Who keeps several bts together?

[sd reptiles]

Dous anyone keeps some animals together?
My ij male lives separeted , my couple patternless together and my 2 hetero females also together.

[Katrina]

Housing multiple blueys together is uncommon in North America - many of the species we commonly have don't do well in groups or else the people keeping them don't have enough experience to do it successfully. Because most people coming to this site are fairly new to Blue Tongue Skinks, we generally recommend never housing multiple blueys together because it will likely lead to fighting and problems.

With certain species, such as Blotchies or Shingles, it is much easier to house them together. Housing together is more common in Australia where large, outdoor pits is possible. To my knowledge, it is also much more common in Europe. It definitely can be done, but it depends on the species and sex. It isn't something that this site recommends, but again - that is largely because people coming here are researching their first BTS and it probably isn't something a beginner can do successfully and the risks are too high.

[sd reptiles]

My skinks are verry young at the moment and they seems to like having other bts around them.
But like you said , time will make experience , so time will tell.

[Katrina]

Blue tongue skinks are solitary creatures, so they don't need or like having another one around. They might tolerate it, but just make sure they have lots of hides and lots of space. I wouldn't keep IJs together, so just be careful with them.

[sd reptiles]

No my IJ male is to big , he stays alone.
Wouldnt take that risk.

[Panana_Blue]

I wouldnt advise some species live together in one enclosure, specially very limited space. Even my female IJ i'd rather gave her some peacefully her own space. I've been planning to put them in open out door pit. with merauke Im not too worry with female, but because they are so large and
long size, still like give them space by them self in one housing.

[Fatal_S]

Normally all my skinks live separately, but sometimes I let some females out at the same time during playtimes. Always supervised. Thing is I think I may need to house my Tanimbars together when they wake up. I brumated them last year, but they're so spazzy they freak out when I put them together for breeding and they just end up running from each other and making a terrible mess. I'll definitely make a post about it if that's what I end up trying this Spring.

[Jeff]

My feeling on this topic is that it is better to be discussed one on one between people who have specific situations they are discussing. In general, it is extremely dangerous to keep blueys together. I can assure you, I have seen first hand what they are capable of doing to each other, and it is not pretty. Because of that, it is very likely that a pucblic discussion on the topic could be read by someone who does not realize that the situation(s) being discussed are actually very different than their own. This could lead to them putting two skinks together that should never be together.

It is definitely possible to keep bts together is some situations. Even two individual skinks from a species that normally doesn't live together peacefully can live together at times. This is the exception though, not the rule. Most of the time the only way to find out if your two skinks can live together peacefully is to put them together and see if they kill each other. The time it takes one bts to kill another with a well targeted bite can be seconds. They probably won't do it right when you put them together and are watching them. It is more likely that they will fight when you are not around to do anything about it. Some skinks will live together seemingly "happy" for years, only for you to come home to find one or both dead.

No matter what, there is always a significant risk in keeping more than one bts in an enclosure. That is why it is probably best to make the blanket statement on the public forum; "DO NOT KEEP TWO BTS TOGETHER". If someone takes this advice when they are new to bts, there is no downside. Their skinks will not be at risk of injury. If they stay in the hobby long enough to gain some experience, and then have a desire to keep more than one skink in an enclosure for some reason, by that time they should have met experienced people that they can discuss it with.

This is not just something I tell other people, I believe it myself. I keep a fairly large number of scincoides and gigas that take up a lot of space. It would be MUCH easier for me to keep at least some of them in groups. Even so, I have NEVER even considered it for a minute. They mean way too much to me to take that risk. The consequences are just too great for me.

On the other hand, I do keep my shinglebacks together in a group. My educated opinion is that the risk involved in this is very small. NOT just because my shinglebacks have not shown aggression toward each other, but because of many many long, personal conversations with others who have kept shiinglebacks together for years. I did not start keeping them together until I had done hours of research on every aspect of doing so. Even now, after having them together for a number of years, I still monitor their interactions very closely. Things for them do change during the breeding season, and I have had to separate two males because I saw what I believe could have been the signs of "dislike" toward each other.

If anyone is serious about keeping any bts together, I would strongly recommend that you find someone who has kept that species together themselves, and speak with them privately. Hopefully you can find multiple people with experience to get different perspectives. That way it will be much easier to address the exact scenario you are considering, without the risk of anyone misunderstanding things that are being said.

[Fatal_S]

Awesome post, Jeff. Very well said.

[Richard.C]

i keep westerns,centralians,blotcheds and easterns together,i have 3 northerns that happilly live together,but another 3 whom dont so they live seperatly,my stumpies are in a group to,2 males,2 females and a sub adult female with a large kimberley northern,because he continuously escapes his cage,some will live with others well,some wont,and there is always the risk that ones that co habit well will suddenly not,so always an idea to err on the side of safety for them aND HOUSE SEPERATLY

[Lauriek]

I keep southern blotched bluetongues together and also 2 shinglebacks live together.
Now Barnum and Bailey (the blotchies) were supposed to be either boys or girls. Barnum (formerly named Killer by previous owner because he would bite you) is actually female and Bailey (formerly Liz) is male. They were kept together for over 7 years and nothing happened. I get given them and guess what happens. Yep. 5 bubs in March last year. Barnum turned out to be female, which actually didn't surprise me because she's quite big. I have separated Barnum and Bailey as I don't want more lizards. Barnum can be quite aggressive when it comes to food. She doesn't seem to mind being by herself. I've got Bailey and Bliss in together. Nothing's happened yet and I hope it doesn't . I'm looking for another viv as Bliss 'tolerates' Bailey.

Blotchies don't seem to mind being together, as long as there is no competition over food, otherwise they will bite eachother and when it's competition over food (or a female) they can be quite agressive. The shingles don't mind either. The shinglebacks are much gentler than the blotchies. The main issue is space. If the viv is big enough and they can get away from each other they are better for it.

HOWEVER, generally speaking, it is NOT RECOMMENDED to keep IJ's; northerns, easterns together. In fact, I wouldn't keep those species together.

[Richard.C]

blotch males can be aggressive over the breeding season,a dominance thing,also if you put a new male in at that time he would probably get killed,tried it once and he was set apon by 6 males,that was in an outdoor cage,so he was kept indoors till late summer then reintroduced to the outdoor cage where he has been fine ever since,3 years now,indoors is different,as theres less room for them to escape an attacker,but even northerns will attack cage mates in outdoor enclosures,i believe scott had issues with a few easterns outdoors together as well

[Lauriek]

Richard, thanks for that info. I've currently go 6 blotchies. Bliss and Barnum are female, Bailey is male. I have no idea the sex of Balto, on of Barnum's bubs that I'm keeping, nor do I know the sex of the other 2 that I haven't named and are for sale (I'm running out of room). In your experience, how do blotchie females go together. Barnum is fine as long as she's well fed Oh my that girl can eat a lot !!

[KateBeer]

I have a pair of Meraukes that will have been captive farmed/wild caught, that are a pair and have been together since the petshop. They do however have a 5x2foot vivarium. No scraps or issues. The year before I happened to acquire them they bred.
I tried to keep my baby tanimbars together 2 in a 4x18 vivarium, it has worked for one pair-I say worked they have a showdown when they come across each other, its a situation being monitored continuously, but not for the other pair. Animal temperaments and definately species-type plays a hand in deciding whether it is a good idea. When you read books talking about doing it they are usually Australian using outside enclosures a damn-site bigger than any vivariums we keep in. And the Germans have minimum vivarium sizes to conform to which also allows it a little easier (I believe).
Visual breaks and barriers and a busy 3D environment would help.
As we all know they are solitary 'antisocial' animals, from what I have read whilst females have a local 'hangout/digs' of area, males tend to cross a few of these females territories

[Richard.C]

laurie,ive never seen female blueys be aggressive with other females,only time would be over anxious males during the breeding season,i have more males than females and have had up to 5 males harrassing one female before,so cant blame her for telling them off,only other time maybe at feeding time,sometimes they want what the other lizard is eating instead of whats in the bowl,even though its exactly the same and theres more of it in the bowl,maybe its the movement,but often they will grab at anothers head

[Richard.C]

i wouldnt say they live as solitary antisocial animals,year round i often see wild easterns in groups ,more so in our back yard,but have in the past elsewhere to,they arent social like a group of cunninghams skinks would be,but they are often in decent groups

[nakerz_loves_bts]

I would never keep bluetongues together (especially easterns) as I have personally had some bad injuries to my smaller male when I kept my two together when I was noobie beyond belief. I also have a mate who had a big (massive) outdoor pit and had 2 males and a big group of females and the bigger male went over to the smaller male, started a fight, latched onto the smaller bluey's head and literlly crushed it.