chameleon7":2dpkzhm6 said:
yeah good ideas, i really need to get a bts in the near future, kingofnobbies what type of bt do you have and what do you feed as a staple :?:
Two sibling Easterns (no special morphs), I chose the two who came over to me and wanted to crawl out onto me (good sign the little baby skink is going to be friendly). I asked the breeder to bring the babies out in one of those underbed tubs, and sat on the floor and watched to see how they behaved and responded to me....I asked for a boy and a girl ( and George and Mildred were the ones who seemed to choose me .... almost as they were looking into my eyes and thinking "pick me!".
Pretty much exactly same as food as my 3 beardies get (makes life simpler) . All 5 are handfed their live bugs (the faster ones especially) ,, and have been since little, makes for great bond with a lizard. Regarding worms they can catch these , all I need do put the worms where they see them.
I do buy in garden snails from a place who cultivates them for the restraunts , these are treats and they both love them.
Insects (mine are adults) = superworms (treats) , mealworms (very rare treats - I only really buy them for the resident wild skinks) , large crickets (gut loaded and dusted), large silkworms when I have them , boiled lean chicken mince sometimes, softened pellets (adult beardie repcal brand) sometimes mixed with salad, soft boiled and hardboiled egg occasionally as a treat (I leave the shell on and they break and eat the egg shell and all, I know some who give their BTS raw chicken eggs - but I'd rather not deal with that much mess, BTS can be very messy eaters and never move than 1/2 an egg each).
I've never fed my skinks cat or dog food ( I know they will eat these if that's all they are offered and wild BTS will raid dog and cat food bowls given the chance (this doesn't make cat or dog food ideal or even longer term good for them as they are not equipped to process the kinds of proteins and fats and preservatives and fillers in cat and dog food - irrespective of the brand and "quality" , this is however a contentious issue amongst skink keepers/breeders as many long standing breeders make claims contrary to my above opinion and statements.
Salad = raw peas, beans, carrot usually grated , sweet potato usually grated, buk choi greens coarsely chopped, occasionally slices of apple, pear, banana (they LOVE banana but it's high phosphorous content so it's given as a treat), green or red seedless grapes quartered, berries when we have them. Pretty much if it's OK for a beardie to eat, it's OK for a BTS.
My bluetongues love a good long drink (that's when I get to see their bright blue tongues - which are impressive), but you need to make sure the water dish is shallow and not slippery when wet so BTS can get back out. They enjoy also a nice
bath, especially when younger and shedding regularly.
I have on occasion had a bluetongue and a beardie eating from the same plate together on the kitchen floor (eating the same "salad") .
UV , I have 26W UVB150s for my BTS.
Their favourate places are
>>> snuggling into my elbow and tummy
>>> inside my hoody (between me and the hoodie or t-shirt with their head poked out under my chin)
>>> at the back of my neck (like a cat)
>>> curled up wrapped up in my hoody or t-shirt on the lounge next to me
>>> looking out the front window when the sun is shining through in the afternoon
>>> sitting infront of the coffee table watching the TV (they love action and wildlife shows).
They are great at sending house mice packing, we used to often get mice in the house, got BTS and when they were finally large enough to freerange in the house , no more mice (they moved out).
Word of caution : don't use surface bug sprays or fly sprays or roach baits if you plan on letting your BTS or other captive bred lizard freerange in the house , they spot a half dead roach it's eaten , unlike wild lizards, the captive bred ones don't develop an immunity or tolerance for these poisons.
We stopped using insect control sprays and baits when we started have pet lizards.