New baby blue tongue owner and hello all!

[ArtVandelay]

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Hi there everyone!

My family and I just got a new baby eastern blue tongue a month ago who we have called Cosmo who we already love dearly. I've been lurking the forum for the past month for any info about the changes they go through in the early stage of life. He (or she, not fully sure and we flip between he or she daily haha) was roughly one month when we purchased him from a local pet store that regularly stocks eastern blueys. As far as I'm aware, all easterns in Australia are captive bred so that's what I assume he is.

He has a wonderful chill demeanor when handled but is understandably a bit skittish still as it's only been a month since he came home, the last week and a half especially so which I was worried about but I've just found shed throughout his enclosure which is massively relieving! I was worried that we'd done something wrong as he started out fairly chill and seemed to be coming out in the open with us around more after the first week or so (he particularly seems enamoured with my wife) but then basically disappeared all the time hiding and only came out for food when we weren't around.

Initially we had him on the diet the pet store assistant recommended of crickets and some greens but after a bit of reading around here we switched that around to silkworm pupae, butternut squash and green beans dusted with repti-calcium supplement. He initially had a bit of runny poo when we changed it up but now his poo is normal again and gobbles down everything each day with no leftovers, even during his shed! He's gaining weight at each weekly weigh in.

We made a few mistakes in the first week of getting him out for handling time when I was cleaning and accidentally uncovered him from a hiding spot. Also when I was worried he'd somehow escaped and had to dig around to find him. He was fine once he was in our hands and happily will sit on my chest or lap when I'm on the couch while I watch youtube. We keep the cuddle time to 10-15 minutes max and usually every few days and only when I can lead him out onto my hand with a treat (usually he can't resist a mealworm). Occasionally crickets for some fun chases for him too.

The enclosure is self built by my son and I from wood that has been sealed with low VOC polyurethane, we have a clear PVC matting on the bottom with a few inches of coco-fibre as his substrate which he loves tunneling and hiding in. The top is mostly wire mesh with wide square spaces in it and a bit of wood on the top at the end to create a cool darker end for him. Dimensions are 4x2x1.5 feet. 100W Heat lamp and a UVB lamp next to it. He has a log hide that runs most of the middle on the back wall from hot to cool end, a hollow basking rock under the heat lamp with a hide underneath that and a few fake plants and vines for enrichment. Plexiglass sliding doors on the front.

Temps are around low to mid 20's celsius and low to mid 30's at the hot end. We're going into the cooler end of Autumn at the moment (low 20's to mid 20's in the day) so I've had to lower the heat lamp a bit closer to increase temps. We live on the QLD/NSW border on the coast so we get plenty of humidity over summer and lower humidity in the winter.

I think that about wraps it up for my introduction and I will no doubt have questions as we move along in our journey with Cosmo.

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[zeeshan.shahid]

Hi there. Welcome to the forum. I am newbie here too.

[Janella]

Welcome everyone!