I fell in love with the Alpine Blotched Blue Tongue Skink.
I will probably end up getting a northern bluetongue skink, maybe a Pitch black line, or a Swedish or sunset one, because Alpine Blotched are too difficult to find and very expensive, but they remain my dream.... who has them?
Can you really help me? I need to know your real-life experiences.
I hope you'll have the patience to read.
I was determined to get a bearded dragon as my first reptile, then I discovered blue-tongued skinks.
At first, I didn't particularly like them aesthetically, but after seeing them in person and handling them at various shows, I changed my mind; they really do have a charm.
Both for ethical reasons (risk of being caught in the wild) and for handling/character reasons, I'm thinking of a northern blue-tongued skink, perhaps not exactly a baby.
Let's get to the point. While I've seen many truly splendid bearded dragons in terms of handling and know what to expect from almost all of them, I really have no idea what to expect from a northern one. I read a lot of experiences, but often about Indonesian skinks, and I don't know if they were caught in the wild.
Can you tell me exactly what your experiences handling northern skinks are? It's essential for me. I know they're not dogs, and I don't want to handle them every day, but I'd like something similar to a bearded dragon in terms of handling.
What do you like and dislike about your blue-tongued skink outside of the terrarium? How does it behave?
At the expo and reading, they say they're interesting, very intelligent, and very similar.
What's the truth? Can you tell me what you do with them in the terrarium and what they do when you handle them, like in the evening after dinner?
I'd also like to know if any of you are European and can consult breeders, even in private.
Thanks so much for the replies. Sorry for the long post and my terrible English.
PS the attached photo is of a tiliqua that I fell in love with at the expo
In my country, there are some truly talented terrarium builders who create masterpieces. For a crested gecko or a leopard gecko, I think I'll have them made; they're very beautiful, both aesthetically and as enrichment for geckos. My doubt, however, is about animals like bearded dragons and northern blue-tongued skinks. Do you think this is appropriate? These reptiles, from what I read, make a lot of mess. Is it appropriate to have enrichment that you can't move for cleaning, that you can't change, or is it better to have the terrarium only technically set up with lights, UVB, etc. and add enrichment that isn't as attractive but that I can move, move, and change?
Another question: for northern blue tongued skink 150 cm in length is better, but what's better in height and depth?
Excuse my poor English.
I find both lizards extremely interesting, but I've also found conflicting information about them.
Let's start with terrarium management. PS: Sorry for my bad English.
What are the terrarium requirements in terms of temperature, humidity, OPTIMAL size (not minimum), and best setup? What are the differences?
Feeding: I've read that zebra lizards, in particular, are fed very differently depending on the breeder, from dog meat like the blue-tongued lizard, to only insects, to a diet based on ciliates. For gidgee lizards, however, I often read about only insects or insects and a diet based on ciliates.
Handling: Some say they're shy, others say they let you touch them but don't like it, and still others say they're better than blue-tongued lizards (especially zebra lizards). Could you clarify this for me?
How much can you see of them in the terrarium during the day and in the evening/morning?
Regarding purchasing, does anyone know anything about the European market? I found several of both at the fair. When I asked for information, everyone told me they were raised by a breeder and not caught in the wild. How can I be sure?
I was planning on getting a northern blue-tongued lizard, but these two intrigue me and I'd like to learn more.
Sorry for my poor English.
I'm especially in love with almost all desert lizards.
At the same time, I'm increasingly in love with naturalistic terrarium setups like bioactive rainforests.
If I'm thinking of getting one in the future, which lizards would you recommend?
My dream would be lizards that are visible during the day and can be handled at least occasionally.
I'm not concerned about size, although I wouldn't want it to be huge.
I know that New Caledonian geckos or a few day geckos are usually added.
Do you have any other ideas?
I'm loving skinks more and more and I saw these . Does anyone have them and can tell you something about them? How are they cared for (temperature, humidity, feeding, etc.)? How are they handled? Are they visible in the terrarium?
I finally had the chance to see a good number of skinks at one of the major European shows. It's usually really hard to spot any, and they're almost all Indonesian.
There were some hilarious moments. In my haste to pick up an adult Australian, I dropped my phone in the water in a display (luckily everything was fine), and in the meantime, the reptile did... to the person holding him
Now to the questions:
- There were juveniles, sub-adults, and two adults.
Which would you prefer? I liked seeing the adults and sub-adults' personalities (or at least I hoped so), while I liked growing the juveniles.
- Why did you choose your Indonesian instead of an Australian?
Everyone recommends Australians.
Unfortunately, I didn't have the terrarium ready yet, so everything has been postponed. There's also a breeder from my country I want to contact; in that case, they would definitely be baby skinks, but he has several varieties.
sorry for my bad English