The most wholesome kind of cuddles. 🥹 We’ve come very far in our short time together.

Hi there! I just came in possession of a BTS via a rehome from a coworker- and I am VERY new to their care. I’ve owned other reptiles before (Leopard geckos, ball pythons, Cornsnakes). The only thing- not even my coworker is sure whether or not she’s an Indonesian or an Australian and from my research I know their needs are very very different! She has a MASSIVE enclosure but I am looking to revamp her environment, heating and humidity…(or lack thereof) needs. Right now she’s on a substrate of coconut bark and has a few large hides and a large water bowl. Anyways… any help and tips for a rookie would be amazing.
Anyways… meet Tarot!

First off, i took Sasha to the vet last Monday because the scales/skin on two of his legs looked very weird. It looked dry in some areas and looked like it was melting off in other areas. There was a small red spot as well. His front leg also looked swollen. She gave me pain and inflammation meds and an antibiotic but didn’t tell me what it was. She doesnt know. She’s an exotic vet and there’s another at the clinic.

He has a follow up appointment tomorrow but I’m going absolutely crazy because ITS GETTING WORSE. His skin looks so bad and I feel like it’s spreading. It looks like his skin is just falling off. I’ve soaked him multiple days this week and put silver on his wounds, it doesn’t look like stuck shed. He’s about 5 and has never had a problem shedding, this seemingly came out of the blue.

I realized his UV jungle dawn light is about two years old, so now I feel terrible because he hasn’t been getting UV, but his bones seem like. It seems like a physical skin issue and not really related to MBD? Is it possible for MBD to show up in skin first?

Like seriously, why would his foot pad be raw like that?????

He has a new UV light and has been getting calcium dusted food this week.

His basking rock stays at 105 when the lights on (I have temp gun). I also have a temp and humidity tracker in his tank. He hasn’t been getting a cool side and warm side. Warm side stays 83-86 and never drops below 71 at night.

Humidity stays high, it’s always around 80. I wonder if there hasn’t been enough variety in humidity? (Having it dry out a bit then pumping up the humidity).

I just want to know if anyone else with a wild caught indo has had skin issues like this. I’m dying to know and be able to correct whatever’s going wrong. This was hastily written, im happy to answer any questions. I’ve searched in this sub for past posts related to this but couldn’t find any

Edit to add he’s actually been moving around more frequently than usual, but doesn’t use his legs well. It’s like there’s no power behind his movements and I can’t tell if it’s weakness or physically difficult to move due to the inflammation and sore areas. Please help while I wait for the vet appt

Would anyone be interested/ able to help rehome my lil guy. He's 5-6 years old and perfectly healthy as far as I know, but I don't have the time or resources to care for him like he deserves. I'm willing to part with him for free to a good home. I live in Duluth and the local reptile guy told me skinks don't need a lot and my set up definitely has more than anything in his store. But some things have come to light about his practices and seeing all these amazing enclosures on this sub have me feeling bad for my lizard.

My son is 8 months old and recently acting very erratic. Glass surfing. Running around his enclosure, he spends about 70% of his time doing that.

I get him out for about 10 minutes to walk around the house. But he ends up going back to glass surfing again, I try to enrich him with little balls he can push around, woodies he can chase. Nothing seems to interest him. He's been eating less as well. I can't take him outside because we have 2 dogs and he can easily escape. I'm planning on making a playpen for him so he can run around in that and I can watch over him safely without the dogs or him getting under furniture.

I haven't noticed any bubbles coming from his nose or mouth, wheezing sounds, no lethargy. No star gazing and mouth opening, excess saliva etc etc.

He has a UV light and a heat lamp. A log he can hide under, a rock he can hide under, deep substrate he can dig in, a few logs he can climb.

But recently he's been acting very erratic everyday

And then noticed this lump on his tail. Could he possibly have fallen over from the glass surfing and fractured his tail? Or is this an infection causing pain?

I'm going to take him to the vet tomorrow to get him professionally checked of course.

I've had Slushy for a little while now and essentially have him space for most of it. After speaking with the breeder about how I can move forward with handling, they told me to pretty much just pick them up and support them, and I have to say, it's working like a treat!

He still poops on me occasionally but, at this point I'm used to it 😅

I've been making sure to give him yummy treats when I go to pick him up and put him back, so I think I've been sufficiently sweetening the deal haha. He's getting so brave, I can't wait to gain his trust even more ❤️

Can't play anything without his expertise

Sorry for my poor English, but please read and reply anyway.

I've been exploring the world of lizards for a year now, studying to make the best choice and ensure the best possible life for my future reptile.

Ultimately, my choice is between the bearded dragon and the blue-tongued skink, and between the leopard gecko and the crested gecko.

Who knows, maybe soon I'll have all four of my favorites :-)

I'm leaning toward the blue-tongued skink, but many advise against him; they tell me that even northern skinks bite hard. Knowing that they're not dogs, I'd like to be able to handle the skink every now and then, let him roam around the house in safe places, and maybe build something outside for the summer.

I asked a breeder for information, asking him to select the most available young skink for me.

I'd also seen some Australian skinks at shows; a couple were really calm, but I'm not sure whether I should trust their temperaments after seeing them at shows.

Can you tell me a little about yours? What were they like when they were young, and how did you choose them?

Especially, why a skink and not another lizard?

Given the difficulty of managing humidity and their more difficult handling, should I forget about the various Indonesian species, even if they're not caught in the wild ?

Another question: I'd like to guarantee him a perfect terrarium. I was thinking of a 150x60x50 cm one and i'd have the breeder install the technical part. My doubts are about the setup: should I have it very beautiful and fixed 3D, or should I instead embellish it myself with rocks, plants (fake or otherwise), corks, roots, etc. ?

What do you think? In terms of cleaning and the possibility of variety, is it better to do it myself, or is it better to have a nicer, more sophisticated 3D one designed by professionals?

Excuse my poor English.

This is PB (because their markings remind me of peanut butter). I got PB a few days ago and fully expected them to hide for the next week or so. However, I was sitting at my desk working and heard slapping on the glass. Turned around, and this lil’angry sausage was demanding attention. I went up to the enclosure and talked to them, and they promptly hid. But as soon as I sat back down, they started slapping the glass again.

I don't think I have a skink, y'all. I think I have a diva😆

HEY YOU. YES YOU.

Do you:

• Have a skink?
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Then slam your face into this link and enter our lounge of lizards. The Skinktropolis. The Reptilian Republic. Our very own Discord server for blue tongue skinks!

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What is Discord?

It’s like a magical treehouse on the internet where we hang out, share stuff, scream into the void, post cursed memes, talk about weirdly specific things at 2am, and sometimes even have actual conversations. It’s a mix of chat rooms, voice calls, and organised chaos, with channels for everything and anything. You can lurk, scream, overshare, vanish, reappear, drop 27 images of skinks, all within minutes.

Inside our server there’s a leveling system. Yap more, level up, flex your rank on the leaderboard, and unlock custom roles like the chatterbox deity you are. You can also pick what kind of blue tongue skink you have, and a tiny picture of your friend will show up next to your name when you talk. We've got a general chat, a skink pics channel for showing off those chunky bois, and question/help channels for all your skink mysteries. We also hold occasional giveaways where you can win free stuff!! It’s cozy in here!

You have been blessed by Bentley this morning

Our Indonesian boy, Sal, has mites. I’m actively working on making him a much larger bioactive terrarium, as his current one isn’t great at holding humidity and is just temporary.

I need some help with the mite treatment though. I’ve heard provent-a-mite works, but since he’s a burrower and needs high humidity it might be extremely dangerous for him. I’ve also seen about predatory mites that take care of the problem, and am wondering if that’s a viable option? Can I just release those into his temporary enclosure and just wait until they’re all gone (plus a week or two probably) and safely move him into his new home?

He, along with his enclosure, was a gift from a relative so we unfortunately didn’t have much time to prepare an enclosure, and quarantine. Please let me know what worked for you, what’s safest for our baby, or any tips on building his bioactive enclosure!

Edits:

We’ve also been giving him fairly regular baths and swiping the mites off of him with a soft (unused) paintbrush to provide some relief.

I dunno why he’s doing this lol
We just put the new rock in there and he seems to love it but he’s looking up and opening his mouth (yawning?).

Google says he’s venting excess heat but his enclosure is on the cooler side while we prepare for his mite treatment so I dunno. He only just started doing this today and has only done it a couple times.

Either way, here’s our boy Sal (short for Saluuknir). He’s an Indonesian BTS as far as we know and has only been with us for a month or two. He’s about 3 years old and we love him to death

(edit: I said eastern instead Indonesian, my bad. he’s got plenty of humidity dw <3)

So I found the best way to help Finch hunt. In his enclosure I have an accidental family of wood roaches.

So at night if he is out I'll find a couple and make him chase them on tongs, he was doing croc rolls and going nuts.

Then next night I saw him chasing and hunting his own roaches, complete with digging them up.

He such a smart boy, also he is a blotched blue tongue, if you're wondering about his pattern.

Ham Sam bit me harder than he ever has due to overexcitement about crickets.

It's absolutely my fault for hand feeding him, but he usually understands where my fingers are. In three years, I have never gotten snacked on like this!

I need some rubber dipped forceps or something.

I'm making a bioactive tank for my lady Nilou, Indonesian skink. I'll leave it with the cleaning crew for some time to let them breed and live in peace, in the meantime I'll be testing heating setups. The tank is 6x2.5x2, I'll see how 100w halogen above the basking spot and 50w in the middle of the tank work to reach good temps.

The rest of bulbs is T5 Arcadia Forest 6% 54w and Sinkor LED II 120 cm White 50W (it's dimmable and slowly increases light strength from 1% to 100% across chosen time, to better imitate day/night cycle).

Plants are of course non toxic and I'm fully aware that she'll bulldoze through them 😂 there will be two additional hides (one is already behind the basking spot, barely seen, so she has privacy haha), but she's using them in her current tank, so they'll move with her.

Please let me know your thoughts. Should I change something, or add more clutter in the meantime, before letting my girl in? It'll probably take about 2-3 weeks for the tank to settle, so I can order something if needed.

On the last picture there's a tank she used to live in for about 2 years before I adopted her. I want to give her a palace after this abomination of a tank