BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hi Everyone!!

I'm new, obviously, and would like to briefly intro myself and my zoo and then ask some BTS questions, if you don't mind.

My name is Aminah. I'm a mother of 2 2leggeds (in college) and several 4, 6, 8 and more leggeds (10 Cresteds, a Tokay, a Uromastyx, a Beardie, 4 tarantulas, a Giant Milli, a few B. dubia roaches, 2 Strawberry Hermits, sooo many FW fish, 2 ADF, a Red Foot tortoise, 17 rattie kids... the Poodah Pack!, and a ridiculously silly cat... Aneesa.)

Let's see.. I stay at home and WORK my butt off keeping up with my Zoo, my hubbin and my artwork... usually in that order. I also organically garden in our backyard to sustain my veggie eatin' critters.. and us, of course. Joob (the tortie) helps with the "weeds" and snails

I would say a good 50% of my critters are Rescues from "friends" and the odd pet store employee asking me to take on a sick baby to rehab. (It really does happen.. a chain near me sneaked the RF tortie out as "dead" to get through the "tape" of letting her get rehab with me. Another "mom n pop" place asked me to take a baby Beardie home when I brought his poor status to their mgr's attention.) Needless to say, I suggested proper care to both places and still frequent the compliant one.. surprisingly, the chain.

So anyhow.. that's me in a nutshell.. kind of.


I've been researching BTS for just a few short days and have read the caresheet on this site (only!) almost twice... soon as espresso is ready, I'll dig into it again. I've talked to a couple BTS people and they've told me what I already suspect... an awesome lizard! I contacted one breeder on here and haven't heard back just yet.

I think the diet and the environment are pretty straight forward for me... my other lizards, geckos, etc. are very healthy and vet approved. I just have some specific questions...

Nail trimming? A "how to" with visuals... sorry, I need pics! I'm one of those.

What age BTS for an experienced hobbyist? Would I be better off getting a brand new baby, or a juvie.. an adult? My preference is "the younger the better", but is that smart for my very first BTS?

Rescues? I believe in rescuing first... there's always someone who needs a home with proper care, etc. Are there any absolutely "NO!! don't get yourself into that!!" situations, other than the obvious "retail adoption"?

Lastly... ahem.. for the moment, should I be putting myself on a waiting list with one or two of the breeders here right now? Or should I wait until next season for a kidlet.. I mean, BTS? Am I ready?



Thanks so much!
~Aminah


P.s. Awesome site!!

I just got a brand new baby, and you seem more than prepared to care for one. There doesn't seem to be any advantage to getting an older one, and with those you never know the real history, age, health, etc. Plus, most babies won't be born for another month or so, so there isn't any reason to wait until next year unless you have personal reasons for doing so. I haven't clipped mines nails yet, but I know the size they are now and when I got "him", so I will know how short I can clip them based from that I think.

Hi Aminah,

I'm fairly new to the BTS scene too, although I have many other reps. I ended up buying 2 adults that were being sold by a forum member who lives fairly close to me, mostly out of impatience. I hated the thoughts of waiting for babies. Now I'm THRILLED that I got these 2 though. They were with great people and are healthy, tame, and..well...just wonderful! Except of course now I want a baby too! So that's next on my "must have" list.

I think you sound well prepared to care for either so I don't see a reason to wait.

As for nail clipping...haven't done that yet. I wouldn't mind some visuals on that myself. My beardies, which rarely need it done, prefer being filed over the clippers.

There's lots of great info on here. I sit and just browse through the forum and read in my spare time.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Nail clipping.
Sorry, I don't have pictures, I'll try to make it as detailed as I can.

Get a regular set of human nail clippers. Get your guy our when he's COLD. He'll wriggle less, and bleed less if you nick the quick.

I hold my skink firmly with one hand, and work the clippers with the other, but mine are only young, and still not full sized. With a bigger skink, you may need a second pair of hands. I hold the body in my palm, and the skink's "hand" with my fingertips.

Just take the very tip of the nail off. Their nail has a blood supply like cats and dogs.

If it bleeds, keep the skink off their substrate and on something like paper towel till it stops. It should only take less than a minute or so. If you're worried about hygiene, you can dab the "bleeder" with a weak betadine solution.

If your skink is restless, only do a couple of toenails at a time, or just take it out later when it's more sedate. A nail clipping that stretches over a few days is better than an injury.

Another thing is, if you have an area with a rough surface like concrete where you can safely let it roam a little every now and then, you'll have to trim their nails much less often.

BTS as babies are great. As Omega said, if you get a baby from a breeder on here, you know its history and you get to stay in contact with that breeder throughout your skink's life.

Nothing wrong with "adoption" of a skink in need. Lots of people on here have skinks that came from less than ideal environments, or genuinely abusive ones.
http://www.bluetongueskinks.net/forum/v ... php?t=8545
(read about LeaBilby's Kiah)

http://www.bluetongueskinks.net/forum/v ... 0&start=30 (scroll down to my comment about Brock, and his two new skingles)

Just make sure the adoption need is genuine, and that you're not being had. Read this old thread that someone revived recently, and see how some people out there are using the term "adoption" to just try and make a buck at the expense of the skink.

http://www.bluetongueskinks.net/forum/v ... .php?t=529
(Trogdor found some shady folk in Utah)

As for the lists, now is the time to do it! It's baby season in the USA! Some are born already (Ray's Tannies) and some are looking like they'll be ready within the next month or so (Zach's skinks). There are other people on here too that will have babies ready soon. So put your name down. You'll get a great skink.

Check out the fact sheets, ask around and work out what variety you'd like. Most people on here will tell you that tanimbars are not for first time BTS owners. I keep Easterns myself, and they're gorgeous, but I know they're harder to get in the USA.

Thank you sooo much! I read that thread by Trogdor last night, actually. It is amazing what people will try to pull off... hence my comment about "retail adoptions". I do the occasional rescue and I'm rarely surprised what people will try, but always amazed.

As I mentioned in the other thread, I made contact with one of the breeders on this site and am anxiously awaiting a little Classic Northern baby. I feel like an expectant "momma" all over again. LOL

As for the nail clipping.. your description was very straightforward and I'm pretty sure I can handle it without amputating any toes I think what got me all nervous was reading the caresheet about the same thing and it vaguely mentioning "a certain angle to cut" or something like that. I'd have to go back and look again... it was wee hours... and I need to read through it a few more times anyway. (I'm a lizard geek.. and a good caresheet to me is like a good novel would be to others.. )


Thanks again,
~Aminah

You can use nail clippers or toe-nail scissors for clipping their nails.

One little trick is to smear the cutting edge of the clippers or scissors in Betadine ointment.

thanks.. so I'll add betadine ointment to my medicine cabinet

I'm beginning to think the nail clipping will be very similar to clipping rattie kids' nails... lots of squirming, wiggling, fussin' and cussin' and 2 nails done at each attempt

Probably very similar!

Welcome! I'm glad we could be a source of Bluey care for you!

(um... what the heck is a "rattie kid?")

Enjoy the forum!

KW

I took it to mean pet rat.

I was thinking little dirty kids with long hair and fingernails, like that kid on Mad Max that just grunted like an animal.

KW

This is a rattie kid...



Poodah!


I have 17 of these kidlets... some rescues, some the results of Poodah's brief encounter with Tiffany

And nail clipping, even with this big squish... even hand-raising him from just few days old... does not make him any easier to mani and pedi

Aww!

KW

Heyyyy... where'd you find that pic of me just waking up?

Are you midget-like in nature?

KW

Ummm.. no.. rather the opposite!

That's the feral kid from Mad Max ..... isn't it? Yep, it's gotta be!

Nature's Gift wrote:That's the feral kid from Mad Max ..... isn't it? Yep, it's gotta be!

Yeah....can't you tell how styled his hair is?

kristymac wrote:

Nature's Gift wrote:That's the feral kid from Mad Max ..... isn't it? Yep, it's gotta be!

Yeah....can't you tell how styled his hair is?

I know a guy who has hair like that he's a little stuck in the 80's he even still buys aquanet.