question about finding northerns

[sobo]

After talking about it for a while my girlfriend and I have decided to get a lizard. I have kept and bred bearded dragons and leapord geckos in the past, but have always been intrigued by BTS. After doing some research, it looks like a BTS would fit us perfectly. I also decided that I would really prefer a northern.

However, I can't seem to find any juvenile northerns. Coming from beardies, I figured the other popular Australian lizard would be a similar situation, but I learned that BTS aren't quite as prolific as beardies. Anyway, I was just wondering if you guys knew if there was a chance of finding a young northern at this time in the US, or if I'm going to have to wait until next summer for litters to be born. Thanks in advance!

[Spindown]

blueys are not NEARLY as popular as beardies, since they huff when they freak out, and people tend to think they are hissing at them. They think they are aggressive and unfriendly, and find some other more docile seeming pet. Blueys will sit in pet stores for MONTHS because of this. So sad

Also, they are extremely hard to sex, so most people dont breed them. Too much of a pain in the butt.

About availability I cant tell you, I'm hoping for a litter this summer but we'll see

[sobo]

I didn't realize that they were so hard to sell at a pet shop, but I get it. I guess the $100+ price tag would be a deterrent if you didn't know much about them. Especially with the cheaper beardie sitting next to it.

I think I may be waiting it out til next summer. Seems like I made the decision to get one at the wrong time of the year

[taniya91]

have you checked the classified section on this site? thats where i got my two northerns in september...they are both adults but I LOVE THEM SOOOO MUCH lol they are amazing
i got my third one (IJ) just a few weeks later from craigslist ...and she has an amazing personality as well, i wont lie she is a lot funnier then my northerns haha

even though they are all adults i dont regret not getting a juvi or a baby ...just a thought... there are also juvi and baby bts on the classifieds though so dont let that deter you!

[dsteamn]

This is pretty much the beginning of breeding season in the US. My two male northerns have been awake for about three weeks now. One of my females just poked her head up on Sunday and was immediately nailed. Her answer to that was to go back to bed. Their gestation periods have all been 120 - 130 days in the past, so I'm looking to have babies somewhere around the middle of May to the first of June this year, which will be about two weeks earlier than in the past since they are all waking up sooner.

Even though the temptation is there to get a BTS from the store, I encourage you to find a breeder and get one there. Here in Virginia, they sell for around $150 in pet shops. I think it stresses them out when they are left there for any period of time with all the sights and smells of other animals, not to mention the people banging on their enclosures all day long. A good breeder will be handling the little ones so there will be no agressive issues by the time you get it. That's usually not the case from store bought animals. Waiting a little longer will really pay off in the long run.

[Richard.C]

Also alot of pet store blueys are wild caught imports and the babies of gravid wildcaughts,hence a bit fiesty,they go through a bit of stress with the whole import process,may to july seems to be the baby season in your neck of the woods if your chasing a newborn,there still could be some of last seasons babies floating around though