BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hey guys, I have had my Bluetongue for about 2 months now. A friend of mine found it on a freeway and decided he'd nurse it back to health, When he first looked at it he saw that it had a fair few scales missing along its back and a popped lip scale. It didn't eat for the first couple of days but since then it has been steadily recovering. Its scales are now almost fully regrown and it has just had its latest shed. Anyway i took a few pictures of it and thought i'd see if anyone could sex it. I have read up on sexing and i think it may be male although i havent seen any sperm plugs when it poops. Here are my pics.

From the top:



You can easily see where the scales were missing on the right side.



Side on:



Under belly:







And just a random shot hiding under its water bowl lol.

Thats a really gorgeous eastern!
Gender guesses are just that: A guess. However to give you a good guess we need a photo of the whole skink, taken from over the top of him. Also I think this thread probably belongs in the general discussion section, but a mod can move it for you.

Nice example of black markings on the front legs. Not possible to tell the sex- might give a better idea to see the whole body shot from above.

woah you have 16777215 posts O_O

amazing skink! really amazing!


and yeah, so many posts? o.o is that even possible?

that is a sexy skink! i LOVE those dark eyebands...
good for you for helping this one back to health ;D

Thanks guys, just took a pic from above, Maybe this will help...

The head looks female, but the body looks male. I am undecided. Also, they do not generally drop sperm plugs when they poop. They usually just drop them all on their own in pairs.

Thanks James, I guess the only way to know for sure is to place him in the tank with a confirmed Male and see how it reacts?

Even that is not for sure. Soometimes you end up with a grumpy female and you are still left scratching your head. If introduction does not work out, I would put him on artificial turf for the next season, and if he is a he, then he should most likely be dropping seminal plugs right now or at the onset of spring (your spring). If he does not, drop them, he is probably a she, but still not for sure. I would then just keep him on the turf throughout this season, and into next winter, and then watch out for them at the end of next winter. If none then, chances are he is a sheila...

Love his colors

xxmonitorlizardxx wrote:woah you have 16777215 posts O_O

This obviously isn't correct - Zach is looking into it.

Thanks for the idea James, I will deffinately do this. We are coming up to the end of our winter now, Should end in about a month.I know they breed in September - November here so i will be looking out for happy spots lol

Dippy wrote:Thanks for the idea James, I will deffinately do this. We are coming up to the end of our winter now, Should end in about a month.I know they breed in September - November here so i will be looking out for happy spots lol

If on turf, they will stick out like a soar thumb...

I'm going with male by the snout to vent length and relative head proportion. Rate that as a 70% chance for male. The only reason I have a question about it is that the hips are relatively large for a male, but may be due to the relatively large size of the animal.

Well i'm hoping it is male, As a friend of mine has a sexually mature female and i am hoping to breed them.