BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

hi guys,in the last few days i have taken my 2 adult female kimberleys out of there enclosure where they are housed with an adult male and placed them in with my larger adult male who lives by himself,he shows imediate interest,but latches on and shakes them or just picks them up and walks abit like hes pushing them away,i dont leave them in with him unsupervised as he can be quite aggressive

the other male hasnt showed much interest that i have seen but they have only recently started to become active again,where as the big males been active for a while is this normalish with northerns,i see a similar thing with my blotcheds every year,and to a lesser degree easterns,where early on some males grab on but not do any mating

That sounds pretty normal to me Richard. I have had some do that the first couple times I put them together, then after a few times they will breed "gentler". If you left them together a little longer when they are doing the pushing/carrying thing, they might eventually copulate, but I would rather separate them and try again the next day.

thanks jeff,thats my thinking to,seperate and try again,he tends to grab from mid body to near rear legs,hes quite a bit bigger than the females,on the plus side,the females lift there tails with out the male needing to scratch there hind ends,so i shall persavere and see what happens,the male that they live with may be doing his thing in my absence,or biding his time

well after several more introductions,the male showed no interest,its funny as one of the females normally has a go at him,but this year ran from him,i have a feeling ones gravid already,the normally feisty female,shes ballooned up a fair bit,so the other male may have done the deed,but to be sure ill keep doing introductions

I would definitely keep trying. I have had a couple that I had given up on, but put them together a couple weeks later just because I had time, and they ended up breeding multiple times for a week after that.

yep still doing intros,the 2 females live with a big adult male full time who has bred one of them before,so in my absence theres every chance he will cover them,the other males bigger again and quite an agressive breeder,so i will keep trying with him as well as hes nicer color wise,optimum out come would be to have each male cover a seperate female as like u said jeff,its common for them to try before females are ready,my blotches do it each year to,up to 2 weeks before actual mating should take place and like this big male,its usually just holding on and roughing the poor girls up

spot on jeff,i put the girls in with the big boy again yesterday and left him abit longer and after a bit of rough biting,he started to try and hold the right spot,it was alot gentler,he let go quickly about ten time then held on and actualy copulated,i filmed it and got some pics,about to go try them again

Good work Richard ! Fingers crossed.

thanks occi,put them together again today and same female was successfully mated,he had a bit of a try with the second female but went back to the first,so will try the 2nd female by her self next time,got 13 mins of it on film today

That's great news Richard! Love to see the video if you can post it. I have never put a male with two females at the same time. I would think you will have better luck with the second female by herself.

had the 2nd female in with the male yesterday by her self,left them be whilst i was out checking the lizards outside,had a few out basking the last week or so as the weather has warmed slightly,on returning to check on 2nd female noticed sore on shoulder,and male rubbing on enclosure so quite posable she was mated,added other female and the male went to investigate,the female got defensive when he aproached,head shaking and tail wiggling and got ready to bite,the male showed no interest after that

I am too afraid to leave mine alone while they are breeding. They commonly get a hold of a leg or tail, and they can so easily just rip each other to bits if one of them is not in the mood for mating. It generally only takes a minute or less for them to start if they are both ready. I usually have two pairs together at a time, and watch them like a hawk so I can break it up if it starts to get violent. You are braver than me.

good point jeff,they can be feisty,probably is a smart idea to keep an eye on them,they were together for ten mins whilst i was checking other animals inthe same shed,he wasnt as active as he was with the other female,but must have showed interest when i was checking on the blotchys as the female had a fresh laceration in the shoulder area,plus the male was rubbing up the side of the cage like he does when his finished with the other female ,so fingers crossed he has mated her,always best to supervise like you said though as they can get rough

i put the second female in and the male went to check her out but showed no interest in mating her,a possable sign he just mated the other female,but also the second female displayed agonistic behaviour at the male arching towards him,ready to lash out if he approached to close,something she hasnt done since last season which was unsuccessful

ok have had 5 successful matings with the one female,last one being yesterday,got pics of them all to and video of a couple,he seems to only go the solider female,tried them again today but the female snaps at him and he leaves her be,ive tried the other female numerous times but he doesnt show the same interest in her,he may have copulated with her once though,but i didnt witness it,but she had roughed up shoulders ,and he was behaving like he did after he mated the first female all those times,so confident he did at least once,so will persevere there,today he went to check them out but left them be,so will try again tomoz

after a few days of no interest,put the other female in with him today and after alot of grabbing and chasing,finally witnessed a mating with this 2nd female,got pics and film of it,after that put the other female in,he followed her checking her out,but after a lazy shot at trying to secure her he gave up and went back to basking,maybe to early after the other girl or her window is close to up

All great news Richard! Are we ever going to see any of these pictures or videos?!!!!

heres a couple of pics,still sussing how to get the film online