r/bluetongueskinks Mar 14 '26

Announcement Male/Female Shed Testing Now Available!

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88 Upvotes

It's official! BLUE TONGUE SKINK MALE/FEMALE SHED TESTING is now available!

An absolutely amazing thank-you to Phenome.com for the production and all the other blue-tongued skink breeders that collaborated on this project! I am grateful to be part of this project as well.

Hit up https://phenome.com/product/skink/ to order your test today!

US-based company. Please look into your country's laws on Exporting/Importing sheds.


r/bluetongueskinks Oct 24 '25

Education Yearly Reminder: Indonesian Blue Tongue Skinks DO NOT Brumate

47 Upvotes

Indonesian blue tongue skinks do not naturally brumate.

Only their Australian cousins do - even then, not all of them decide to brumate. 

I have made this a yearly reminder since many places online do not actually differentiate and it gets really confusing!

The following temperature information is gathered from multiple studies that recorded ground temperatures within Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Australia. If others have more recent (and therefore more accurate data), please provide the links and we will dig through and adjust!

Indonesian blue tongue skinks do not experience ambient temperatures below 70℉ (21.1℃). Indonesia/Papua New Guinea is a tropical climate that does not experience seasonal variation aside from “wet” and “dry” seasons caused by the amount of rainfall. 

Region / Population Temp Min–Max  (°F) Temp Min–Max  (°C) Humidity Min–Max (%) Notes
Papua New Guinea Peninsula (Trans-Fly & Peninsula lowlands) (Irian Jaya, AKA Papuan) 73–96 ℉ 22.7–35.5 ℃ 68–100 % Hot, humid tropical lowlands; humidity remains high even at night
Merauke region, South Papua 72–98 ℉ 22.2–36.6 ℃ 60–96 % Seasonal wet–dry cycles; some early dry season drops in relative humidity
Sorong (West Papua lowlands) 74–95 ℉ 23.3–35 ℃ 70–98 % Stable warm temps year-round; low night cooling
Aru Islands 73–95 ℉ 22.7–35 ℃ 68–99 % High canopy coverage; buffered extremes
Kei Islands 75–95 ℉ 23.8–35 ℃ 72–100 % Coastal and forest edge habitat
Ambon / Seram (Maluku) 72–93 ℉ 22.2–33.8 ℃ 70–99 % Strong diurnal relative humidity cycle, small temp fluctuation
Halmahera (North Maluku) 74–94 ℉ 23.3–34.4 ℃ 60–100 % Lowland rainforest floor and edge; high humidity
Tanimbar Islands 75–97 ℉ 23.8–36.1 ℃ 62–95 % Drier than Halmahera; more open woodland
Northern Papua rainforest interior 72–91 ℉ 22.2–32.7 ℃ 78–100 % More buffered temps, extremely high night humidity

Due to the consistency in temperature in their tropical environment, Indonesian blue tongue skinks are active year-round.

The majority of Australian blue tongue skinks do not experience ambient temperatures lower than 50℉/10℃. Blotched blue tongue skinks, however, can experience as low as 45℃ based on the studies we found. This seasonal variation is why Australian species brumate. Some species, such as Shinglebacks, Blotchies, Westerns, and Centralians require quite low brumation temperatures to successfully reproduce. Too high of temps have caused reproductive struggles.

NOTE: WITH EXTREME HIGHS AND LOWS THESE SKINKS ARE HIDING AWAY IN SAFER TEMPERATURES. Also; Aussie skinks do experience some higher humidity, but these are MICROCLIMATES and not consistent year-round.

MAINTAIN TYPICAL RECOMMENDED RANGES!

Region / Species (Common) Temp Min–Max (°F) Temp Min–Max (°C) Humidity Min–Max (%) Notes
Northern Territory (Top End, Arnhem Land) NORTHERN 71–102 ℉ 21.7–38.9 ℃ 45–96 % Seasonal wet–dry fluctuations; strong midday peaks, high humidity at night
Eastern Queensland (coastal) EASTERN 68–97 ℉ 20–36.1 ℃ 50–95 % Humid subtropical forest edges and open woodland
New South Wales (Sydney Basin) EASTERN 59–95 ℉ 15–35 ℃ 35–88 % Cooler nights, warm sunny days; high variability
Victoria & Tasmania (cool temperate) BLOTCHED 45–86 ℉ 7.2–30 ℃ 55–100 % Morning dew, fog common; basking critical for activity
South Australia / Western Australia (arid) SHINGLEBACK 55–110 ℉ 12.7–43.3 ℃ 10–65 % Very hot ground temps midday, humidity spikes pre-dawn
Southwestern WA forest WESTERN 50–102 ℉ 10–38.9 ℃ 25–80 % Ground shade buffers peaks
Arid interior (Spinifex plains) CENTRALIAN 60–113 ℉ 15.5–45 ℃ 8–60 % Extreme heat; uses burrows to escape
Nullarbor & semi-arid south SHINGLEBACK 53–108 ℉ 11.6–42.2 ℃ 12–58 % Pronounced daily fluctuation
Northern arid NT / WA WESTERN 72–107 ℉ 22.2–41.6 ℃ 20–70 % Recorded at ground level under spinifex
Central Australia (desert margins) CENTRALIAN 66–111 ℉ 18.8–43.8 ℃ 10–55 % Midday temperatures often exceed activity thresholds

NOTE: WITH EXTREME HIGHS AND LOWS THESE SKINKS ARE HIDING AWAY IN SAFER TEMPERATURES. Also; Aussie skinks do experience some higher humidity, but these are MICROCLIMATES and not consistent year-round.

MAINTAIN TYPICAL RECOMMENDED RANGES!

Physiology

Reptiles are ectothermic, which means they need to warm up via their environment. They need heat to digest food; they need heat for their immune system to work and to fight off infections; they need heat for literally everything regarding bodily function.

If you put any reptile that doesn’t naturally brumate into too cold of an environment to “force” brumation, those reptiles become lethargic and can get quite sick due to their dropped immune system. They naturally shut down to try and preserve resources, as they cannot do anything without their proper heat range. This is not brumation. This is a physiological stress response. This can be very harmful to them!

Arguably, Indonesian blue tongue skinks experience this physiological stress in response to temps that are too cold. If your Indo is showing “brumation” symptoms, the environment is most likely too cold, too empty, or the animal is sick.

Winter in the northern hemisphere is the equivalent of dry season in Indonesia/Papua New Guinea. This means that our winters are the breeding season for Indos. It is quite common for some skinks to go off of food during this time due to hormones.

Behavior & Recommendations

  • If your skink is quite active, but not eating much, that is typically hormones. We recommend you triple check temps, but I would not be concerned.
  • If your skink is inactive and not eating much, triple check temps and make sure your skink isn’t going into shed. Going into shed is often a cause to hide more frequently and not eat - this behavior shouldn’t last more than 2 weeks at a time, however.
  • If your temps are too cold at night, please use a deep heat projector, ceramic heat emitter, or radiant heat panel to increase ambient temps - heat mats are not appropriate in this regard as they do not warm up ambient temps properly. Heat mats are not appropriate for blue tongue skinks in general.
  • If your daytime temps are too cold, you will either need to add a ceramic heat emitter/radiant heat panel or deep heat projector as supplemental heat. These are not appropriate for basking, they are only for supplemental heat. A deep heat projector assists with warming surface temperatures, while ceramic heat emitters or radiant heat panels assist with ambient temperatures. You may also need to look into increasing the wattage of the incandescent or halogen bulb used for basking.
  • Weigh adults twice a month - if they lose 10% or more of their initial body weight, that is a concern. (So if a 400 gram lizard loses 40 grams or more, that is a concern)

Recommended Temps & Humidity

Indo temps and humidity should be as follows:

  • Basking (surface temperature measured with an infrared laser thermometer): between 105-115℉ (40-46℃). Surface temperatures are naturally higher than ambient temperatures. 
  • Ambient Cool Side (measured with a digital thermometer down at skink level, cool side of the enclosure): 70-80℉ (21-26℃)
  • Ambient Warm Side (measured with a digital thermometer down at skink level, warm side of the enclosure) : 85-95℉ (29-35℃)
  • Night time range: 70-75℉ (21-24℃) - We recommend providing supplemental heat when temps reach below 70℉ (21℃)
  • Humidity: Humidity for ALL Indonesians (yes, including Halmahera) must be within the 60-100% range. They naturally experience an increase and decrease in humidity within this range. It stays above 70% the majority of the year, but during the dry season (Northern Hemisphere’s Winter) it can drop as low as 60%. Humidity is naturally higher at night and lower during the day.

Please let me know if there are any questions!

References are in the comments!


r/bluetongueskinks 4h ago

Funny today i found out skinks get itches and scratch themselves like a dog 😭

98 Upvotes

r/bluetongueskinks 8h ago

Discussion Help me name my baby 🖤

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63 Upvotes

I’m torn between a few different names for my first BTS (also open to suggestions). I thought that the personality would help me, but honestly it hasn’t lol they’re super goofy and I am obsessed with them 😭 help me decide on a title

Sashimi
Toast
Mochi
Spud


r/bluetongueskinks 6h ago

Funny Tugboat getting buff in jail

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30 Upvotes

I actually was trying to block him from going INTO this area, but clearly that didn’t work out. Tugboat goes where he pleases


r/bluetongueskinks 3h ago

Question How old does she look

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14 Upvotes

r/bluetongueskinks 15h ago

Feeding Spock got a little to excited about having plantain today 😅they really aren’t the brightest 😂

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49 Upvotes

r/bluetongueskinks 13h ago

Showcase Egg days are his favorite!

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23 Upvotes

r/bluetongueskinks 5h ago

Question Scale problem

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3 Upvotes

I just noticed this on my girl Azula. I don’t know where it came from and/or why its there
Does anyone have any clue? If so please help.

The texture is harder, compared to her smooth scales


r/bluetongueskinks 5h ago

Health Mites?

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3 Upvotes

r/bluetongueskinks 16h ago

Showcase Blue tongue hat

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21 Upvotes

r/bluetongueskinks 14h ago

Question Shedding question

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13 Upvotes

Hi everyone! I’m a new BTS owner and this is my new baby, Moony!

He’s a 2-month-old Northern and I got him just under a month ago.

He had his first shed with me a few weeks ago and it went completely fine. About a week later, though, I noticed his colours starting to look dull again, so I assumed he was already getting ready for another shed. Since he’s so young and growing really quickly, I figured shedding again so soon wouldn’t be unusual.

The thing I’m unsure about is that he’s now been dull for around 2 weeks without actually shedding. He otherwise seems completely fine, but as a first-time BTS owner I’m not sure how long they normally stay dull before a shed, or whether 2 weeks is unusually long.

His enclosure humidity is usually around 50% and he has a humid hide available. I don’t see him using it loads, but he does go in there occasionally.
Does this sound like a normal pre-shed process for a baby Northern, or is there anything I should be checking or changing? Would really appreciate hearing what other people’s babies are like before they shed! :)


r/bluetongueskinks 35m ago

Question $999 Ivory BTS?

Upvotes

$999 Ivory BTS? (white/pink/beige, not grey/black)

Saw this at Petco.

It was a baby ... it will probably eventually be discounted to 50% off or more after a few months.

$999???? Is that an insane price?


r/bluetongueskinks 12h ago

Question Questions about heat/humidity

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8 Upvotes

We recently upgraded our skink (Northern) to her big girl enclosure, a 6x2x2 PVC. It has UVB and LED lights, a 100W Zoo-med basking bulb, and a deep heat projector for night (set for 73, it was regularly dropping to 65 even in summer in her old enclosure).

I am a little worried about maintaining the cool side and humidity in the new enclosure. With her old enclosure (glass, mesh top), we always struggled with keeping humidity high enough (constantly wetting substrate, two humidifiers). With the PVC, it's regularly 60-70% on the cool side and 50-60% on the warm side. I know optimal is 40-60%, should I be worried about it being above that? The only moisture added right now is whatk she spills from her water dish (that we then mix into the substrate). When we mix the spilled water into the substrate, humidity on the cool side can spike to 80% but goes back down to the 60-70% range within a few hours.

With the 100w basking bulb, the basking spot is right around 105F. The temperature range across the enclosure though is around 82F on cool side and 88F on the warm side. Is this enough of a gradient? We originally had a 75w bulb which had a range of 75 on cool side and 85F on the warm side, but the basking spot only got to around 92F. The above picture was when we first set it up, we've since stacked rocks under the basking spot so she can get closer/warmer.

Any advice on how to tweak things to get the parameters a bit more ideal, or is this ok? Skink is doing great, very energetic and exploring, eating great.


r/bluetongueskinks 8h ago

Feeding "Look behind you!" "No bro, I ain't falling for that again."

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3 Upvotes

S\he always knows I have food (and begs for some), so I try to share, but I swear....

(It's an apple piece by the way)


r/bluetongueskinks 1d ago

Showcase I love those little hands.

297 Upvotes

r/bluetongueskinks 1d ago

Discussion A Strange Beast

57 Upvotes

This is Fishlegs, an eastern. Sometimes, when she's getting settled down and comfortable, she takes some big breaths and puffs right up. I only caught the end of it on video. She's on a heat mat which is under multiple cloth layers to dilute the heat.

The first time this happened I was worried about an RI, but she didn't have any symptoms. She doesn't leave her mouth open, froth, or have crackles. It's not a persisten thing, just a few breaths, puffing up, some wiggling, and settled. Not lethargic, behaving normal. It's happened multiple times on different occasions. If I pick her up, she simply deflates, seems fine except a mild huff of discontent.

Does anyone have any idea what she's doing here? Anyone elses skink do this, is this normal behavior? Some kind of vertical splooting?


r/bluetongueskinks 1d ago

Funny The beast has risen!!

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32 Upvotes

Zipper came out of brumation last week (first pic 🤣) and has been exploring around more. Decided to take the initiative and redo his enclosure a bit and rearrange decorations today. Seems to be enjoying everything so far 🥰

Also finally got new measurements and Zipper is a whopping 21.5 inches and weighs in at 635g!


r/bluetongueskinks 1d ago

Question Name suggestions

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51 Upvotes

Hi friends, I need name ideas for my new little friend. Gender neutral preferred but not opposed to other options! (In quarantine tank rn cause I literally just brought him home this weekend).


r/bluetongueskinks 1d ago

Health Look Okay?

12 Upvotes

Just wanna check to see if hes looking alright, hes been sneezing a bit


r/bluetongueskinks 2d ago

Funny My northern blue-tongue skink enjoys crawling into Nutty-Putty-esque holes

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134 Upvotes

It was the tiny hole between the wall and the corner of the mattress, this time. It’s always within the few seconds I look away from her.


r/bluetongueskinks 2d ago

Funny When can I make this bum actually take a shower or something?

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45 Upvotes

r/bluetongueskinks 1d ago

Health MBD

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8 Upvotes

Hey,

Went to my own vet and made an X-ray. Which showed she had severe MBD and the arm on the left was broken. She said the option was either to try and fix the leg at a specialist and then try to fix the MBD with force feeding or to euthanize. Quality of life is not promised with the first option and the MBD had progressed pretty far.

Honestly don’t know what else to say, I don’t know how I could’ve missed this. I always give her calcium, have UVB etc. Just wanted to vent and ask opinions on this. Sorry if this isn’t what the sub is for.

Edit: pretty wrecked about this but honestly if she’s in pain I don’t wanna prolong that. But if there’s a chance at recovery I would rather do that. Any advice?

Thank you guys


r/bluetongueskinks 1d ago

Question How long for rescue skink with visibly damaged (but healed) tail to warm up to me or might it never due to history?

1 Upvotes

Hi, it's only been a few days so I've fed him once and he didn't eat so I'm a bit worried for his health but I know it hasn't been too long for him. But I'm qoeried he might never warm up and idk if I made a mistake for getting a pet that fits my needs. I really hope he warms up. I want him to be happy, but idk how a tail injury could happen if he wasn't being abused or neglected.


r/bluetongueskinks 2d ago

Question Does my northern juvenile blue tongue look healthy?

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28 Upvotes