BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

This afternoon I nearly had a heart attack. I was in the other room when I heard a big crash bang in my animal room (where all my reptiles live). I came in to find the side door on Tarzan's cage open and he was no where to be found. So started digging around and found the poor guy with his head trapped in a hobo spider trap. Thank god I use the toxin free ones!! They are scented to attract the spiders (and blueys apparently) but then they are just sticky to hold the spiders in. Poor Tarzan was stuck and trashing. So I tore the spider trap off of him and then scraped all of the sticky junk off of his head. He was such a good boy about it all!!

I think I'm gonna go get some sort of external door lock to hold them on a little better. This is twice that the blueys have pushed the door out. They're held on with regular cabinet catches and apprently that is not adequate. Any suggestions on external door locks? I want them to be funtional and look nice. Renee, I like the look of the ones on your cages. Where did you get them?

oh no!
Lucky you were there to save the day

Having a lock is a good idea, much safer too.
I dont use locks and dont no where you could get some, sorry.

f.C

for llocks, i have a number lock, like you need a code. they can't get through there!!!

Oh, poor baby! I'm so glad you found him! I have sliders with a display lock so I can't help ya there. If I find out anything about a better lock for you I'll be sure to PM you.

Take care!

I was sure you were going to say one of your babies ate their tail.
When I saw my first bluey, I would have never figured those short stocky bodies could escape from anything. They continue to amaze me with their strength and dexterity. I am so glad that Tarzan is OK. How scary for the two of you. I would have freaked too! I wish I knew what kind of lock would work. I really need to get some for my guys too. Show us what you do to solve this problem. Keep us posted! I'm so glad Tarzan is alright!!!

Wow, I hope he's okay! Is the cage elevated? Like did he LEAP to the floor?

Duct tape the door shut for the time being.

Glad he is safe. You don't happen to have any pictures of the skink in the trap?

I use magnets! It started as an experiment and everyone was skeptical, but they work perfectly. It's a little noisy to open which is the only con, but I have 3 on each door (1 in middle, 2 on each end) and it holds the door up very strongly.

Hijinks wrote:Wow, I hope he's okay! Is the cage elevated? Like did he LEAP to the floor?

Duct tape the door shut for the time being.

Yeah actually. The cage is about 4 feet off of the floor. I'm shocked that he wasn't injured. I didn't take any pictures with him in the trap. I was too concerned with getting him out of there. And then I ran to double check and make SURE that they were the non-toxic traps. I also made sure that I had my vet's number ready to go in case they weren't.

Zach, I like the magnet idea, but I don't think it'll work on my cages. The doors fit into the frames, and the bit that's overlapped fits really snug. I'm thinking that's how I'll go if I ever built a bigger unit.

I think my latches came from Ace Hardware. It's a pretty standard latch though, I believe you can find them at Bi-Mart and Home Depot definitely should have them.

Ya know, as mean as it sounds, I think you should have taken a picture of Tarz with his head in a hobo trap...knowing he's ok just makes this a hilarious story and a picture would just complete the deal.

Honestly, after the fact I kinda wish I had. I couldn't believe that I just grabbed him with my bare hands! I didn't even think about getting bit. He was thrashing and very angry, but I just reached down and pinned him. He was even really cooperative about letting me scrape the yuckies off of his head.

Could you use the offset twist idea, a piece of wood with the fixing 1/4 way with 3/4 length hanging down, ummm like a rabbit hutch, if this doesnt make sense pm me and I'll do you a drawing

Leigh wrote:Could you use the offset twist idea, a piece of wood with the fixing 1/4 way with 3/4 length hanging down, ummm like a rabbit hutch, if this doesnt make sense pm me and I'll do you a drawing

I was thinking about that, but I want it to look furniture grade. I bought some latches today. Hopefully they will work.....

man that sounds so scary, i would have just gone 'whip' as i pulled him out and then gone and given teh little fella cuddles

bluetonguemad wrote:man that sounds so scary, i would have just gone 'whip' as i pulled him out and then gone and given teh little fella cuddles

I don't really cuddle Tarzan, he doesn't appreciate it. But he was a little dazed and confused, so I held him for a little while before letting him cruise on the couch. I wanted to keep him out for a few seconds so that I could be sure I didn't need to dash him off to the vet.

thats a good idea, yeah lol, instinct tells me when one of my animals looks hurtish (not so bad i know he has to go) i will give him a quick hug type thing and then they can cruise, my cats read me and they always walk to me looking guilty then i hug them and they walk away looking suspicious haha