#bioactive blue tongue skink

[ballin-pythons]

Made the push today to go fully bio active with Gershwin! Topsoil, sand, and cypress bark mix with dwarf whites and a bunch of plants from a local organic nursery.

[erikahammerschmidt]

get skinkshamed, you weirdo

(Inside a large lizard enclosure, a plant has been chewed down to a few struggling leaves and stems. Beside it, the lizard flicks her blue tongue at a paper sign that's being held in front of her. The sign says I EAT THE POTHOS PLANT ALMOST AS FAST AS IT GROWS.)

[corvins-colubrids]

My Northern Blue Tongue Skink, Fable, has been in a medical quarantine enclosure for the past week while healing some cuts on her back legs/belly, and she is being rather good while I have to handle her and get her on her back to clean her wounds and put some ointment on them. Right now she's shedding, and her shedding scales came off like beautiful large flakes of glitter (though not sparkly) and I wish I'd taken a picture. I tried to save them, but they were so fragile they kind of crumbled in my hands. It was cool to see though, because I never see her shed since her bioactive enclosure keeps her humidity perfect (with daily misting) and the CUC eat the shed skin--isopods and other detritivores love snake and lizard skin! It was cool to see her shed, and I'm glad that, even in her medical setup, she's still having no problems shedding. I've been so worried about her, because the first few days, the wounds were opening up and bleeding again every time she moved, but it's definitely showing signs of healing now. I want to get her back to her enclosure so she can feel safer and more comfortable and enjoy how I intend to redo some of her enclosure, like her basking spot, and adding some plants.

Pet keeping brings me so much joy, even though it can also be super frustrating at times too.

[depressed-cowboah]

✨About Me post✨

Hello!! Welcome to my little blog!! I saw some friends do this and thought I should too.

Online you can call me Ruby, using that for ���privacy reasons✨

Idk here’s little facts or something

My pronouns are whatever u want

✨ace lesbian agenda✨

Hot girls have type one diabetes and autism😎

I am a adult but please don’t like dm nsfw stuff, I will block u

Beginner taxidermist! I work with strictly naturally deceased animals. Mostly articulate bones, but i’d love to get better at true taxidermy.

I tend to unfollow frequently when interests change, so please don't take it personally- I'm probably just not interested in whatever topic you post about anymore.

(part of my collection!)

Stuff I'm interested in and prob reblog or post about!

LOCKED TOMB!! I love the locked tomb sm. First book is called Gideon the ninth, go read it!!

Bones and skeletons! I do reblog and post about them, so if that’s something you don't like to see be warned. I try to tag all those as “tw bones”

(the warthog I articulated!)

Dogs! I love them v v much and will talk about dogs forever. English mastiffs are my favorite, i’ve had nine English and a handful of other mastiff breeds. I would love to get into showing them someday!

Reptiles! I love them so so much! I have a northern blue tongue named Walter, 2 Beardies named Herman and Dart, and a corn snake named Pyrrha. Walter is from a enthical breeder I adore and the rest are rescues! All my enclosures are bioactive.

(my children- Dart the orange Beardie, Herman the grey Beardie, Walter the skink and Pyrrha the snake

The last of us!!! Ahh I love tlou!! So so so sm!

Stranger things! I've been a fan of st since the start, I named one of my lizards after darttt

Red dead redemption!! I could talk about rdr for days. My user is inspired by it!

Arcane! V v fun! Stuff like arcane normally isn’t my style because it’s very bright and flashy and stuff but for some reason I got hooked on arcane

Unus annus (and mark and Ethan in general! My comfort channel, rip :,)

Star wars!! I'm not as into Star wars as I used to be, but I still love it- especially mandalorian.

Lastly, the MCU! Again like Star wars i’m not as into it as I was, but I still enjoy it.

There’s a few more, but those are the ones that spring to mind- may edit and add or remove some at points

Anddddd lastly

Don't interact or follow if you're a asshole tyyy

[dykedragons]

i have decided. one day when i can afford big bioactive tank. i will get. blue tongue skink

[tinolqa]

in case tumblr is wondering what I’m up to: I’m in Michigan for (good) family things, I’m now devastated by Culver’s not being in my home area, and I for some reason was struck by a sudden obsession with bioactive reptile enclosures and being a reptile owner for the first time in 15+ years!

So in my downtime I’ve just been obsessively researching what snakes and lizards would be the best fit for my available space and budget while also being amenable to handling. My top candidates: western hognose snake, Kenyan sand boa, ball python, gargoyle gecko, blue-tongued skink, or bearded dragon, but I’m not even necessarily settled on them? They just seem the most viable for my setup space, as much as I’d adore a tegu or monitor.

[bigbadfrostwolf]

Our new baby, Gus, arrived this morning. 🥰

[amazingpetenclosures]

Blue Tongue Skink enclosure by Tatiana Gritsevskiy

[soupcollector]

has anyone done a bioactive enclosure for an Indonesian (halmahera) blue tongue skink? I was looking around for resources and I've only found 2, just plant ideas or tips?

[will-o-the-witch]

May we view the Blueberry 👀

Yes!

Blueberry is a blue tongue skink and shes about a year old. She's real grumpy and isn't socialized with people yet but we love her anyway. She's also technically trans because I found out she was a male lizard months after giving her a name and pronouns and calling her a lovely lady.

This picture of me holding her is a few months old so she's actually much bigger now. Her new enclosure looks like it's going to take up what used to be my kitchen table (I never used it anyway lol) and will be bioactive.

[snuggleboots]

Been vibin over pets I've had & then, like always, hopped back on my Naruto bullshit because Naruto is life. Here's what my last 2 brain cells think everyone's pet preferences would be.

Kakuzu is a reptile guy. He likes dogs too, but isn't overly fond of how dependent dogs are on their owners. Larger reptiles are his preference, because they have more obvious personality and he has a healthy respect for their abilities and generally low-maintenance lifestyles. He has four lizards; a monitor, a tegu, a blue tongued skink, and a tiny bearded dragon he rescued (who is very spoiled). Their habitats are flawless, probably bio-active and planted because they maintain themselves and the animals like it more.

Sasori likes cats (especially mainecoons and servals), loves arachnids and insects. Probably has a fair collection of scorpions, mantis, tarantulas and other creepy crawlies. Absolutely raises his own colony of feeder insects- Kakuzu probably buys some from time to time for his (definitely spoiled) skink. He loves observing his pets just going about their lives- he absolutely saves their molts. When they eventually reach the end of their life cycle and pass away, he preserves them in jars of 99% alcohol.

Deidara likes birds, but only has a couple that he owns- a parrot, two budgies, and two silly little quails that like ONLY him and get territorial towards outsiders. Absolutely ended up a registered falconer as an older teen because it was cool and immediately got attached to the birds he worked with. His birds are his loves, he spoils them and loves watching them groom and play. His parrot mimicks some some speech- and has its own life mission to teach the other birds to swear like it does. Deidara loves his mouthy little flock to pieces.

Hidan likes dogs- has only ever had rescues. Never puppies, but middle-aged or senior dogs that have clearly had a rough lot in life. They end up like puppies anyway- renewed and always excited and happy with Hidan who dotes on them daily. Ended up with a rescued husky/king shepherd mutt currently, who despite his age still has serious zoomies and a very commanding bark. Looks intimidating from scars and some nicks in his ears, but is very friendly when you give him a chance. Tried his hand in fish keeping because he impulse-purchased some piranhas, they were promptly rehomed to Kisame when he realized it wasn't his thing.

Kisame, predictably, loves fishkeeping. Has a few tanks- a marine tank, a blackwater tank, a predator tank, and a fresh water community tank. Beautifully scaped, perfectly maintained. He also has a dog, a gigantic tibatian mastiff that is a complete lovebug with the people it recognizes as Kisame's people. God help anyone that tries to threaten or show aggression towards this dog's people- this breed has guarded prisons and hunted bears, without Kisame's express command protecting any aggressor, they would be finished. Massive pup has claimed more than half of Kisame's bed come the evening- and serves as a beautiful, snuggly furnace through the colder months.

Itachi is a simple man. He likes cats. Literally any cat. Grumpy, aloof, affectionate or hyper- a cat is a cat. Cats seem to love him- he is a walking, talking feline magnet. He's the guy that takes the blame for feral cat colonies moving into his nice neighbourhood- Itachi definitely works with TNR programs/cat sanctuaries in lessening the risk of kittens being born feral, and making sure any cat comfortable in a home, finds their forever home. That's how he ended up with two cats of his own, a brother and sister that he was introduced to through some of the rescue staff. Both are tuxedos- one black and white, the other grey and white. Incredibly sweet and loving, with a bit of a hyper streak when excited.

Zetsu also practices fishkeeping, taught Kisame some of his tricks and secrets to flourishing bioactive, planted tanks. If you need aquatic plants, he's your guy. Crypts and christmas moss are his favourites to work with, for their colour and their (generally) low-maintenance. He only keeps smaller varieties of fish and invertebrates; tetras, guppies, shrimp, snails, bettas, swordtails and (very occasionally) mollies- mostly to supplement the cycle and keep the plants nourished and growing well. He has a fix for any issues in aquatic pet-keeping- snail infestation? He'll give you some assassin snails. Trouble establishing a cycled tank? No worries, he can send over some of his used filter media to get you started. His tanks are gorgeous, and his plants are second to none.

Tobi likes just about any animal that clicks with him. He's had a variety over the years, some found and rescued, others from licensed and well-rated breeders. Cats, dogs, reptiles, amphibians- he's had one of everything by now. Currently has a very senior cat, with patchy fur, arthritis from past de-clawing, and a blind eye- she loves sweaters, receives many treats, and has a good life thanks to her loving owner. Tobi has area rugs for a lot of his home to ensure the tile and wood doesn't hurt the queen's delicate little feet. She does not like outsiders- but is a complete and utter hog of any and all of his attention and love.

[digital-dragoon]

i’m slowly building up my blue tongue skink setup with some bioactive suitable stuff

[corvins-colubrids]

Doing my morning reptile chores and, of course, something's going on with Fable as always. She's my one-year-old Northern Blue Tongue Skink, and I swear there's always something going on with her. First, her heat bulb was burnt out. Then, as I was misting her enclosure, I noticed some dark red areas in her usual spot on the cool side. Oh no. Blood. Now Fable is tame, but she doesn't enjoy being held, and I don't see a need to force it on her just for my entertainment.

I managed to pick Fable up and look her over, and found the problem. She's shedding on her belly and it looks like, in an effort to scrape off her belly shed, she cut up the area where her back legs meet her body.

She lives in a 4'x2'x2' enclosure from Zen Habitats, and it's bioactive, which is great, because it holds humidity and is self-cleaning (meaning that isopods and springtails take care of any extra food, shed skin, urates and fecal matter, etc, but not great when she has a wound, because isopods like to eat damaged tissue, but also she slithers through the substrate and burrows, and that means she gets really dirty and it's basically impossible to keep a wound clean. I cleaned her wound out with some vet med spray, and put her back in the enclosure temporarily. I'm going to have to make her a quarantine setup with just paper towel while her wounds heal. And she's not going to be happy.

There goes my plans for the day, lol. But suck is life with pets, and I'm just glad I noticed this, because reptiles don't advertise when they're not feeling well, and I have a lot of pets, so the truth is, I'm not examining every pet's entire body every day. If I hadn't noticed the blood in the substrate, I don't know if I ever would have known she had injuries.

[sunfish-exotics]

Hi, I was wondering if you could tell me a bit about the bioactive setup for your BTS? How you set it up and such? Idk if you have any info on it on your blog; I'm on mobile so its a bit of a hassle to look. ;v; Sorry for the trouble!

Sure! Here’s a link to my tag where I talk about my skink -> http://sunfish-exotics.tumblr.com/tagged/frankie

Here’s a quick and easy list for how I setup his enclosure.

The cage itself is an AP (animal plastics) T8, which is 4′x2′x1′

The substrate is The Bio Dude’s “Terra Firma” (I bought a single 36qt bag and it was the perfect amount for a T8. It’s 2″ deep throughout with a 4-5″ depth in the back of the cage which he burrows in)

Clean up crew are powder blue isopods and giant white springtails. I still spot clean his poop and sheds because skinks produce too much for the microfauna to handle (at least in this point of my build) but I don’t have to really “deep clean” the enclosure. It never smells bad even with fresh poop in there, if anything it smells like dirt and dog food haha

Leaf litter is mostly magnolia, live oak, and willow oak (collected and purchased)

I also included one bag of The Bio Dude’s southern palm bark which he LOVES to hide under and scratch.

I mist the enclosure every other day to every two days to keep the humidity up and the microfauna happy.

I don’t use a drainage layer or plants! Skinks would destroy live plants but the fake ones I have don’t look too bad, although I always prefer the look of live.

The enclosure is lit by a T5H0 5.0 UVB bulb

The enclosure is heated by an 80 watt RHP from Reptile Basics and controlled by a jump start thermostat (the jumpstart works great in this case, but I’m slowly upgrading all of my ‘stats to herpstats because I like the features and stability)

That’s just the overview of what I used to setup this enclosure! Let me know if you have any specific questions or want any pics!

[jacqsreptiles]

What do you do for enrichment for your skink? My boy gets bored of new stuff quick and I’m always looking for new ideas!

(warning: I’ve only had a blue tongue skink for 6 months so this is all based on a relatively small time frame)

So! Enrichment! Anything and everything can be enrichment! Let me break down what I do/keep in mind (a lot of this can be used for any reptile)

Fake plants: A BIG MUST (if you don’t have a bioactive). Gotta love em, gotta have em. Studies show even one fake plant in a reptile enclosure can significantly improve mental well-being. You can get neat varieties at hobby stores like Michael’s and Hobby Lobby for decent prices. I will swap them out for different ones every few months for some variety. Rodie right now has some vines she sleeps under and a little fake gingko branch she likes to headbutt for some reason. She had a fake grass pat for a hot second, but then she pooped on it, and there was no cleaning it.

Log Rounds: EVERY. REPTILE. LOVES. LOG. Four of my animals have log rounds to hide in or crawl through. Its a toy, a hide, a platform to rest they head on, a thing to rub against while shedding, a natural emery board, the ultimate multi-tool imo. They are a must for arboreal animals, but also fucking great for all of them. Rodie likes the extra height to observe from, scrambling through and over it, and sleeping in it. Log rounds are great and an 18 inch long one is perfect for most blue tongue skinks. I get mine from this site cause they have a good specific selection for cork wood and the customer service is top notch. 

Substrate: If you have an Australian bluey, change it up every few cleans. Put them on aspen for a bit, or switch to coconut fiber/cypress mulch. Do half one end of the tank, and half on the other. Gives em something new to dig in. This is subjective on a lot of factors of course. I can do this because I a) have a lot of time for my animals (read: have no life outside of work and reptiles) and b) live in the Midwest with a fair amount of natural humidity so for Rodie’s sheds, I can help if necessary, though I haven’t actually had to.

Dog Enrichment Toys: This is individual based from what I’ve read. Some skinks love them, some could care less. I’m still not sure where Rodie fits, but tomorrow, I’m putting snails in her kong (just got it yesterday) to see what she does. Speaking of snails-

FOOD: Switch up the food! Throw them something you are cooking or eating (if they can eat it). Switch up the staple you give them. Rodie was on a turkey based dog food, but I’m swapping it for lamb for a bit and I’m also gunna get some Bluey Buffet to switch between that, the dog food, and eggs. When you’re at the store, get new veggies and fruits for them to try. If you have other reptiles, give the skink some of their food like a bit of crested gecko food, or a few feeder insects, or a non-eaten pinky mouse as a treat. My favorite thing about having a bts so far is their omnivorous diet. Its so fun to see if she likes different foods. This is a great diet chart that i pull up all the time when I’m at the grocery store.

Smaller things: move stuff around in their tank when you have them out so they have a new environment to explore. go to a hardware store and get an appropriate sized PVC pipe to put in their tank as a tunnel or a hide (Rodie sleeps in hers all the time). get them a brick or a rock and half bury it in a busy spot in their tank so they have a new thing to touch and to whittle down their sharp ass claws. Make sure they have plenty of cover and places to hide on top of their substrate! Think of the enclosure as levels and how they can utilize every part.

Also! Go watch Reptile Mountain! He’s a former zookeeper and genuinely one of my favorite reptile channels, based 90% around blueys. I’ve never seen a bad word on him in any of the bts forums I’ve lurked for info. If I ever get another northern bts, I would love to get one of his. 

Idk if any of that helped, but this is the basics of what I keep in mind for enrichment. Rodie has never gotten ‘bored’ per say (save for when she had mites and she was on paper towels for a month), but something as simple as moving her water dish from one end of the tank to the other was enough enrichment for her for like five days. She’s not the smartest

[the-awkward-turt]

If you don't mind me asking, what's it like having a bluetongue as a pet? I have a pair of fire skinks, but the majority of the time that's mostly like having pet dirt. Don't get me wrong I love them to bits, but in a bioactive setup they're not exactly high maintenance or demanding in terms of care, so I don't think the comparison is all that close.

Ah the beautiful yet elusive fire skink. I was very tempted to get one for a long time, but eventually decided against it because although they are drop-dead gorgeous, as you know, they aren’t exactly the most visible or interactive reptile.

Blue tongues are pretty much the opposite. They are big, bold, active, and many of them are downright personable. Of course there are lots of species/subspecies of blue tongue skink and they vary quite a bit in size, temperament, and care difficulty. My Skimbleshanks is a Northern blue tongue, which is the largest species and often considered to be the calmest and friendliest too (though individual animals may differ), so this is going to be mostly from a Northern bluey perspective.

Care-wise the most challenging aspects of owning a Northern bluey are that they need a large cage (they will use all the space you give them), a varied diet (veggies, fruits, greens, meat, insects, etc), and high quality heat and UVB. They are hardy animals overall and humidity isn’t a huge concern (though other bluey species have higher humidity needs). Here is a write-up on how I make Skimble’s homemade food (though he gets other foods in addition to this).

As for what it’s like to interact with a bluey: Skimbleshanks is absolutely delightful. He has zero fear of humans. He enjoys coming out of his enclosure to explore; his AP cage used to be level with the floor and I would slide a door open when I was hanging out in the room so he could come and go as he pleased. Sometimes if I forgot to open the door when I was in the room he would scratch at the glass.

I’m hesitant to use the word “cuddle” with all the anthropomorphic associations attached, but Skimble loves to burrow into warm, soft things including underneath my shirt/hoodie when we are chilling on the couch. It’s not unusual for him to doze off when he’s cozied himself into a blanket or my shirt. He’s a smart little guy too; he has learned the tone of voice I use when he’s going somewhere/doing something he shouldn’t and will freeze when he hears it (because he knows if he continues I’ll pick him up and put him back in his cage).

Now I just want to be extra, extra clear that not every skink, even other Northerns, will be so amicable. Skimble is also the only bluey I’ve cared for and though I’ve had him for several years (and done a lot of research on blue tongues) I am by no means an expert. I know @krisym works with blueys a lot, though there are other Reptiblrs too. When I was starting to do research before getting Skimble I used this very detailed care sheet a lot; though I don’t adhere to it perfectly it’s a great starting point.

Anyway sorry for the small novel. Hope that helped! I really, really love blueys, I’m always surprised that they aren’t more popular.