The Skink Love Shack!
Babies from this gorgeous pairing are expected to be born between May and July!
In this pairing round with our Merauke Hekate and Lucifer, Hekate displays some clear body language. The head nodding and tongue flicking are signs of a female showing interest in a male—she’s clearly checking him out! Typically, this behavior is accompanied by tail wagging, although she didn’t exhibit that during this interaction. Tail wagging can indicate submission or unease, depending on the situation. While both males and females can wag their tails, it is more commonly seen in females or younger skinks!
Apollo is one of our few skinks that will actively come when "called."
All of our skinks will respond to the finger tapping with curiosity and interest.
Some, such as Peach and Apollo, will actively climb into our hands or lap now and then, depending how they feel. Neither have attempted to bite our fingers either, but we do keep an eye on it as a precaution.
Apollo is also the father of the Merauke litter we produced this year :)
I was showing a friend the babies and Peach decided it was time for a break from the kids 😆
*I have no clue why she crawled on me. She could have wanted to socialize with me, wanted to get out and explore, or she wanted food haha, she doesn't do this too often but she's definitely one of the few skinks we have that actively crawl onto us like this!
*DISCLAIMER*
Please do not cohab your blue tongues! We are breeders, and babies tend to show improved social behavior and curiosity, as well as reduced fear, long term when kept together for the first few weeks. Mama also displays *some* defensive and concerned behavior the first few weeks. She'll actively investigate me if I am messing with her babies, and she'll investigate if the babies run. I've seen other breeders take videos of their females actively defending the babies from humans!
They are separated from mom in 2 months of age, babies separate at 3 months. We feed them individually, so they do not fight over resources other than heat (which we are working in improving the setup so that doesn't happen.)
If there are issues with resources, or if they reach a certain age, they'll absolutely start to fight, which is why once these babies are separated, they won't be cohabitated again :)
Food Gremlin
Iorek being a menace during feeding 🤣 he's always this food motivated, adore him!
Ambon blue tongue
Keeping Organized
Organizing our skinks! Not quite finished yet - I'd like to refine some things and get updated pictures of everyone. A lot of these are over a year old!
The identification numbers are purely for our own organization
Lizard Crunching ASMR
Hekate, one of our Merauke blue tongue skinks, munching on some carrots today :)
This is one of the few reasons we strongly recommend rubber tipped tongs when feeding lizards, especially with blue tongue skinks!
Many of our skinks are incredibly food motivated, so we tong feed to work with them and build trust. Some of those skinks tend to get very excited, and will bite directly onto the tongs, while others have learned to just gently take the insects.
When it comes to particularly reactive skinks, they can lash and bite with such force that they can actually harm themselves on pure metal tongs! Online, I've seen blood drawn, teeth damaged, mouth injuries develop into infections, etc. It happens! The rubber tips reduce the risk of harm, as it's more padded and softer in comparison to straight metal.
When they do this, DO NOT PULL AWAY! If they're biting onto the tongs and you pull away, it can accidentally hurt them. Just hold it there, or follow them a little if they really start walking away with it, and let them figure it out :)
Young Hydrosaurus microlophus ♡
One of our Sorong blue tongue skinks showing their skills when eating snails! (Snail was humanely euthanized and boiled before being fed.)
These guys will crush the shell with their powerful jaws to access the meat, then spit out the shell! This video shows the whole process. I gave the snail to her seconds before filming :)
I love providing snails in their diet for enrichment as well as the variety! ♡
The species of snail she is eating here is Cepaea nemoralis, also called the Grove Snail, or the Brown Lipped snail.
Spork is quite food motivated! 🤣
For those new here, Spork is the resident rescue skink at our facility.
He was cohabbed with another skink for quite a few years, which led to stunted growth, multiple scars, and an injury in the tail that resulted in a double tail regrow!
He was quite upset I laughed at him at the end 🤣🤣
Hades, one of our male Merauke blue tongue skinks, is also one of our most curious and social ones! We have had him the longest out of anyone else in our collection ♡
