# Blue tongued skink UV or not UV?



## justme (Apr 17, 2009)

I've decided on getting a BTS if I can find one in N Ireland!
Having read every care sheet going on the net there seems to be a lot of conflicting info!
What substrate have people had good experience with? 
Underfloor heating and basking light, one or both? UV or not UV? What temp gradients.
Adult or baby, male female is one friendlier than the other
Anyone's personal experience would be greatly received!!! 
Thanks in advance x:2thumb:


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## wacky69 (Apr 8, 2008)

basking light is most commonly used with skinks, as for uv personally i would say they need it as with them being 'baskers' they would be out in the sun most of the day. Most animals in their natural habitat will come into contact with the sun.


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## mrhoyo (Mar 29, 2007)

Dont think a heatmat would be much use, they like to burrow so could get burned. I use a spotlight but have used ceramics to give a hotspot of around 105f.
Id suggest using uv too, theyre diurnal lizards. Ive seen blue tongues who have been kept without it and they look really dull and boring, nevermind the mbd issues that could occur.


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## emasmad (May 30, 2009)

*bts*

my bts has only had a uv when younger she has now not got one, she has a heat mat and a basking light but doesnt use it much so sometimes its not on, she is now 10 yrs old and beautiful shes not dull or anything i wouldnt recommend a high heat lamap in a small viv as it will get to hot and they wont like it, i have used bark as substrate and newspaper when skint lol i have logs and a roof tile in there for her to rub down her claws, she loves her snails, melon, strawberries, fruit, egg, and as a treat she loves cat food! i have pics on my profile but i think u may have to be a friend to look! i am putting more on asap


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## emasmad (May 30, 2009)

*bts*

i forgot to mention she also has scrapping of cuttlefish over her food and mice now and again (good for calcuim) 105 degrees is to high for skinks really they like it 75 degrees in the cool end and 95 degrees in the hot end, mine enjoys having bath's and being handled on a regular basis also when i mentioned about feeding her snails most people dont like doing that another option is fresh cockals from the beach lol but not with vinegar!


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## mrhoyo (Mar 29, 2007)

emasmad said:


> i forgot to mention she also has scrapping of cuttlefish over her food and mice now and again (good for calcuim) 105 degrees is to high for skinks really they like it 75 degrees in the cool end and 95 degrees in the hot end, mine enjoys having bath's and being handled on a regular basis also when i mentioned about feeding her snails most people dont like doing that another option is fresh cockals from the beach lol but not with vinegar!


are you having a laugh? You feed it catfood, dont give access to uv, think 105 is too warm and use cuttlefish for calcium? No wonder it likes being in the bath, the poor thing is probably glad of the warmth. Cuttlefish has too much phosphorous to be any use for supplementing food, the ca ratio is rubbish. 
Wouldnt suggest feeding wild caught food either, you dont know what diseases they have.
How big is this small viv you mentioned?
A blue tongue should be in a 4x18 minimum


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## emasmad (May 30, 2009)

*bts*

sorry forgot the name of the stuff thats made out cuttlefish scrapping lol, she is in a 5foot tank by 3 foot, she does have heat in there she has a basking light and heat mat, but when it gets to hot ie: summer the heat the basking light aint on all the time, cat food is fine but not on a regular basis! skinks are great aint they one of my best lizards just looking for a male for her


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## emasmad (May 30, 2009)

*bts*

love ya pics by the way mryoho! gecko's look wkd


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## mrhoyo (Mar 29, 2007)

I wouldnt go anywhere near cat food. Are skinks cats? No. Do they need the same high fat levels as cats? No. 
It also wouldnt matter about the wattage of the bulb (you mentioned in your 1st post) in a viv because the thermostat would keep the heat at the correct level.
Pics of your skink please


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## Heppy (Apr 11, 2007)

mrhoyo said:


> I wouldnt go anywhere near cat food. Are skinks cats? No. Do they need the same high fat levels as cats? No.
> It also wouldnt matter about the wattage of the bulb (you mentioned in your 1st post) in a viv because the thermostat would keep the heat at the correct level.
> Pics of your skink please


Most care sheets for BTS recommend low fat cat food. Not as a stand alone food source but mixed with other foods. That doesnt make them cats what a stupid thing to say, and she also says as a treat and lists quite a vartiety of other suitable foods. I know of a breeder of BTS that has breed them many times and doesn't have UV on his, i think if there need UV then his adult females would be dead by now. There has long been a deabte to wheter BTS need UV. As for the heat she said she kept the tank at 95 and 105 was a bit hot, 95-100 is the recommended basking temp. I think maybe you need to do the research. We will see how healthy your BTS in when its 10 years old cos im guessing youve not had it that long.

Detailed Blue Tongue Skink Caresheet - BlueTongueSkinks.NET

Once again someone thinks because they own a species of an animal that they are an expert.


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## Khonsu (May 20, 2009)

I was suprised when I saw the responses on this one as having kept BTS's for a good few years I would never have considered not using UV as I can't think if a care sheet i've seen that doesn't suggest UV is not required. Good friend of mine who has bred BTS for many years has always said yes to UV.

I can't remember the web address but i'd suggest having a look at Melissa Kaplan's care sheets, she is definately somebody who knows where thier towl is kept.

Cat food, don't know if its true but i've always been told to steer clear of it, they'll wolf it I know but for whatever reason not good for them, maybe it's a viscous rumour by cat lovers but I've stuck by it, i do however use dog food approx once per week, the BTS attacks it with vigour but then again eats everything you throw at it like theres no tomorrow, regularly feed scrambled egg, lots of fresh fruit, mice, morio's, etc, etc

Personely I use heat lamps rather than heat mats for BTS but with a good deep, 3" - 4", mix of substrate as they love to burrow in it (mix of spagnum moss, bark chips, peat & sand) which i spray every other day, lots of live plants & plenty of places to hide.

Hot spot 100+

I'm not & wouldn't claim to be any sort of expert but I wouldn't not provide UV


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## justme (Apr 17, 2009)

Thanks i was thinking of giving UV anyway as didn't think it would do anyharm there are loads of care sheets which state you don't need it which was why I was confused. Am getting my baby next week when tanks all set up. Any suggestions on substrate as again it seems a sticky issue!!!! Thanks all xx


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## Lottie Lou (Feb 2, 2008)

Heppy said:


> Most care sheets for BTS recommend low fat cat food. Not as a stand alone food source but mixed with other foods. That doesnt make them cats what a stupid thing to say, and she also says as a treat and lists quite a vartiety of other suitable foods. I know of a breeder of BTS that has breed them many times and doesn't have UV on his, i think if there need UV then his adult females would be dead by now. There has long been a deabte to wheter BTS need UV. As for the heat she said she kept the tank at 95 and 105 was a bit hot, 95-100 is the recommended basking temp. I think maybe you need to do the research. We will see how healthy your BTS in when its 10 years old cos im guessing youve not had it that long.
> 
> Detailed Blue Tongue Skink Caresheet - BlueTongueSkinks.NET
> 
> Once again someone thinks because they own a species of an animal that they are an expert.



Id love to know where people like you get you flipping information from!

Even specialist reptile vets have said that it is proven that cat food makes them overweight isnt good for them. Do you think a Blue Tongued skink would find a bowl of cat food hanging around in the wild? 
The idea with keeping an exotic animal of any kind as a pet surely is to keep them as near to what they would have in the wild as possible, surely?

And of course they need UV, does the sun just turn it's rays off when it see a blue tongued skink or any other animal that comes out during the day for heavens sake?? And also i have to agree that heat bulbs are far better for any skink, as said before they like to burrow and a heat mat could potentially cause a burn. Again, the sun in the wild is in the sky and they bask from the heat that has been shining down on things like rocks etc and they dont have a flipping heat mat stuck to the floor for them.

Anyway rant and personal opinions over with 

Lottie


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## justme (Apr 17, 2009)

So didn't want to cause rows!!!!
Just want to get the whole set up thing right before skinky comes home. Really appreciate all the help guys :flrt:


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## Heppy (Apr 11, 2007)

Lottie Lou said:


> Id love to know where people like you get you flipping information from!
> 
> Even specialist reptile vets have said that it is proven that cat food makes them overweight isnt good for them. Do you think a Blue Tongued skink would find a bowl of cat food hanging around in the wild?
> The idea with keeping an exotic animal of any kind as a pet surely is to keep them as near to what they would have in the wild as possible, surely?
> ...


You didn't read the caresheet i posted then, which i guarentee is the most extensive BTS caresheet on the net. there is actually a section on 

Should I feed with cat food? 

I also said there has long been a debate to wheter BTS need UV this is true, there has. This is also covered in the caresheet i posted.

I also said i know a breeder who has bred his adults many times on theyve never had UV. this is also true. 

I never said anything about feeding cat food as a primary food item, but certainly won't harm it as a treat.

Maybe you should do your research before posting then you would know where i got the information from and as for

"Even specialist reptile vets have said that it is proven that cat food makes them overweight isnt good for them"

this was probably based on a case which an animal was fed primarly cat food. 

I suggest the OP reads as many care sheets as they can find about the species and the make there own opinion and not to listen to these i own 1 BTS that makes me an expert posts.


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## Khonsu (May 20, 2009)

Not trying to cause more arguments but . . .

Dead right you wouldn't find a tin of cat food in the wild, but then again we're talking about it being in a wooden box in the UK, if we're going down the road of "you wouldn't find it in the wild" then maybe we shouldn't be keeping em in the first place, we should bbe leaving them wherethey belong.

I don'y use cat food, my choice, I try to give as wide a variety of food stuff as I can, a) so rep's don't get bored & hence loose appetite, & b) hopefully cover all basis in respect of nutrients without having to resort to supplements, which I use as a supplement & not a replacement, there's a difference.

If a bowl of cat food gets occaisionally offered & eaten then in fairness its probably not that bad a deal, presumably i'ts not being used as a staple diet, if the critter starts looking obese then you're overfeeding/needs a bigger viv etc but this should be pretty dam obvious.

UV, as i said above i wouldn't be without it, but if some guy breeds em & they thrive without UV then what can you say, as long as the critter is happy & healthy, well happy & healthyas it can be in a tank, then all well & good, who's to say how/what we as individuals to maintain thier happiness is wrong, you can offer advise but don't get offended if people do it differently.


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## Heppy (Apr 11, 2007)

I think everyone is entilted to there opinion the only reason i got involved was because of the way mrhoyo was talking down to emasmad, using sarcastic comments such as 

Are skinks cats?
are you having a laugh? 

and then to top it off his girlfriend comes out with comments such as

Id love to know where people like you get you flipping information from!

even though i posted a caresheet that discusses the comments i made. I think this forum had too many wannabe experts. 

Most modern day cat foot is made from rabbit, duck and vegetables, all of which are found in the wild, and skinks being opportunistic feeders if they come accross a dead rabbit they would try and eat some of it, but they would find this everyday. hence why cat food should be used as part of a balanced diet.


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## Lottie Lou (Feb 2, 2008)

Heppy said:


> You didn't read the caresheet i posted then, which i guarentee is the most extensive BTS caresheet on the net. there is actually a section on
> 
> Should I feed with cat food?
> 
> ...


:bash:

I was just saying how it is and should be for the animal to be as healthy as they should be.

If you are another one of these people that thinks only 'your opinion' is valid and that other people cant correct you or even help towards giving the best possible answers to people that are starting out with a new animals then i really dont think you should post on here. 

And just because you know a breeder doesn't make you much of an expert yourself does it?! Just because a person hasnt had an animal for years and years doesnt mean to say they dont have the knowledge of somebody that has had them for years. As a responsible individual extensive research should be done before buying any pet. Whether it be a dog, horse or lizard.

The way our bluey has been brought up has been looked into for months and months before he was bought and is the healthiest blue tongued skink i have seen for a while.

I am not trying to cause an argument, I was just expressing my opinion.

I hope you can see where i am coming from.

Lottie


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## Lottie Lou (Feb 2, 2008)

Aimo said:


> Not trying to cause more arguments but . . .
> 
> Dead right you wouldn't find a tin of cat food in the wild, but then again we're talking about it being in a wooden box in the UK, if we're going down the road of "you wouldn't find it in the wild" then maybe we shouldn't be keeping em in the first place, we should bbe leaving them wherethey belong.
> 
> ...


I have to agree with the end part of your post. Very sensible 

And i know where you are coming from about the whole keeping them in a viv thing but im sure you can see the point i was trying to get across about the suns rays etc.


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## Lottie Lou (Feb 2, 2008)

Heppy said:


> I think everyone is entilted to there opinion the only reason i got involved was because of the way mrhoyo was talking down to emasmad, using sarcastic comments such as
> 
> Are skinks cats?
> are you having a laugh?
> ...


How can you call somebody a 'wannabe expert' if I know how the animals i keep should be kept? The comment i made wasnt meant to get anyones backs up but i was just so shocked at the fact people keep them so differently to how i feel they should be kept.

I apologise for my comment however i do think you are just as bad for singling people out on here and making comments about them. 

And as for my 'boyf' i dont think he was talking down to EMASMAD, i think he was just trying to get his opinion across.

Lottie


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

I currently keep three bluetongues of two different species, and I would not dream of not providing UVB. They're diurnal lizards, therefore they have adapted in an environment with UV.

As for food... we do (by weight) approximately 60-70% vegetables (butternut squash, fresh greens, courgette) and fruit (papaya's a favourite, as is nectarine) and 30-40% insects (locusts, crickets, roaches).

They might get the occasional bit of scrambled egg (no milk or oil, just egg) or a snail.


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## Scarlet_Rain (Jan 16, 2009)

I think if you have been keeping skinks for a long time and they are fit and healthy and not over weight or have any deficiencies then you are doing something right. If you want to give your skink a wee bit of cat food now and again then do it, if you feel a UV works or you dont see then point then keep it up.

Unless there is a genuine skink expert on here then I think no one has the right to yell at another person about what they are doing and even if there is an expert, they would be professional enough to advise in a respectfull manner.

we all have so many different ways of housing and feeding our animals. Do what ever has been working best, its really good to see what other people are doing though, I have learn't a few tricks that have helped tons.


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