BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

im getting a new lizard on wednesday so was setting up its viv last night. i decided to move my geckos to my bedside table where monster my newt lives and put her tank ontop of the gecko viv, then the new viv ontop of loki, my skink's viv where the geckos used to be. following?

in all the time ive had monster i have never had a lid on her tank, she barely sticks her head out of the water let alone tryes to escape. can you see where this is going?

my new baby newts were (note the past tense) in a plastic fish tank next to the big vivs a few feet away from my bedside table.

this afternoon i notice a lack of newt. now why do i do this? i can see she isnt there but i still check the tank a few times. its not like a newt of that size can hide very well but i still assume i havent seen her. denial is good.

now im not panicing yet but i start searching, praying she is in the area underneath the table. if she has gone further the chances of finding her is slim especially as the area under the bed is my cats territory and she is now watching me with interest from her fav spot a foot in from the edge (same side as the table) as i shine a light around.

i start carefully moving junk and the worm tank to check underneath for monster. no newt but i do find a cable which i catch by mistake. the new controller for the UV light for the new viv comes crashing down into the plastic tank with the baby newts. bad words were said at this point. so i fish the power supply thingy out of the water and notice an odd shadow. babies arnt happy at this point and neither am i as i notice water dripping over the edge. the controller cracked the plastic and its leaking. so i grab a towl, transfer the little ones into monsters tank, carefully empty the water into a bucket and go back to searching for the stupid newt who believed she could fly.

i found her hiding under a plastic bag that had got pushed under the bed. she was about 2 inches from the cat.

after being washed off she is in a holding pen while i try and work out where to move the babies to. im going to do another water change incase that was the reason for the escape but honestly i think she was just being nosey becuase im sure she was watching the babies in there late and lamented tank yesterday. the lid is going on the tank now as well, as i have learnt my lesson.

anyway i thought id share...

oh, do you think if i leave the controller to dry out it will be useable?

also it is on topic as it woke loki up and when i checked on him he was under his wood wide awake and very alert trying to work out what was going on.

wow,, it looks like that just wasn't your day!

I went out and bought a newt from a pet store a few years ago, when I wasnt allowed a bluey. I set up a very nice viv, with fake plants and some pretty things. Unfortunately I also put a fake plant hanging from the ceiling, having no idea they could actually climb. It climbed out, and was never seen again. We never found the body even after a huge search, and this was before we got my dog. I think that has to be the shortest time i've kept a pet. At least I didn't have time to get too attatched, and then I worked harder on getting my bluey. Glad you managed to find yours, and everything (cept maybe the controller) is okay. I can only imagine what Loki was thinking as this went on. Must have been great entertainment for the skinker.

Lots of near misses in that story Gloom. Glad to hear the only possible fatality in the is something without a pulse. Hope your day improves.

Wow, sounds like your luck's on par with mine. Glad no critters kicked the bucket in all that!

Mate that was good news on the newt, and the fact that the controller wasnt plugged in at the time, I'd leave it for at least three days some where warm, like the airing cupboard or on a rad to dry out completely.