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Northern Blue Tongue Skink
Care sheet
Housing:
The larger the better when it comes to enclosures for your skink. Hatchlings
can be housed in as small as a 20 gallon enclosure, but a minimum size
for an adult is at least a 50 gallon terrarium. Enclosures should typically
be longer than they are high. Pairs should be housed in larger enclosures
with numerous caves for hiding and space for basking. If you choose to
house more than one skink in an enclosure, monitor them carefully, as
aggression is common.
Lighting/Heating:
Skinks like it HOT! The key to heating your enclosure is providing a temperature
gradient from a hot basking zone, to a cooler hide area. Basking temps
should reach over 100 degrees F. The cooler zone should be around 85 degrees.
Place caves on hot and cool sides of the enclosure. We suggest lighting
from above (bulb and fixture) to simulate natural sun over undertank heaters.
The brighter the light, the better. Skinks thrive under a good full spectrum
UV source. We recommend active UV/heat (mercury vapor bulbs). These bulbs
work double time to give your skink quality UV and producing heat at the
same time. You may also use fluorescent UV full spectrum tubes, although
they do not produce the same UV quality. The colors and health of your
lizard depends on good bright light and UV. Your skink will also benefit
from natural sunlight and we recommend bringing your lizard outside in
an outdoor basking enclosure.
Substrate/Cage
Decor:
Washed playsand (you can purchase this in 50 lb. bags at home depot or
Wal-Mart) makes for a great substrate. We recommend this over the "digestible"
high-end sands sold at pet stores (such as calci sand). We have found
that it is difficult to monitor the lizards' calcium intake if they live
on calci sand and are a bit concerned with the large size of the sand
particles. And playsand can be as cheap as $2 a bag! You may also house
skinks on aspen, pine shavings, or newspaper. Do not use cedar shavings,
the oils can kill your pet. We have found that a combination of playsand
and aspen works well. The skinks tend to enjoy burrowing into large amounts
of aspen.
Numerous hides should be placed within the enclosure to make your skink
feel secure. Decorative rocks for basking are also desirable. Do not use
heat rocks. Rocks placed under your heat lamp will naturally heat up.
Logs and fake plants may also be nice in your enclosure.
Feeding/Supplementation:
Skinks are omnivorous and enjoy variety and change in their diet.
Collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, and dandelion greens should
be staple. In addition to greens, a vegetable mixture can be offered consisting
of carrots, squash, lima beans, peas, corn, etc. Fruits should be offered
as well.
Insects such as crickets and mealworms are enjoyed, and a wide variety
of meats including chicken, turkey, eggs, and rodents can also be offered.
Many people feed skinks cat or dog food. We recommend against this, but
if you do opt to use this food source, make sure it is lean food and only
offer occasionally. Snails are also relished, but be sure they were not
exposed to pesticides.
Water: We like to leave a water dish inside the enclosure for our
skinks, and spray minimally. A larger shallow dish that the skink can
get inside of is preferable.
Supplementation: Skinks should be given both vitamin and calcium
supplementation. The level of D3 supplementation depends on how much you
expose your lizard to natural sunlight and mercury vapor bulbs.
Health:
Northern Blue Tongue Skinks are hardy captive-bred reptiles, yet they
can still succumb to numerous diseases and problems.
We are not veterinarians; please do not use this information as a replacement
for taking your lizard to a vet. This information is meant to raise your
awareness of signs and possible problems. If you notice that your lizard
is ill, do not hesitate to make an appointment with a reptile specialist.
Several pointers to ensure optimal health
for your lizard:
1. Follow all housing, heating/lighting, and feeding/supplementation requirements
for your lizard.
2. Do not house your skinks with any other species of reptile. Different
reptiles come from many different environments requiring different needs
in captivity. Even animals that come from similar environments can cause
stress and pass parasites onto your skink, costing the life of your lizard.
3. Do not house skinks of different sizes together-this is a sure problem
for the smaller lizards' health.
4. If you decide to house multiple skinks together, monitor them closely,
especially during breeding season. Separate your skinks at any sign of
aggression.
5. Keep your cages and food clean! Clean and sift poop often. Remove all
old food.
6. Wash your hands before and after handling your lizard. Be sure to sanitize
hands in between handling different reptile species. (Hand sanitizer is
a good thing to have handy).
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