Blue

Blue-Tongued Skinks

The large and impressive skinks of the genus Tiliqua have been long-term favorites for all levels of herpetoculturists throughout the years. They are exceptionally hardy and often pleasantly tempered, two traits that make them appropriate as pets. These skinks are also beautifully colored and patterned and oftentimes rare, traits that make them appealing for breeders as well. Once commonplace, many of these skinks have been unfortunately interbred so that original species can be difficult to determine. The Australian species have probably suffered the most from the most from this practice. Due to the strict governmental regulations that now prohibit any trade of Aussie wildlife, fresh stock does not come into the U.S. As a result, the few remaining lineages that are pure and free of Irian Jaya hybridization have become increasingly difficult to acquire.

Blue-tongue skinks are very easy to care for due to their omnivorous, opportunistic feeding pattern. Keep them warm and give them an appropriate cage and feeding will not be an issue. Our goal is to provide as varied a diet as possible and strive to create an easily prepared, stored, and fed diet consisting of 50% vegetables, 40% meat, and 10% fruit. The diet is prepared in large quantities and stored frozen in deli cups that can simple be thawed out and fed. Appropriate meats include lean ground turkey, beef heart, chicken liver, and some high-quality wet cat foods. Vegetables should include leafy greens such as endive, escarole, dandelion, plantain, and store bought Spring Mix salad mix. Fruit can be as simple as a strawberry, blackberries, apple, basically whatever is in season. The entire concoction is prepared in a food processor and frozen in portions in 8 oz. deli cups. The mix can also be freshly prepared and fed, which is preferable, but time consuming. The feeding schedule for adult skinks is twice each week and for young, growing skinks is every other day. It is extremely important to supplement the diet of captive Blue-Tongue skink's diet with calcium and vitamin D3. We use and recommend Sticky tongue Farm's Mineral O and I formulas. O is calcium without D3 for outdoor animals and I is calcium with D3 for indoor animals. We generally keep our skinks indoors year-round, but too much D3 is not a good thing. We use the I formula for one feeding each week for adults (2 feeding for babies) and the O formula the rest of the time.

We have selected some very interesting projects for the focus of our skink collection. Please browse the pictures below and check the Available page for any current availability.