Our Halmahera BTS and its local Anole friend

[Geologistlikesskinks]

So here are some pictures of our family's first BTS. We got her (don't know for sure but we call it a her because that's what My oldest daughter hopes it is) last August, she was supposed to be a hatchling at the time but was probably already about 6 to 7 inches long including tale at that time. We got her because my oldest Daughter, Virginia, had fallen in love with BTSs at the age of 4 when a friend of hers gave her a reptile book that included BTSs and she asked for the next 4 years when we could get one. So when she turned 8 we got one for her and I to share. She named her....Blue. Blue is a Halmaheran and is super docile, she's become a regular member of our family and is loved by all three of our girls and even by our two black labs, who for a while were terrified by Blue but have come to accept her. As everybody knows this has been a crazy winter this year in the US and back in November after a long cold spell with several periods below freezing we had a warm-up for about a day and a random Anole (now named Nelly) woke up and ended up on our doorstep that day. The girls thought we should bring her in and let her stay with Blue until it warmed up (I thought Nelly might possibly make a nice snack for Blue, but said OK anyway). They have now been living together for four months or so and have gradually become more and more used to each other. Other than several months of Nelly initially being afraid of Blue, and Blue constantly eating most of Nelly's food, things have gone well and we are confident that Nelly will survive the winter and be able to be released back to the yard in the spring (today Nelly actually decided to rest on Blue's back for a while during cage cleaning).

Baby Blue.jpg

Big Blue on Rock.jpg

Cage View.jpg

From back.jpg

Hello.jpg

Nelly and Blue.jpg

Peak at you.jpg

swapin places.jpg

Whats for dinner.jpg

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

Welcome
I'm glad to see that you want to help the Anole, but you should have either left it outside, or bought another enclosure for it. Anoles need more climbing space than Blue Tongues and there is none in your enclosure.
The anole can also pass harmful parasites and other microorganisms to the skink.
I am actually very surprised that the anole has not been eaten by the skink yet. I suspect that it is because of the anole's ability to climb glass and its speed advantage over the skink. I do not think the anole will be around much longer though.

[Richard.C]

Nice looking halm,its grown well and looks in great shape,ive seen many blueys eat smaller lizards over the years,including there own young or anothers,so be wary with the anole,if blueys well fed though,which yours appears to be maybe no issue,there all individuals in that regard

Welcome to bts.net

[Geologistlikesskinks]

We never thought about the parasite threat, how bad is it? Can I take her to an exotic species vet and have her checked out? She has exhibited no unusual symptoms so I have not thought about it until your post. Also, until the cage cleaning yesterday we had a potted Aloe plant in the enclosure that let Nelly climb up high. When I pulled it out yesterday the longest branch was about 1.5 feet and it had bent over due to the screen top so it was off balance. I was planning on repotting it and putting it back in.

We tried to release Nelly this afternoon when it was an unseasonable ~70, but the temps dropped very quickly and Nelly turned an unnatural brownish/purplish color (I didn't think anoles could even do that) and refused to move for over an hour. He was so still my 4 year old was able to pick him up and return him to the cage with no struggle. I guess we will keep him until evening temperatures are forecast to be above 60 hopefully only another two to three weeks.

[Geologistlikesskinks]

Different point of discussion, we don't knoe of any other BTS owners in our geographical area and would love to find out if there are any so we could meet and swap stories. If you are in the Woodstock, GA North metro Atlanta area and have a BTS please contact me.

[Geologistlikesskinks]

BTW is there any way to get an idea about if it is really a "she". Based on my past lizard experience and the fatness of "her" neck I am thinking she is a he.....

[Teacup]

Different point of discussion, we don't knoe of any other BTS owners in our geographical area and would love to find out if there are any so we could meet and swap stories. If you are in the Woodstock, GA North metro Atlanta area and have a BTS please contact me.

I live in Lawrenceville, GA. Just got my first BTS a few months ago.