Proper Heating (New Hobbyist)

[lukep721]

Howdy all. There's no way around it, I'm ecstatic to be joining the ranks of the Blue Tongue hobbyists. I've done plenty of research, searched high and low for a suitable tank (Nat Geo Reptile Sanctuary 36x18x16/18(?) still waiting to hear back about the exact height), read the care sheets and watched plenty of Reptile mountain.TV and my journey has led me to the endeavor of heating my new scaled buddy. I'm quite familiar with the temperatures I need to maintain but I figured maybe someone from the East Coast or even other colder areas during the winter could assist me in choosing the right heating.

I'm not sure what wattage to go for with the basking bulb or a ceramic heat emitter for when it's off. I'd prefer not to purchase multiple bulbs and Cinderella slipper them until I meet my temperatures but rather have someone with similar dimensions in their enclosure inform me of what they use (if possible). I also know my room is a factor and in the winter it can get a little brisk. Nothing crazy but if I'm not meeting my temperatures during the colder seasons, would a heating pad under a rock be the way to go (suggested on the ReptileMountain caresheet)? Will thermostats work on CHE bulbs and basking bulbs as well?

I will be getting a temperature gun to ensure that everything is up to standard for my skink. I figured I might also have to use a mix of repti-chips and Aspen or pure repti-chips to maintain humidity in the winter.

Thanks for your time. Cheers.

[kingofnobbys]

36" x 18" foot print is IMO too small for an adult BTS (any species).
OK for a baby or a juvenile for it's first 12 months.

Your skink looks like an indo BT to me , not a northern or eastern BT. You need to be 100% sure of it's species as different species have different environmental needs.

I recommend going to a 4ft x 2ft x 16" to 18" tall timber tank , will need to be varnished inside to protect the wood from the effect of high humidity ( needed for Indonesian origin BTs like your's).
Solid top , front sliding glass doors will maintain a constant temperature ( and you''ll need less basking globe or CHE (at night) wattage , and will help maintain required humidity in tank.

[lukep721]

36" x 18" foot print is IMO too small for an adult BTS (any species).
OK for a baby or a juvenile for it's first 12 months.

Your skink looks like an indo BT to me , not a northern or eastern BT. You need to be 100% sure of it's species as different species have different environmental needs.

I recommend going to a 4ft x 2ft x 16" to 18" tall timber tank , will need to be varnished inside to protect the wood from the effect of high humidity ( needed for Indonesian origin BTs like your's).
Solid top , front sliding glass doors will maintain a constant temperature ( and you''ll need less basking globe or CHE (at night) wattage , and will help maintain required humidity in tank.

Aren't northerns characterized by their plain front legs and bands that go from dark to light on them?

[kingofnobbys]

Howdy all. There's no way around it, I'm ecstatic to be joining the ranks of the Blue Tongue hobbyists. I've done plenty of research, searched high and low for a suitable tank (Nat Geo Reptile Sanctuary 36x18x16/18(?) still waiting to hear back about the exact height), read the care sheets and watched plenty of Reptile mountain.TV and my journey has led me to the endeavor of heating my new scaled buddy. I'm quite familiar with the temperatures I need to maintain but I figured maybe someone from the East Coast or even other colder areas during the winter could assist me in choosing the right heating.

I'm not sure what wattage to go for with the basking bulb or a ceramic heat emitter for when it's off. I'd prefer not to purchase multiple bulbs and Cinderella slipper them until I meet my temperatures but rather have someone with similar dimensions in their enclosure inform me of what they use (if possible). I also know my room is a factor and in the winter it can get a little brisk. Nothing crazy but if I'm not meeting my temperatures during the colder seasons, would a heating pad under a rock be the way to go (suggested on the ReptileMountain caresheet)? Will thermostats work on CHE bulbs and basking bulbs as well?
<<< unless it's a MVB , a dimming thermostat with remote probe will be work for a basking bulk and for a CHE , I'd have the bulb and CHE on separate circuits and separate thermostats , the bulb can be on a timer as well, I'd essentially leave the CHE on 24/7 unless it's warm weather and it's thermostat will take care of running overnight when the baskng bulb is off , it's thermostat will turn it off automatically during the day.

I will be getting a temperature gun to ensure that everything is up to standard for my skink. I figured I might also have to use a mix of repti-chips and Aspen or pure repti-chips to maintain humidity in the winter.
<<< a gun with adjustable emissivity and a narrow spot ( say at least 1:12 , 1:18 is better) is a good investment (BUT WILL GIVE surface temperatures. I recommend visiting Ebay and buying a few of these : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-07/ ... ry/6374432 or similar , dangle their probes in strategic spots to get zone air temperatures and perhaps bury one on the bedding or place under the hide to get temperatures there too.
My BTS tanks have
1 probe in the warm zone,
1 probe in the cool zone
1 probe attached to the heatpad ( which is sandwiched between floor tiles and is under the warm zone hide )
1 probe attached to the basking spot directly under the basking globe
1 probe buried under my substrate ( taped to wall but poking out from the wall ).
I can see at glance what my tanks' temperatures are .

Thanks for your time. Cheers.

(White Plains Expo can't come soon enough! Thanks Blake from Blake's Exotic Reptiles!)

[kingofnobbys]

36" x 18" foot print is IMO too small for an adult BTS (any species).
OK for a baby or a juvenile for it's first 12 months.

Your skink looks like an indo BT to me , not a northern or eastern BT. You need to be 100% sure of it's species as different species have different environmental needs.

I recommend going to a 4ft x 2ft x 16" to 18" tall timber tank , will need to be varnished inside to protect the wood from the effect of high humidity ( needed for Indonesian origin BTs like your's).
Solid top , front sliding glass doors will maintain a constant temperature ( and you''ll need less basking globe or CHE (at night) wattage , and will help maintain required humidity in tank.

Aren't northerns characterized by their plain front legs and bands that go from dark to light on them?

https://blutongued.com/how-identify-blue-tongue/

Be very careful of non-breeders selling skinks claimed be northerns. You wont be first NOOB conned and sold a indo claimed to be an ( expensive , rare in the USA) northern.
(especially fly by nighters at "shows" or selling on Craig's list and through pet shops , lot of them are not northerns).
I don't know if Blake's Exotic Reptiles is a GENUINE BTS breeder or simply a pet shop who doesn't care where the reptiles originate. Nor do I know what their reputation is (good or bad).

Legally the only eastern and northern BTS available in the USA are captive bred from captive bred parents as it's been strictly illegal to export Australian reptiles since the 1970s. Ask to see photos of the breeding facility , the siblings of the skink you're interested in buying, and the parents of the skink , and if the seller can't / wont play ball, IMO you should walk away from the deal (as it's either been poached from the wild and illegally trafficked, or it's not the species they claim it to be).

[lukep721]

Ask to see photos of the breeding facility , the siblings of the skink you're interested in buying, and the parents of the skink , and if the seller can't / wont play ball, IMO you should walk away from the deal (as it's either been poached from the wild and illegally trafficked, or it's not the species they claim it to be).

These are the siblings and parents. They're on a diet of wet and hard cat food. Being housed separately on Aspen and were born 6/26/19. (Asked the questions from the care sheet)

[kingofnobbys]

Good that you've done some checking.

IMO no 9 is the pick of the crop ( a sweet looking little girl ).

[lukep721]

Good that you've done some checking.

IMO no 9 is the pick of the crop ( a sweet looking little girl ).

They're all very beautiful haha it was a tough choice. Related to the dimmer thermostats and timers could you give me a run down of what would connect to what exactly. You mentioned separate thermostats but I'm not sure if the dimmers are external from the thermostats or if I need multiple dimmers/timers. I know I'll have my UVB source and basking bulb on a timer with just the basking bulb on the thermostat (do they make ones with dimmers?) and then a CHE on a thermostat on 24/7 off of the timer for that should kick into gear once the UVB and basking light goes out.

[kingofnobbys]

Good that you've done some checking.

IMO no 9 is the pick of the crop ( a sweet looking little girl ).

They're all very beautiful haha it was a tough choice. Related to the dimmer thermostats and timers could you give me a run down of what would connect to what exactly. You mentioned separate thermostats but I'm not sure if the dimmers are external from the thermostats or if I need multiple dimmers/timers. I know I'll have my UVB source and basking bulb on a timer with just the basking bulb on the thermostat (do they make ones with dimmers?) and then a CHE on a thermostat on 24/7 off of the timer for that should kick into gear once the UVB and basking light goes out.

I don't need to use a CHE in my skink or dragon tanks , I'm in a coastal subtropical area ( north coast of NSW in Australia , I've never seen a frost in my yard , and rarely see temperatures under 5 degrees C) so a thermocouple controlled heatpad ( sandwiched between two layers of ceramic tiles ) is more than sufficient heat overnight for my bearded dragons, eastern bluetongues, eastern water skink and delicate skinks. My heatpad temperature management is via a simple switching thermostat ( I don't need a dimmer style thermostat on the heatpad circuit).

This is a generalize layout of how I would set up your tank


For example for my easterns , my basking spot is set to stay close to 34 degC during daytime , and my heat-slab (pad sandwiched between tiles) set to stay at 28 degC (24/7) This seems to be what my pair like.

[lukep721]

They're all very beautiful haha it was a tough choice. Related to the dimmer thermostats and timers could you give me a run down of what would connect to what exactly. You mentioned separate thermostats but I'm not sure if the dimmers are external from the thermostats or if I need multiple dimmers/timers. I know I'll have my UVB source and basking bulb on a timer with just the basking bulb on the thermostat (do they make ones with dimmers?) and then a CHE on a thermostat on 24/7 off of the timer for that should kick into gear once the UVB and basking light goes out.

I don't need to use a CHE in my skink or dragon tanks , I'm in a coastal subtropical area ( north coast of NSW in Australia , I've never seen a frost in my yard , and rarely see temperatures under 5 degrees C) so a thermocouple controlled heatpad ( sandwiched between two layers of ceramic tiles ) is more than sufficient heat overnight for my bearded dragons, eastern bluetongues, eastern water skink and delicate skinks. My heatpad temperature management is via a simple switching thermostat ( I don't need a dimmer style thermostat on the heatpad circuit).

This is a generalize layout of how I would set up your tank


For example for my easterns , my basking spot is set to stay close to 34 degC during daytime , and my heat-slab (pad sandwiched between tiles) set to stay at 28 degC (24/7) This seems to be what my pair like.

Wow that's a great diagram! Thanks so much. Also, after seeing the siblings and parents, do they look like northerns?

[kingofnobbys]

Top one looks more like a central , Tiliqua multifasciata
Note the natural range ( very unlikely to range will be deliminated in the north end so abruptly.
https://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid ... d4265e2a10 , this is more representative https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/109 ... phic-range.

Bottom one looks like a blond version of northern ,Tiliqua scincoides intermedia,
Note the natural range https://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid ... a873c0cc51

And looking at the relevant section of A Guide to Australian Skinks In Captivity ( Dr.D.Brown ) I think the chances are the parents are a mix of the above.
The overlapping ranges of Tiliqua scincoides intermedia and Tiliqua multifasciata results in cross breeding the wild.
I don't regard myself as an expert in anyway regarding IDing BTS species . .

[splashy07]

The parents you posted the pictures of are mine. The siblings are not. What's going on here?

[splashy07]

And to add, they are one hundred fifty percent northern. I have paperwork containing their lineage.

[splashy07]

Any questions please contact me, I just realized who Blakes exotics was. He purchased an entire litter from me. All is good, but I am the breeder. And if he is on aspen, get him off. Not a good substrate for any BTS.

[splashy07]

One more thing, the mention of multifacsciata? What???? It is easier to get shinglebacks than those in the US. I HAVE BEEN TRYING FOREVER!

[kingofnobbys]

One more thing, the mention of multifacsciata? What???? It is easier to get shinglebacks than those in the US. I HAVE BEEN TRYING FOREVER!

Like I said , no expert here , just looked like a central to me by it's markings and their range does overlap with northerns so depending on where it's ancestors originated (when they were taken from the wild by someone a long time ago) , it may have some central genetics in it that are influencing it's coloration and patterning.

Shingles are a great animal, no local breeders in my area , nearest I know off are in SW Sydney, so I've been waiting for a while too. Gosford Reptile Park is closer and has a colony ( but they never sell to hobbyists).
A pair of breeding Shingles is on my bucket list , along with a pair of frilled necked dragons , a colony of netted dragons , a colony of velvet geckos , and a male eastern water skink.

[lukep721]

Any questions please contact me, I just realized who Blakes exotics was. He purchased an entire litter from me. All is good, but I am the breeder. And if he is on aspen, get him off. Not a good substrate for any BTS.

Sent you a PM. Still learning how this site works. Thanks for the clarification.