New to the world of blue.

[nita]

Hi everyone,
Firstly I just wanted to say what a fantastic site with a vast variety of very informed and helpful people.
I have been frantically trying to research on on Eastern Blue Tongues for ages. I am new to the world and pleasures that come with being a BT owner.
We have two babies and they are just gorgous. They have a large enclosure about 1 metre, with heat pad and desert sand.
My husband and I are going to the reptile and frog show tomorrow at Castle Hill to get a heat lamp but I was also hoping that some of you could give me some pointers on diet and appropriate stimuli.
I have tried copious amount and varieties of chopped, sliced, diced and grated veggies and fruit, but being the glutons that they are they LOVE dog food. Although they are getting better at eating the good foods I often wonder what the correct serving size and distribution of food should be? They are about 15cm long and one is particuarly chubby. They love woodies and crickets but they are quite dear and I prefer to give them as a treat.
I often pick a variety of fresh and old leaves to place in their home and change them 2x a week, any thought on this practice?
Are there any other things I need to consider or that you would recommend? I want them to live long and happy lives and would greatly appreciate any pearls of wisdom, advice, ideas and recommendations.
Cheers,
Nita

[nita]

PS: I forgot to ask, are they okay to be together in the same space???, there have been no fights or upsets, but I don't know the sexes. They tend to sleep like a yin yang and seem to like each other???

[sheslikeheroin]

hi nita welcome to the forum glad to see you've found this site, It has a wealth of knowledge from many members aswell as a very detailed caresheet, and as you asked i have a few suggestions and hints for you.

the first being read the caresheet. it's extremely detailed and will help you alot. it has a colour coded food guide and pages upon pages upon pages of detail about everything you might want to know about bts. read it then read it another time and then read it once more. thats the advice I was given when i got my bluey and trust me on this, it's good advice.

2. desert sand as a substrate is a big no-no especially for babies. it can cause impaction and this leads to in the best case scenario a big vet bill, the worst case scenario death. it gets in their salads as well as they can take in big mouthfuls when going after live foods. so i would remove it and replace it with aspen chips, i'm partial to reptibark fur bark chips substrate. there is also some stuff that is basically recycled newspaper i think it's called doctor harry's cat litter or something like that. several keepers use it.

3. keeping them together in the same space can be dangerous (blotch is going to show up and debate me on this). bluey's are a more or less solitary animal in the wild and unless you have a large enclosure like and outdoor pit, housing two blueys in the same enclosure can be dangerous leading to bites, scratches, missing toes and infections. For safety get them seperate enclosures.

4. Lighting and temps are very important. for the temps in the enclosure aim for the high 90's to low 100's F or about 35c TO 39C at the basking spot, the mid 80'sF (25-29C) for the warm end and room temperature on the cool end. i also reccomend a uvb bulb. though it is not proven to be completely necessary for skinks, i feel it is better to be safe then sorry. i prefer to have it and not need it, then to not have it and have my bluey get sick and die.

5. make sure you read the food chart on the care sheet over. it will really helpwith feeding. green i reccomend are collards, kale, and mustard greens mixed with fruits like strawberry apples and mangoes. the caresheet lists hundreds of food items and how often they should be fed. it also mentions what foods are poisonous. for feeding feed the babies fresh food daily. and never leave old food in the enclosure, old food can spoil and make them sick. adults can be fed 2-3 times a week. for serving size generally they'll just eat till theyre full maybe a little less that a quarter cup of food per animal, sometimes they'll eat it all some times not.


6. the reccomended minimum enclosure size for an adult bts is roughly 3ftL X 2FTW X 18" H (or 1 metre long by 60CM metre wide by 30CM high) though a larger enclosure is not a bad thing. babies are fine in smaller tanks.

anyways this is all i can think of right now and i hope it helped. good luck with your babies and have fun with em. OH, and one more thing around here pictures are the law. so post some the moment you take them.

Stu

[yankeefan]

WELCOME!!! You will find a wealth of information and a lot of laughs on this site! Its a wonderfully supportive and dysfunctional family!
I agree that sand is a major no-no if you change anything please change that! I use reptibark (OK, so I may change) on the cool end and carefresh on the warm end and Peyton loves it. She is a big burrower and also loves to climb on her hide and the driftwood. Definately read the caresheet but always feel free to ask anything - I do! LOL ! I know Blotch has good luck with keeping skinkers together - I am just paranoid about that, but I also do not have the room he does. Remember to handle your "kids" often, we make it a point daily to have Peyton out and about and she is docile as you can get - just a love! ENJOY - they are fabo pets and you will be skink addicted too!

[Leigh]

you have had most questions answered already, my advice is not to panic every time you think there's a problem, if the caresheet doesnt cover it and a trawl through the past posts doesnt give you the answer you require, feel free to ask, you may get the answer you didnt expect

[nita]

Thank you everyone for your quick and informative replies I am most appreciate and am downloading the care sheets now. We will remove the desert sand straight away and are heading of now to the reptile show in castle hill to get a basking lamp.
I measured the kids last night 'bonnie' and 'clyde' and one is 27cm and the other is 31cm long. They are growng very quickly.
PS: I will post some pics definately today or tomorrow.
Warm regards,
Nita

[Tattoo]

Welcome Nita. Good luck with your new buddies. Pictures please!

[Fatal_S]

Welcome! It seems your questions are already answered, so I'll just chip in and say I'm dying without pictures!

[Raven_Vivi]

Hai~~ ^_^

Welcome to the bluey madness!! >_<

Shelikesheroin pretty much took care of all the questions ~

Feel free to post any more questions or concerns you have!~!

And we like pictures very very much ;D

[nita]

Hi Everyone,
You have all been so wonderful, thank you so much.
I am still trying to figure out how to upload pics but have managed somehow to get this little one up next to my name. This is Bonnie and Clyde can be seen sleeping on the heat mat in the background.
I will try and get an album up and going asap.
PS: My husband and I went to the Frog and Reptile show at Castle Hill (Sydney) and had a wonderful time looking at all the products and reptiles.
Talk to you soon.
Nita

[Zach]

Welcome aboard!



That was a heck of a post, Stu...

[bruno]

welcome to the side

[SailleSkinklover]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Blueys!

[nita]

Thanks again everyone, am loving the world of blue and Bonnie and Clyde too...lol

[rachel]

Welcome to the our dysfuntional but entertaining family..(aka bts.net )

looks like your questions have been answered

so i will just say this:
we want pics!! asap!

feel free to ask any questions and voice any concerns- no matter how silly you may feel i myself have asked some 'interesting' ones

rach

[nita]

Hi Guys, I have posted more pics under the forum heading " Introducing Bonnie and Clyde", as well as in 'My Album'.Hope you like them.

Cheers,

Nita.