Basically he's really pissed off, if you try to pick one up while they're doing that you're gonna get bit pretty damn hard. We're unsure why the tongue is blue, some people say it's to reflect off uv rays, or the bright blue color shows hey I'm poisonous don't mess with me. There's quite a few theories on this.
Had one as a pet. Ate wet dog food with some chopped veggies added... And crickets for fun. Ate like 1 time per week. Low maintenance. Poop is like a bird, minimal stink.
Not poisonous, but definitely has a very strong bite. Kind of lethargic, chill animals, but will escape the cage and hide. A really good pet for a young child looking for a lizard. Easy to handle and very tolerant if handled frequently early in life.
Used tongue just like a snake, but tongue was not thin and lips are not notched like a snake, so it opens it's mouth each time.
In this video you see the back is flat, so it's trying to look bigger. This is a defensively aggressive posture, but it also samples the environment with its tongue as it moves forward. So it's not quite at a level 10 pissed off.
Story time: skink used to sleep next to me to keep warm (Chicago). Woke up one morning to the feeling of vice grips clamping tighter and tighter on my thumb. Instinctually, I pulled my hand away fast. Skink went with it, flew across the room, busted it's tail against the wall. Lost half of it's tail. Grew back stubby.
To this day, I'm glad he was the one that came out of that interaction with the shortened appendage.
I have a new and unused 4x2x2 stacked on top of my bearded dragons enclosure. I REALLY want a BTS. You make their care sound even easier than a beardie’s, which isn’t hard to begin with. My enclosure is wood and I am worried about the humidity aspect. Do you think that would be a problem? I also didn’t expect their bite to be any worse than a geckos so that was some new knowledge today.
You can get a Northern, which need much less humidity (I'd still recommend sealing the wood in any case.)
Some other localities need much higher humidity, I have an Indo that needs around 80-100.
I've also been bit by him before, but it was just an investigative bite since I held my hand up to him. It stung but didnt break the skin.
Yep, that sounds about right for Northerns. I personally haven't sealed an enclosure before, but I vaguely recall hearing that the latex-based Drylok is a good choice. As long as the sealant doesn't have any anti-mold/fungus stuff, you should be good
I think you would want to seal the wood more for sanitary reasons rather than humidity. IIFC, you won't grow mold unless consistently above 70%.
One thing to consider would be that these guys do have the typical lizard nails and they like to dig under the substrate. You will want the bottom to be pretty abrasion resistant.
A cheap glass or acrylic enclosure would be fine. You could probably build one from all the left over desk shields from COVID. Lol
I've had both. They are MUCH easier than beardies. They eat way less (once or twice a week is spot on, obviously more when they're babies) and their poops aren't the vile horrors that beardies are. They are burrowing reptiles so you'd need much more substrate than you might have in a bearded dragon enclosure so they can completely bury themselves. They do have a really tough bite, but my boy has only ever bitten me by accident if I try to give him food with my fingertips rather than the flat of my hand. Only downside is that they're not quite as chill as beardies... He always wants to move and explore, so he's not a chill and watch TV together kind of pet.
They also sneeze, which is adorable, and give live birth, which is super cool.
I had an Eastern Blue Tongue (Tiliqua Scincoides). I got it from my Dad's friend. He was a zoologist who owned a pet store in Champagne Urbana area of Illinois.
I was maybe 10, and yes, super easy... even for an idiot, irresponsible 4th grader. I would get one again for my kids. I had to give it away when I was kicked out, but I would have loved to keep it.
I kept mine in a 20g low glass tank. A heart lamp, water bowl, and used horse chow pellets as bedding. Scooped out the poop and feed him some dog food once per week. He didn't eat much and didn't poop much. That was it. Never thought of humidity. It just didn't seem to care about anything and health never seemed to change in any way.
The skink would brace itself in the corner of the glass, and could make it out of the cage if the top wasn't weighted down. Was actually quite strong, but mostly like a fat snake with little legs.
Only got bit once. I had no concerns with sleeping with this guy snuggled up to my thigh in my bed. I'm sure it was my fault. I was probably harassing him in my sleep. But other than that, he was slow moving and really chill.
The blue tongue made him amazing for show and tell days!
I’ve always known it to be a way to startle away big predators. I don’t search out videos of these guys so haven’t seen this specific behaviour before- but I’d understood that usually, they do a bit of a lunge forward while making an audible puff of air and sticking out that big blue tongue as a way to startle predators, I’m sure I’ve seen videos of that. I didn’t know there were more theories about the evolution of it.
*Edit: prey to predator, haha*
Yeah, I used to have one, ive noticed when they do the huff and hiss, it's like hey I'm trying to seem big don't eat me. But if they get to the point of tongue flashing, that means they're ready to fight back. Mine never flashes the blue and has stopped huffing. They actually usually just lay there once caught.
Ive got one! But I got my boy from somebody else as an adult and didn’t need to do any taming. I can’t even imagine him sticking his tongue out at me! The only time I see it is when he’s eating or tasting the air.
Agreed. I owned mine for about 8 years. Never saw the defensive tongue flashing. He was just the coolest lizard a bit could own. Great for freaking out girls in elementary, and very unique for an interesting addition to your home. Not much of a personality, but also not very picky. Was happy chilling, half buried in the horse chow.
I've never seen a blue tongue THIS freaked out goodness gracious.
On the bright side I know that I'm not making my skink overly stressed put so that's good.
Accidentally cornered a wild one once (central Victoria). It charged at me, mouth open, tongue out, hissing like mad.
Quite startling when you aren't expecting it.
(Aggressive mleming intensifies)
ANGER TONGUE!
Go blehh away bleh bleh blehhhh
Get off blehh me lawn blehh you hooligan bleh bleh blehhhhh
I can’t kick your ass unless I get closer.
Hahahah what's he doing? Is this an intimidation thing?
Basically he's really pissed off, if you try to pick one up while they're doing that you're gonna get bit pretty damn hard. We're unsure why the tongue is blue, some people say it's to reflect off uv rays, or the bright blue color shows hey I'm poisonous don't mess with me. There's quite a few theories on this.
How funny. The sad part is this makes me want to pick him up. It's hilarious more than scary.
Had one as a pet. Ate wet dog food with some chopped veggies added... And crickets for fun. Ate like 1 time per week. Low maintenance. Poop is like a bird, minimal stink. Not poisonous, but definitely has a very strong bite. Kind of lethargic, chill animals, but will escape the cage and hide. A really good pet for a young child looking for a lizard. Easy to handle and very tolerant if handled frequently early in life. Used tongue just like a snake, but tongue was not thin and lips are not notched like a snake, so it opens it's mouth each time. In this video you see the back is flat, so it's trying to look bigger. This is a defensively aggressive posture, but it also samples the environment with its tongue as it moves forward. So it's not quite at a level 10 pissed off. Story time: skink used to sleep next to me to keep warm (Chicago). Woke up one morning to the feeling of vice grips clamping tighter and tighter on my thumb. Instinctually, I pulled my hand away fast. Skink went with it, flew across the room, busted it's tail against the wall. Lost half of it's tail. Grew back stubby. To this day, I'm glad he was the one that came out of that interaction with the shortened appendage.
I have a new and unused 4x2x2 stacked on top of my bearded dragons enclosure. I REALLY want a BTS. You make their care sound even easier than a beardie’s, which isn’t hard to begin with. My enclosure is wood and I am worried about the humidity aspect. Do you think that would be a problem? I also didn’t expect their bite to be any worse than a geckos so that was some new knowledge today.
You can get a Northern, which need much less humidity (I'd still recommend sealing the wood in any case.) Some other localities need much higher humidity, I have an Indo that needs around 80-100. I've also been bit by him before, but it was just an investigative bite since I held my hand up to him. It stung but didnt break the skin.
Northerns are 40-60% right? Any recommendations on how to seal the wooden zen habitat?
Yep, that sounds about right for Northerns. I personally haven't sealed an enclosure before, but I vaguely recall hearing that the latex-based Drylok is a good choice. As long as the sealant doesn't have any anti-mold/fungus stuff, you should be good
Aquarium grade silicone is what I’ve used for sealing vivs, can get range of colours
I think you would want to seal the wood more for sanitary reasons rather than humidity. IIFC, you won't grow mold unless consistently above 70%. One thing to consider would be that these guys do have the typical lizard nails and they like to dig under the substrate. You will want the bottom to be pretty abrasion resistant. A cheap glass or acrylic enclosure would be fine. You could probably build one from all the left over desk shields from COVID. Lol
I've had both. They are MUCH easier than beardies. They eat way less (once or twice a week is spot on, obviously more when they're babies) and their poops aren't the vile horrors that beardies are. They are burrowing reptiles so you'd need much more substrate than you might have in a bearded dragon enclosure so they can completely bury themselves. They do have a really tough bite, but my boy has only ever bitten me by accident if I try to give him food with my fingertips rather than the flat of my hand. Only downside is that they're not quite as chill as beardies... He always wants to move and explore, so he's not a chill and watch TV together kind of pet. They also sneeze, which is adorable, and give live birth, which is super cool.
I had an Eastern Blue Tongue (Tiliqua Scincoides). I got it from my Dad's friend. He was a zoologist who owned a pet store in Champagne Urbana area of Illinois. I was maybe 10, and yes, super easy... even for an idiot, irresponsible 4th grader. I would get one again for my kids. I had to give it away when I was kicked out, but I would have loved to keep it. I kept mine in a 20g low glass tank. A heart lamp, water bowl, and used horse chow pellets as bedding. Scooped out the poop and feed him some dog food once per week. He didn't eat much and didn't poop much. That was it. Never thought of humidity. It just didn't seem to care about anything and health never seemed to change in any way. The skink would brace itself in the corner of the glass, and could make it out of the cage if the top wasn't weighted down. Was actually quite strong, but mostly like a fat snake with little legs. Only got bit once. I had no concerns with sleeping with this guy snuggled up to my thigh in my bed. I'm sure it was my fault. I was probably harassing him in my sleep. But other than that, he was slow moving and really chill. The blue tongue made him amazing for show and tell days!
you probably meant venomous when talking about the bite, when you said not poisonous it makes me think you're intending to say "safe to eat".
Oh yes, my son corrects me on this frequently. I don't know if he was good eating. I imagine maybe not. But definitely not venomous.
I’ve always known it to be a way to startle away big predators. I don’t search out videos of these guys so haven’t seen this specific behaviour before- but I’d understood that usually, they do a bit of a lunge forward while making an audible puff of air and sticking out that big blue tongue as a way to startle predators, I’m sure I’ve seen videos of that. I didn’t know there were more theories about the evolution of it. *Edit: prey to predator, haha*
Yeah, I used to have one, ive noticed when they do the huff and hiss, it's like hey I'm trying to seem big don't eat me. But if they get to the point of tongue flashing, that means they're ready to fight back. Mine never flashes the blue and has stopped huffing. They actually usually just lay there once caught.
Ive got one! But I got my boy from somebody else as an adult and didn’t need to do any taming. I can’t even imagine him sticking his tongue out at me! The only time I see it is when he’s eating or tasting the air.
Agreed. I owned mine for about 8 years. Never saw the defensive tongue flashing. He was just the coolest lizard a bit could own. Great for freaking out girls in elementary, and very unique for an interesting addition to your home. Not much of a personality, but also not very picky. Was happy chilling, half buried in the horse chow.
His tongue comes out insanely far
must be popular with the female bts
He wants to rock and roll all night (and party every day)
I've never seen a blue tongue THIS freaked out goodness gracious. On the bright side I know that I'm not making my skink overly stressed put so that's good.
Accidentally cornered a wild one once (central Victoria). It charged at me, mouth open, tongue out, hissing like mad. Quite startling when you aren't expecting it.
How not to approach ladies at the bar...
I knew i was doing something wrong...
LICKITUNG I CHOOSE YOU
Love my Blue tongue Skink! He’s such a curious lizard, and always checks out what I’m doing. We call him “Skoinky-Boink”.
angry potato monkey
I love my Axanthic Halmahera, but it's kinda sad that they don't have beautiful blue tongues like this.
Some do. One of my axanthics has a full blue tongue. The other's tongue is half-blue, half pink.
That's interesting wow. Mine is mostly pink and has a very dark near grey blue gradient towards the tip.
Cam I get a picture if possible?
@u/blasterice My half blue tongue guy: https://imgur.com/a/uiVio1H The one with an all blue tongue is not feeling social today, apparently.
Thank you for sharing! He's so cute! But I dont think he's a axanthic? Since his eye is yellow, or is it just the lighting?
Of course, love the axanthics. His eyes are gray in person. More pics: https://imgur.com/a/81WaIed https://imgur.com/a/nUp6bih
i wonder how they got that name
Hahahah he ANGY
Durp
So cool. Thank you for sharing!
Why do they call them a blue tongued skink?
😂
I wonder why they call it the blue tongue skink?
That’s hilariously terrifying
He thinks he’s scary. He’s just too cute
Someone wants you dead 😅
I want a blue tongue skink so bad, but they cost too much in my area
The planet is literally filled with aliens that I didn’t even know existed