft L x 2ft W x 1ft to 2ft high timber box style tank with front sliding or front hinged glass or Perspex doors.
Or get dad to build one with you on the weekend if he's handy with wood and tools. Will work out lots cheaper than buying a tank of dubious quality from a pet shop or buying a second tank on Ebay or craigs list (? that will need to be very thoroughly cleaned and sterilized before you can house your skink in it without risking it getting sick.

[splashy07]

You can also find a cheap tank to use for a while on your local Craigslist. Many animals are bought as novelty items and are sold soon after the buyer loses interest. I see cages and tanks lister there all the time, for a fraction of what you'd pay in a store. Just make sure you disinfect and clean it well.