BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hi everyone. As some of you may know from my previous posts, my husband and I are having a pretty rough time with our Northerns this season. My husband decided that maybe it was time to seek outside opinions on genders. We have been pairing skinks daily for over a month now with no luck at all. During that time we each took some pictures that some of you may be able to use to help double check our gender guesses. We have six animals big enough to breed this season and none were proven. A few we raised from babies, and a few were bought as adults. I'm hoping that some of you with a ton of experience can help. We have been pairing two to five times a day in hopes that we will see something that gives us a for sure answer on gender, or with any luck, a successful breeding. While we are fairly sure on most of the genders, these guys can surprise you sometimes, so I figured a double check couldnt hurt. Each skink has been numbered in the photos

1. Lisa sold to us as a male, looks and behaves female
2. Rex sold to us as a male, looks male, behaves like a male
3. Ronan unsexed. I literally change my mind on the gender of this animal everyday
4. Rose sold to us as a female, I think that's accurate
5. Abby sold to us as a female. Behaves like a female and gets the best response from the males, but she's soo fat that its hard to tell
6. Special Ed sold as female, thought he was a male for months, but may be female

The pics in photo bucket are reversed, starting with skink 6, but they are labeled.

http://s1297.photobucket.com/user/ADExo ... s/?src=wap

I really appreciate all your help. Thanks in advance

can u describe what u mean by looks male acts female

northerns are quite oddbally behaviour wise,eg females can chase and have goes at males and other females,like male aggression in other species,ill jump on puter to suss your pics,doesnt let link work on my fone,generally northerns are one of the easier to sex visually of the tiliqua clan,especially when of adult size

my big male the first time

The behaviors that I'm referring to are the freeze and stare, followed by chasing and biting in males, tail wagging and tail lifting in females. I tried to combine body and head shape, and behavior in my gender assessments.

Here are my guesses:
Lisa: Female
Rex: Male
Ronan: Female
Rose: Female
Flabby Abby: Female
Special Ed: Can't really tell, but I will guess female.

Dakota Nivens wrote:Here are my guesses:
Lisa: Female
Rex: Male
Ronan: Female
Rose: Female
Flabby Abby: Female
Special Ed: Can't really tell, but I will guess female.

What are you basing these off of?

General body type (head size, hemipenal bulge, ect.) But only a guess, nothing more.
I noticed Female Northerns have long narrow heads, and males have short thick? Maybe just me?

I have noticed the head shape in most cases, although growth rate, age and diet can affect that. I had a male four or five years ago that we were sure was a female. Turned out to be male. He just had a massive body that made his head look small.

lisa female

rex male

ronan young male

rose female

flabby abby female she looks primed for breeding,great pre breeding weight on,does she get most interest?

special ed male he looks short

i could be wrong ona couple but reasonably confident

Richard.C wrote:lisa female

rex male

ronan young male

rose female

flabby abby female she looks primed for breeding,great pre breeding weight on,does she get most interest?

special ed male he looks short

i could be wrong ona couple but reasonably confident

I was close!

Thanks for the help. And yeah Abby does get the best response from Rex at least. I think those two are my best bet this season.