BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hello! I'm new here and I'm about to be a new owner of a Northern BTS (and reptiles in general) so I wanted to ask about the quarantine practices for new animals.

Is it necessary for my BTS to be placed in more of a quarantine environment when I bring him home for the first time without substrate? This is the only and first lizard I have, but I have seen him in the reptile store. He looks very healthy, is curious and lively, and I haven't noticed any mites on him. I'm going to schedule a vet visit for him for a checkup maybe a week after I bring him in to keep stress levels down, or should I schedule it earlier anyway?

My second thought is if I need to have a secondary tank for quarantine purposes or if removing decor and keeping hides and paper towels as substrate enough? If I need a new tank would it be fine having it be smaller than his normal tank?

Thank you for your advise and tips!

Here's a picture of the bluey i purchased and will pick up this weekend:

So the good news is that's a Northern so it is captive bred here in the states. For this particular skink, I'd be more concerned with mites than any other health issue being from a pet store. Chances are, it's completely healthy and likely not in need of a vet but that's your choice. I'd say he can likely go right into substrate, just ensure he's mite free.

mb606587 wrote:So the good news is that's a Northern so it is captive bred here in the states. For this particular skink, I'd be more concerned with mites than any other health issue being from a pet store. Chances are, it's completely healthy and likely not in need of a vet but that's your choice. I'd say he can likely go right into substrate, just ensure he's mite free.

Thank you for your response!

The shop I purchased him from was newly established for a few months and looked like a "mom and pop" family owned business since everyone that worked there (4-5 people I think a day) seemed to be related or dating the other. The last time I was at the reptile shop he (my BTS) didn't have any mites that I could tell. I also asked them if when they purchased him if he had mites, and they said he didn't and that none of the reptiles in their shop had any. I couldn't see any on any of them either from what I could see of them. They mentioned that they also quarantine all new pets coming into their shop to be put up for sale. I also asked about his diet, especially since he's already 2 years, and they've been keeping him on a variety diet. They told me they fed him insects, raw beef, dog food, some fruits, and so on. I went to the store twice unannounced, the first time being when I was initially just going in to get some supplies for a BTS in the future until my mom surprised me by buying it for me for Christmas (probably to shut me up since I've been saying I'm going to get one for a year straight, haha!), and the second time to pick up more supplies after heading home and refreshing myself on my research and also to take the picture I posted above. Both times I went in he was eating something different. I think he had dog food the first time and then the raw beef the second time. They were feeding him insects as treats.

Overall it looked like they take very good care of all of the reptiles in the store. It was a small place, so they didn't have too many, but they did have a nice collection of various lizards, turtles, snakes, and insect pets like tarantulas and centipedes. I'm not all that worried, I just wanted to know if it was a safe practice to do it every time regardless. I would like to test out the humidity levels in the substrate before I bring him home since I have about 44% humidity without anything in the tank, so I wanted to know if that was going to be a viable option for me.

Thanks again! (and sorry for the long rabble...heh)

Yeah I believe that. I've yet to see a Northern sold at the larger chain pet stores. And yes it is safe practice to quarantine but since this is your first reptile it changes things a bit. Typically you quarantine to protect your other reptiles from a new acquisition that could potentially spread parasites and diseases. Typically, paper towels are used to more easily observe bowel movements, either for collection for fecal testing or for irregularities caused by internal parasites. Also, paper towels make it easier to observe mite activity. Since your skink is captive bred, internal parasites are unlikely, and even if your skink did have mites, it won't spread to a whole collection, which is the big fear.

mb606587 wrote: I've yet to see a Northern sold at the larger chain pet stores.

Maybe if they sold reptiles that cost them more than two bucks they would take better care of them!

ThatOneReptileNoob wrote:

mb606587 wrote: I've yet to see a Northern sold at the larger chain pet stores.

Maybe if they sold reptiles that cost them more than two bucks they would take better care of them! :lol:

I still dont think that would be true unfortunately... a lot of the employees I've seen cycle through those big chain stores are there to collect a pay check, so they'll do the minimum possible. Not to say that you won't get a person who genuinely cares for the animals there or that they wouldn't get an enthusiast working there, I've seen that happen before. It's not common though, unfortunately.

Thank you guys for the tips! I'll be sure to keep it all in mind should I get a second reptile down the line.

Really comes down to economics. In order to obtain a Northern, those pet stores will have to buy from a breeder at about $400. In order to make a small profit, they'll have to sell at north of $500, which many patrons will refuse to buy and the skink sits for months and costs the shop money. And with demand high, some breeders won't sell to those pet shops. So they buy cheap imported skinks and flip at a more reasonable price for the average customer, around $300. Could they just breed their own, sure but that's extra work. Some of the mom and pop shops do breed their own or, the owners likely being reptile enthusiasts, are friendly with local breeders in the area.