He's a boy!!! Plus: pictures and a scale question.

[Lura]

I haven't been able to take Scout out during the daylight hours for the past two weeks due to finals, and so he has been pooping in his cage rather than outdoors. Yesterday, as I was spot cleaning, I noticed what appeared to be sperm plugs. Hooray! Scout is (probably) officially a boy. I'm keeping an eye out for more.

So since I finished finals yesterday ( ), we took Scout to the park. He was good, for the most part, but kept trying to pull grass out of the ground and eat it. He was really going for it, too. We try to feed him a diverse diet, but could this mean that he is craving some nutrient we're not giving him? Or did he just really want grass for some reason?

Also, for the first time I noticed unusual looking scales on his mouth. They look normal on the bottom, but the tops are very hard and appear damaged. This is my first time noticing them, but I don't know when it could have happened or even if he has had them since we got him. What do you think it could be? Should we be worried?

The first is a picture of the mouth scales; the rest are from our trip. Thanks for looking!

Unusual scales:



Mr. Grumps



Putting up with us playing with our cameras



Showing off his colors!





I love the colors and patterns on his tail



RUN!!



And a comparison: Scout when we first got him, at two-three months:



And Scout now, at almost a year (he'll be one in mid-June):



I can't believe that color change! My boyfriend maintains that Scout didn't grow; he just shrunk

One more thing: Scout's nails are very long and really need to be cut. He is just SO squirmy. Does anyone have any tips for cutting his nails without hurting him?

[Shellyjean]

Pics!!!!

I can't help ya much on your questions, pretty new to all this. Mine don't usually try to eat anything outside. Except "Wings" has a thing for big pieces of gravel, lol.

Wonderful pics though, he's gorgeous!!!

[Lisa]

I have a grass eater. As you can see by his expression, he really seems to enjoy it. But then, there's not many foods my Ralphie doesn't enjoy.




As for the mouth, he might have just had some food stuck there for a bit. Keep an eye on it, but it may just clear after his next shed if he's due for one soon.

If you can get him out and about and on rocky surfaces regularly, he won't need his nails trimmed. They'll get trim in no time. But if you need to, try and do it when he's cooled, like first thing in the morning so he won't squirm alot. And do like one or two nails a day rather than them altogether because he might stress out.

[mouseinamilkbottle]

He looks fabulous!

I can't believe how much mine have grown. We went to the SOFAR meeting (with our little monsters) and someone had new baby Easterns there the size of my fingers. I and Wallflower Girl were semi-wailing to each other incredulously, "Our babies used to be that tiny!" Kind of pathetic, sort of proud-mum behaviour. Thank goodness we're never having kids. We'd be totally embarrassing to them.

About the mouth, ditto what Lisa said. He doesn't chew on anything hard that he shouldn't, does he?

[Omega]

Ralphie looks amazing... blotched I'm guessing?

btw, Gratz on the boy!

[Leigh]

Nice one Lisa, we need more Ralphie shots, love him to bits me.

[Leigh]

Lura, great piccy's from out doors, It looks like its on both sides of his mouth in the 2nd and 3rd shot, have you seen him chomp on a chair leg or big stick, mine tries to lift the patio chair with his gob, silly boy

[Marie]

A boy! Congrats on finding out the sex. With the mouth, I'd just make sure all the food is off after he eats. Dora seemed to have that same problem when she was younger, but she has grown out of it.

[Zach]

Looking awesome!

Does he get regular greens?

[Robbie]

For the question about the nails when I first got my Sven it looked like he never had a nail clipping before in his life and he is also a fighter! What I did was just used a flat peice of slate tile as his basking spot and I haven't had to clip his nails yet after a year! They just kind of shaved down on the slate and haven't had a problem with it sinse!

[DeadEye]

Yep mine grazz on grass .And will pick up the scent of a doggy dodoo

And if not watched will have a happy meal ....I went to a lecture the other night , and i got to cut some SHINGLE BACKS open (road Kills) .. Well worth the 1 hour drive . I see alot of rd kill , but this was my chance to learn about the birds and the bee,s .. I got a big male and a female to open up. Normally they stink have maggots and blow flys all over them ..This was ORSM ..The boys balls were like little kidney beans for those of you who dont know...Oh what they eat in the bush stix ? .. And there heme <s .WoW 2 one for each side ...really interesting the stuff i have in my deep freezer is to good to chop up , and to good to go to the trash..I even love a dead babie BTS

[Lura]

Hey, sorry I've been MIA

Just wanted to update that Scout has since shed and no longer seems to have those hard patches on his mouth scales. We were also able to successfully clip his nails, so thanks to everyone for the advice!

Also, thanks for easing my mind about the grass eating. It makes me feel better to know that other's skinks also graze. Scout gets greens with every single meal, so I don't think he's too deprived.

Once again, thanks!

[mouseinamilkbottle]

Just wanted to update that Scout has since shed and no longer seems to have those hard patches on his mouth scales.

Sounds like it was just damaged scales or unshed scales left over then. Glad to hear it!