New to Blue Tongues...got questions =).

[Darkangel92]

Alright so I was at a reptile show yesterday and I have been wanting a Blue for a while and I had an empty 75gal tank just chillin in my garage from when I had my bearded dragons so...i came home with one after lots of convicing for my mom lol. He's 8 months old and just about 1.5' long and i've named him Rex cuz he's like a little t-rex with those little arms lol.

Alright so I have him in the 75gal with the coconut mulch bedding and will be getting some more cypress mulch from work (petsmart) tomorrow to make it a little deeper. Ive got a 100W basking bulb on one end and a 26W UVB bulb in the middle. The temp guage under the basking bulb is at around 86F. Today he chowed down on 25 superworms!!! lol. I've tried giving him some collard greens and strawberries but he only seems to like the worms and the peice of turkey I gave him from my sandwhich lol. What else do I need? And any pointers? What do your Blues like to eat?? Also wondering what type of Blue Tongue he is? Like coloring and all that lol.

Heres a pic of the tank.


He has like an orange stomach if that helps to determine what his coloring or genetics may be...not very clear but yea lol.

[Bird_Brain]

Welcome! You have a Merauke BTS. Beautiful skink! The FAQ section has a great food chart to help you get a better idea of foods
viewforum.php?f=24

anything else feel free to ask. As far as purchasing cypress mulch from petsmart, you may be able to save quite a bit of money buy from a lawn and garden center. It is a very common mulch for landscaping. From others I have talked to who live in Florida, you need to be careful about insects if you do get it from a garden center.

[Darkangel92]

Welcome! You have a Merauke BTS. Beautiful skink! The FAQ section has a great food chart to help you get a better idea of foods
http://bluetongueskinks.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=24

anything else feel free to ask. As far as purchasing cypress mulch from petsmart, you may be able to save quite a bit of money buy from a lawn and garden center. It is a very common mulch for landscaping. From others I have talked to who live in Florida, you need to be careful about insects if you do get it from a garden center.

Thanks for the info, im gonna go check out that site in a few =). As far as the mulch, thats why I would rather get it from petsmart cuz I know it wont have any mites in it lol.

[Bird_Brain]

Honestly I dont think Mites are the concern. Its more the roaches, spiders, earwigs, etc. IMO, it almost seems like getting mites in bedding is almost an "Old Wives Tale". Almost everyone in the reptile community has heard of this, yet I have not seen/heard of one confirmed/proven case that the mites came from the bedding.

[AnnaMonroe]

Congratulations! He looks wonderful. Hope he is nice and docile!!

[Richard.C]

welcome to the forum and congrats on first bluey,looks in good shape and a nice example of a meurake

mites would be of more concern from a petshop housing reptiles from all over the place rather than from substrate at a hardware store,u can treat substrate before use as well, petshops charge a lot for there stuff,some exactly the same as what u can get cheap from a hardware store

like reptileking said,usually its othet bugs if theres bugs in the substrate,not snake mites,but theres ways to trear substrate to rid it of bugs before use if that concerns u,good mite sprays,heating in an oven ect

[Darkangel92]

I'm getting bedding from petsmart so im not worried lol. I get a discount anyway since I work there lol

[Richard.C]

cage looks good,if thats a hotrock,just be careful as they can cause burns to reptiles,only other thing i can think of is perhaps aim for higher basking temp,86 farenhite isnt overly hot,id be aiming for 90 to 95 in the basking spot at least,main aim is above preffered body temp of the lizard so it can bask and raise body temp high enough

[Darkangel92]

Nope not a hotrock. I know how dangerous those can be =\. But i will get the basking bulb higher thanks

[Susann]

No, you would want the basking bulb LOWER for it to heat the bottom of the tank more
Most of us also tend to keep our UVB lamp closer to the heating lamp, #1, to imitate nature where they would bask in the sun for both their heat AND their rays, and #2, to concentrate the heat to one side and the coolness to the other side. For a Merauke, you would want a temperature gradient from about 75 degrees to about 95 degrees, with a basking spot up to around 105 degrees.

Welcome, and congrats on a BEAUTIFUL Merauke!

[Edward]