# New Blue Tongue Skink



## NXSmiggy (Oct 29, 2008)

Just though i would show you a shot of my new BTS. Shes 2 years old and unknown species, but i think either IJ or Eastern , shes more of a pink than the dark Northern colour.

Was told its a she but as we all know , BTS are notoriously difficult to sex.

Shes in a 3ft viv , with play sand substrate with a sprinking of aspen shavings at one end.

thats a 5.0 repti-glo bulb and 60w exo-terra ceramic on a pulse stat.

what you think?

dont she look comfey lol



















give me some stick if its not ok and ill change it lol


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## Dan Bristow (Jan 12, 2008)

looks like a gigas to me(new guinea/indonesia) looks very welll fed!! look on bluetongueskinks.net for specific care but id get rid of the play sand and just have on aspen.can i ask where you got it from?looks lovely! dan


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## gazz (Dec 9, 2006)

Can you post some other pictures.I'd go with Gigas member.

Indonesian bts-(T.G.GIGAS).

OR

Meruake bts-(T.G.EVANESCENS).

Possibly

Indonesian bts-(T.G.GIGAS) X Meruake bts-(T.G.EVANESCENS).From what i can see by the picture given i'm thinking this one.


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## NXSmiggy (Oct 29, 2008)

from north east marine and exotic pets in byker lol.

used to be the parrot megastore.

shes been weel fed apparently so i think ill be cutting back her feeds slightly

as for the additonal pics ill grab some tomorrow as shes sleeping and dont want to wake her up lol , shes to cute


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## immortal (Nov 12, 2007)

Nice Skink, very nice colors.


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## Dan Bristow (Jan 12, 2008)

like i say,look on the website,it has a printable list of great foods for BTS.its fantastic,honestly


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## NXSmiggy (Oct 29, 2008)

im browsing it now lol , just looking for random stuff i dident know lol


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## donstapley (Jul 28, 2008)

she's amazing.....im trying to get myself another one of these, but having a bit of trouble at the moment. good luck with her though!


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## NXSmiggy (Oct 29, 2008)

i think me and you are fighting over the one in swindon lol

trying to arrange a courier to newcastle but looking a tad expensive lmao.


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## suez (Jul 8, 2007)

MINT i love the blueys. my Loui is a big softie and i agree with other poster Blue Tongue Skinks - Welcome to BlueTongueSkinks.NET ! is a mine of info for you.


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## ShaneLuvsMonitors (Sep 27, 2008)

NXSmiggy said:


> Just though i would show you a shot of my new BTS. Shes 2 years old and unknown species, but i think either IJ or Eastern , shes more of a pink than the dark Northern colour.
> 
> Was told its a she but as we all know , BTS are notoriously difficult to sex.
> 
> ...


 
Shes looks gorgeous is jealous love BTS but my OH hates them :bash:


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## NXSmiggy (Oct 29, 2008)

juts got up this morning to a mini disaster. , the sun is bleaching through the window and the tanks are a bit hot , my beardie is cowering in the cool end of the viv and shes sat in her hide.



getting my blinds back up tommororw thank god.

just to let you know ive also diconnected her heatmat as apparently there bad for them like beardies. never saw that in a single care sheet too. learn something new everyday lol.

lgoing to get her out for a bit today to keep her tame as shes eating well and appears to not care in the slightest about being moved around lol


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## sarahking20 (Apr 12, 2008)

do you have a water bowl in the viv for her?
we have a square foot dish in ours with 1" water in for her to bathe in. she often walks through it and lies in it.


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## NXSmiggy (Oct 29, 2008)

yeah the bowl is out of site in the bottom of the pic (lover right hand corner) and her log is filled with spaghnam (sp) moss to keep it moist/cool/shedding aid lol


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## donstapley (Jul 28, 2008)

well...not so much fighting! lol luckily i drive so i dont have the worries of a courier, but its finding somewhere for her atm. ive got a set up but my housemates dislike animals so i think it may be a case of keeping her with someone else for a couple of months till i get my new house! I hate sharing houses!!


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## NXSmiggy (Oct 29, 2008)

are you getting her donna?

i would love another , spesh a baby but its so hard to find anything up north


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## donstapley (Jul 28, 2008)

i may do....its so tempting. may have to bribe my mum see if i can keep her there for the time being!


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## NXSmiggy (Oct 29, 2008)

just some more pics as everyone keeps asking me lmao.

eating scrambled eggs










with her new hair do


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## donstapley (Jul 28, 2008)

fetching....i think thats a good look for her!


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## NXSmiggy (Oct 29, 2008)

posibel could do with a comb tho


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## donstapley (Jul 28, 2008)

think you mite have trouble gettin a comb through that.....bit like trying to run a brush through an afro!


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## gazz (Dec 9, 2006)

NXSmiggy said:


> just some more pics as everyone keeps asking me lmao.
> 
> eating scrambled eggs
> 
> ...


He/She has a look of Merauke bts(T.G.EVANESCENS).But he/she has a hint of Indonesian bts(B.G.GIGAS) vier the heavy track lines.IMO the track lines on your bluey are to heavy for pure Merauke bts.So i'd go with (Merauke bts X Indonesian bts) Intergrade.

Here's a pure Merauke bts.










X

Here's a pure Indonesian bts.









= yours :thumb:.

Lovely bluey any way ) .


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## NXSmiggy (Oct 29, 2008)

cheers gass , never though of hear as a cross , bt do know shes i CB. the shop is getting me the breeders info + contact details on monday so i can get more info about her if needed


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## Caboose (Dec 13, 2008)

it may be the angle of the photo but its got quite a wide head... which would indicate male...

best way to tell is,
if the tail base taipers off straight away. = female

if it stays constant or may even get larger then taiper = male (as it houses his e-peen)

the most asured way of getting the Sub Species - T.s or T.g

Tiliqua sincoides - the WHOLE tongue is blue

Tiliqua gigas - The BASE of the tongue is pink



Heating - 

Actually underfloor heaters (heat mats) of no more than 25 watts of output covering 2/3rds of the floor has proved benificial

Humidity - 

All tests with misting / humidity have all had negitive side effects - flu pnumonia etc.

Illumination -

Very intense HQI lamps - 1 spot light

Heating - 

Soil - 25C
Air - 30C
Hot Spot - 40C

And TBH looks like a pure Tiliqua gigas evanescens

5 scales between upper lip and parietal
Body - 5-10 dark bands
Tail - normally 10-16 dark bands
neck - T.g.e dont normally have many spots


However if it comes back as a hybrid then i shall admit i am wrong. =)

and i shall post pics of my baby blues when they arrive - i recon another 6-8 weeks


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## Dan Bristow (Jan 12, 2008)

Caboose said:


> it may be the angle of the photo but its got quite a wide head... which would indicate male...
> 
> best way to tell is,
> if the tail base taipers off straight away. = female
> ...


 hi caboose. just out of interest,possibly more!!what species are your baby blues gonna be??!!


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## NXSmiggy (Oct 29, 2008)

well the tail tapers straight away down to the base , not getting wider at all , so probably a female.

also the tounge apears to be completely blue , however that may be my mistake , ill look more closley in the mornin when i get her out


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## Caboose (Dec 13, 2008)

NXSmiggy said:


> well the tail tapers straight away down to the base , not getting wider at all , so probably a female.
> 
> also the tounge apears to be completely blue , however that may be my mistake , ill look more closley in the mornin when i get her out


ok cool

and they shall be T.s. chimaerea x T.s.sincoides 

sincoides holds the dominant traits compared to T.s.c so they (technically) should all look like T.s.s

difference in band numbers and scale numbers between upper lip and paritale scale thats all that seperates T.s.s and T.s.c typically


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## zail (Nov 30, 2008)

Lovely skink - I'd get rid of the sand though


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## donstapley (Jul 28, 2008)

some find that sand is quite nice for skinks....not trying to start a substrate debate (so dont even go there!) lol


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## gazz (Dec 9, 2006)

Caboose said:


> ok cool
> 
> and they shall be T.s. chimaerea x T.s.scincoides


If the blueys in the picture below are the perants to the expected young.They are Irian jaya(T.SPECIES) so the offspring will be Irian jaya(T.SPECIES).In the picture below there is doffo NOT a Tanimbar bts(T.S.CHIMAEREA) or a Eastern bts(T.S.SCINCOIDES).


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## NXSmiggy (Oct 29, 2008)

well going to get her some spen shavings and a larger ceramic depening on what monday brings, as seem to have spent over £600 in 2 days ............ eeep

going to see if the missus can sping me the cash so i can get them on tuesday along with my usual livefood order


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## Caboose (Dec 13, 2008)

these arnt my breeding pair... their a social experiment

and i think you'll find they are...

can you count the scales from parietal to hind limbs... no, how do i know they are what they are, because i spent 3 weeks double checking... can you count the temporal scales in that picture... no, can you see the temporal scales... no, can you count them??? no, hell you cant even see the neck or vent scales, let alone be able to check the scales or bands on the tails correctly, can you see the narrow streaks on the nape??? 

trust me... they are....

oh and fyi - the species T.s.chimaerea is called as such - the greek mythological being - part lion, eagle, and... somthing else... T.s.c display traits of T.sincoides and T.gigas... hence the latin name of the "mix" of creatures

Edit - forgot to mention - "Iran Jaya" or "Merauke" Blues are Tiliqua gigas evanescens - and on the whole are more lightly coloured than those two there


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## Caboose (Dec 13, 2008)

GAH - forgot to mention - neither of them have pink bases on the tongues... dead give away for T.gigas.......... plus T.gigas have fused temporal scales giving them a more "square" look.... and only 3 or 4 usually... holotypes are a wonderfull thing to know


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## NXSmiggy (Oct 29, 2008)

ok , les stop fighting and turn the attention back to my lovely BTS  :lol::lol:


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## Caboose (Dec 13, 2008)

lol sorry mate, i dont like it when people say im wrong about somthing i've been reading and studying about for over 3 years, including speaking to ausi scientists.

oh btw check this web site out - its in slow creation - when im not working or anything else - Tiliqua scincoides & Tiliqua gigas

its only a free host till i complete it

page navigation is on the black bar


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## NXSmiggy (Oct 29, 2008)

nice site caboose , albeit very technical which is great if its what your going for , but will mostly confuse others.

it is plain to see however that you have put ALOT of time and effort in


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## gazz (Dec 9, 2006)

Caboose said:


> these arnt my breeding pair... their a social experiment
> 
> and i think you'll find they are...
> 
> ...











Sorry but the bluey's in the picture are Irian jaya bts(T.SPECIES) they are a undscribed bluey species and look nothing like Merauke bts(T.G.EVANSCENS) which are described.Irain jaya bts(T.SPECIES) are beleave by some to be Indonesian bts(T.G.GIGAS) X Eastern bts(T.S.SCINCOIDES).Possible mother nature when there use to be a land bridge.But most likly in captive breeding farms by man.Hance the undscribed/unreconized latin name.

Tanimbar bts(T.S.CHIMAEREA).ONES PICTURED NOT THESE.
http://bluetongueskinks.net/btanim.htm

Eastern bts(T.S.SCINCOIDES).ONES PICTURED ON THESE.
http://bluetongueskinks.net/beast.htm

The ones below are not the same species.

Merauke bts(T.G.EVANSCENS).
http://bluetongueskinks.net/bmera.htm

Irain jaya bts(T.SPECIES)-Undescribed.THESE ARE THE ONES PICTUED.
http://www.bluetongueskinks.net/irian.htm


And the tongue thing NOT bullet proof.I've seen (GIGAS) with blue all the way.And seen (SCINCOIDES) with pink at base.


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## Caboose (Dec 13, 2008)

trust me im sure.... and what would you say if they were caramel albino... would you think their merauke then....

colouration is not everything - it helps but there are so many other factors... maybe this will help

T.s.chimaerea
Head - Fewer than 5 scales between upperlip and parietal in the second row between the eye
Nape - Several narrow streaks
Dorsal Scales - Smooth visible margins
Dorsal patten - light brown to greyish brown with 5-8 brown cross bands
tail - 7-11 indistinctly defined confluent brown cross bands
throat - few or no brown spots
Venter - yellow with a pattern

oh yeah fyi the tail on the "Iran Jaya" is longer (proportionatly) than the T.s.c

oh yeah, and how many times do i have to say - the "Iran Jaya" BTS is classified as T.gigas evanescens

and what have i said before... T.gigas have the trait of their tongue being PINK.... GAH!!!!!!

Ok this is the basic descriptions of what you think and what i know....

"Tiliqua sincoides chimaerea, Tail indistinctly patterned with 7-11 brown cross bands, dorsum light brown to greyish brown, with 5-8 brown cross bands; banded pattern of back continued on flanks, venter pale with no spots, general apperance of color pattern drab, brownish. Max SVL 269mm."

and your "Iran Jaya" aka T.g. evanescens

"General apperance often colourful; throat normally without spots; dorsum white, cream coloured, yellow, olive green, light grey or light brown with 5-10 cross bands in black, brown or red colour, venter light, uniform or with light brown pattern of varying intensity. Max svl 343mm."

"Iran Jaya/Merauke BTS is scientifically classes as T.g evanescens"

what else do i have to do to prove you wrong from a scientific point of view... rather than saying "that lizard in that picture looks like that one in that picture. so it must be it"

are there any other sub species you would like me to describe to you?







and thank you smiggy, i should get the other portion of it put up onto there later today.

i dont think theres enough assured definate and scientific detail on the internet.


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## NXSmiggy (Oct 29, 2008)

always happy to help with comments about other websites , if you want any help with it give me a shout ok.

busy nursng an arm full of scratches from her last night whe i got her out lol , bloody sharp claws


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## Caboose (Dec 13, 2008)

lol aye sharp buggers, i get a nail file on mine lol, they seem to quite like it oddly enough =s


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## NXSmiggy (Oct 29, 2008)

well she has not moved today , lay in her hide all morning apart from turning round once lol.

ive got her some more egg but its untouched, just got back from tescos tho with some rasberries , blueberries and a mixed forrest fruit (grapes , cherrys , blackcurrent and blackberries) mix for her to try.

the list on that site is damn good for food ideas also


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## Caboose (Dec 13, 2008)

if you want to give it some energy get some bananna baby dessert and sprinkle some Bees Pollen on it... can get it from a health foods shop... its high in fructose - give it to mine when they come out of brumation - perk right up =)


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## NXSmiggy (Oct 29, 2008)

you say that now , after i bloody come back from tescos , what use are you 

ill grab some on monday , and ask my nanna to grab some bee pollen from the health food shop.

with some luck she may eat some rasberrys , but then again she had 2 pinkies on friday , 1 egg scrambled yesterday and has not touched anything today.

could just be full.

also noticed an apparent lack of poo, so wondering if her temps arnt right, pus i have no digi themometer to check


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## donstapley (Jul 28, 2008)

thats a handy tip know bout the bees pollen! have decided to take that one in swindon, just waiting for a reply now!! yay:2thumb:
Oh and cabooose....really impressed! you really seem to know your stuff, will have to get you to let me know what type my bluey is if i ever manage to ger her!


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## Caboose (Dec 13, 2008)

thanks donna - i'd be more than happy to do that for you 

lol sorry mate, i think i posted temps - but its 30C for highend heat with a 40C basking spot 

give her some locusts (acts as fibre) or get "can o pillars" - they act as a natural laxative. but tbh will just prob do a huge dump soon - pinkies take a little while to digest  

all of mine are on fuzzies and they "release" them after about 3-4 days

lol, yeah any questions let me know


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## rugbystar55 (Aug 11, 2008)

i know it not part of thread but what size do bts get to full grown


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## NXSmiggy (Oct 29, 2008)

about the pics lol , its between 7 and 30" depending on species , with most larger species averaging out at 20-22"


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## NXSmiggy (Oct 29, 2008)

also caboose ive just realised her temps are well down at only 24oc, getting a larger ceramic tommorow after work 

feel aweful now 

got her heatmat back on for tonight , and getting her some led strips for arround the ceramic (to simulate light without the heat )


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## rugbystar55 (Aug 11, 2008)

cheers


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## Caboose (Dec 13, 2008)

ah she'll be ok, their built like tanks them


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## NXSmiggy (Oct 29, 2008)

well shes sleeping atm , so think i may have trigered some form of hiberntion reponce lol.

just looking into LED lighting now

shes got blueberrys , rasberies topped off with a (dying of old age) female roach lol. sounds like a hell of a meal lol


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## zail (Nov 30, 2008)

NXSmiggy said:


> with some luck she may eat some rasberrys , but then again she had 2 pinkies on friday , 1 egg scrambled yesterday and has not touched anything today.
> 
> could just be full.
> 
> also noticed an apparent lack of poo, so wondering if her temps arnt right, pus i have no digi themometer to check


If I offer mine food every day she will often just nibble or completely turn her nose up.. However when fed every second or third day she is always happy to eat... although I do give her the odd locust or piece of fruit (grapes are her current fave!) in between as a treat... Also, the food she loved most was a chopped up gerbil that the snake didn't want... 

When I got her she didn't poo for a week, now it's about every 2 to 4 days depending what shes eaten and how active she's been....


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## Caboose (Dec 13, 2008)

tbh once the temp goes up your blue will most likley be up to normal operating parameters lol 

if it gets a little cold they normally wont eat. they take temps ranging from about 5 to 15C in the wild. a few days at 25 and a couple of days to warm up your bt will be feeding just fine


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## NXSmiggy (Oct 29, 2008)

well just got her out , and she seems alot hapier now. shes had 2 rasberries , but think shes a bit stuffed from the last 2 days.

ill be 10x happier when shes pooped lol.


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## Caboose (Dec 13, 2008)

if you take her out, lay her on your chest and put another tshirt or blanket or somthing over her, she should quite happily lay on you for hours. that should also warm her up a bit, stimulate her to eat etc.


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## gazz (Dec 9, 2006)

Caboose said:


> trust me im sure.... and what would you say if they were caramel albino... would you think their merauke then....
> 
> colouration is not everything - it helps but there are so many other factors... maybe this will help
> 
> ...


 
I know that bluey colour varys bluey to bluey but i can still see that there NOT what you say they are.So why would i want you describe any species to me when your wrong about the bluey you own.But by all means you carry on living a lie and selling miss ID'd future bluey offspring to people not farmiliar with bluey species.There Irian jaya(T.SPECIES) 'FACT' NOT Merauke bts(T.G.EVANSCENS).Post the pictures of your so called Tanimbar bts and Eastern bts on BLUETONGUESKINKS forum i bet they say Irian jaya's(T.SPECIES) for both.Ofcourse Irian jaya(T.SPECIES) are longer than Tanimbar bts(T.S.CHIMAEREA) as Tanny's are the smallist member of bluey availible in the hobby with males maxing out at 16 inch's and females maxing out at 12 inch's.Tanimbar are also known as golden belly bts your tanny got a golden belly ?.

Here's some of my past stock.

Tanimbar bts T.S.C (Sliver).









Tanimbar bts T.S.C (Normal).









Both tanny's t.s.c.









Eastern bts T.S.S (Light).A rescue called spike had MBD.Mass lump near
tail base Sadly died last year at bout 15-16 years old.









Eastern bts T.S.S (Dark).









Northern bts T.S.I.

















Indonesian bts T.G.G.

























Kei bts T.G.K.

















Merauke bts T.G.E.









Irian jaya T.SP (Bigger 1).Merauke bts T.G.E (Smaller 1).









Irian jaya bts T.SP.


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## NXSmiggy (Oct 29, 2008)

ok guys lets calm this donw now , i can fuigure out you BOTH know your BTS , but please rember this is a friendly forum / thread , and whilst both arguments have valid points can we not argue for no reason :2thumb:


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## donstapley (Jul 28, 2008)

well said....have been told that i can have that bts....BUT only if i pick it up tomorrow!! only trouble is where i am its thick snow!! i always get the bad luck.:blowup:


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## Caboose (Dec 13, 2008)

i'm sure your sheer determination will get you there donna lol...

did you read any of what i posted... scale counts etc.... or was i wasting my energy... i am not going to argue with you because you are basing it purly by pictures, i am basing it by scale counts, temporal scale formation and numbers, %of svl length to tail length.... would you like me to re-list every difference between my two "the pictured ones" and T.g.evanescens... or "Iran Jaya"

ok not arguing any more...


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## donstapley (Jul 28, 2008)

ok so my sheer determination is not going to move the mass of snow that has snowed in my car! dammit! really had my heart set on getting that bts.....oh well cant win them all i guess :sad:
i mite just go cry in a corner somewhere!


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## Caboose (Dec 13, 2008)

cummon donna get a shovel... or use your hands... its not concrete lol


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## donstapley (Jul 28, 2008)

yeah but a 3hr drive....really wise in this weather?? thats 3 hrs there and 3hrs back!


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## NXSmiggy (Oct 29, 2008)

caboos , can you confirm she is indeed female, got some good tail and face shots , along with a pic of her browsing RFUK!

tail shot










facial shot










overall size (im 6'4 and built like a tank for a comparrison lol)


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## Caboose (Dec 13, 2008)

looks female from the taipering of the tail and the width of the head.

just found one of my females under the substrait, so cold bless her. shes been laying on me for last 15 mins, im freezing now, shes sucked all the heat out of me


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## NXSmiggy (Oct 29, 2008)

well mine has perked right up since putting the heat mat back on. just ordered a 150w ceramic now, so should be nice and toasty for her now


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## Caboose (Dec 13, 2008)

NXSmiggy said:


> well mine has perked right up since putting the heat mat back on. just ordered a 150w ceramic now, so should be nice and toasty for her now


good to hear


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## NXSmiggy (Oct 29, 2008)

im tempted to search for a boyfriend for her sometime later in the yer , around august in time for brumation lol.

you know any good breeders caboose?


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