You have probably thought a lot about buying or adopting a blue tongue skink. If you are still unsure about getting a blue tongue skink, read this article on pros and cons of blue tongue skinks as pets. In this post, we will discuss how to find a blue tongue skink for sale, how to buy a blue tongue skink, how to choose a healthy one, what to look for in sellers or how to choose a skink for adoption.
Choosing your blue tongue skink
When buying or adopting a blue tongue skink, you need to make sure it’s in good health. Even though you might feel sorry for the blue tongue skink that has serious health issues, it’s better to skip choosing one because you will struggle, pay a lot of money to the vet and maybe won’t be able to fix the problem.
Of course, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t choose a blue tongue that has mites or few toes missing – this will not affect its life. But serious health issues often cause irreversible damage.
If you are buying/choosing a blue tongue skink online, make sure it’s a trusted and reputable seller only. That’s because you will trust them only by seeing pictures and written information.
The online seller has to be reputable with shipping your blue tongue skink safely. Of course, it’s better to visit the seller, handle your future blue tongue skink and ask few questions, but it’s not always feasible. Some of very good sellers might be very far, and you will need to have it shipped.
How to choose a healthy blue tongue skink? Things to check.
If you have the chance to visit the seller and hold the skink, make sure to examine it while handling. But if you are buying a blue tongue with a reputable seller, make sure to examine the pictures.
Number 1:
A healthy blue tongue skink should be active and alert, looking at you and being interested in its surroundings. You might also notice a tongue flick and lick – which they do when learning about the environment.
Number 2:
There should be no scars, retained shed or wounds on the skin.
Number 3:
Make sure that the blue tongue skink is not underweight. Its bones, especially at the hips, back and limbs shouldn’t be protruding.
Number 4:
Check blue tongue’s belly – it should be clean, without any discoloration or injury.
Number 5:
Blue tongue skink’s mouth and nose should be clean without any bubbles. Bubbly secretion from mouth or nose indicates upper respiratory infection.
Number 6:
Make sure that blue tongue skink’s mouth is clear of any pus and the gums are pink. Stomatitis is a bacterial infection of the mouth, and it features mouth pus and redness around the mouth and gums.
Number 7:
Blue tongue skink’s body should be firm and the jaw should be strong. If there are any kinks in the back, tail or if the jaw look soft and rubbery, this might indicate a Metabolic Bone Disease, or MBD.
It results from a poor diet and bad lighting, and lack of calcium and/or vitamin D3. You might notice a rubbery jaw when a skink is trying to eat and fails, or when its jaw is literally weak and is hanging open. Twitching is another sign of calcium deficiency.
Number 8:
There should be no lumps on or under blue tongue skink’s skin – these can indicate cysts and tumor.
Number 9:
Make sure that all five toes are present and that the tail is in good shape and unbroken.
Number 10:
Eyes should be clear, without any secretion or cloudiness.
Number 11:
There should not be any mites or ticks on the skin. Mites are very small round black or red colored creatures that suck the blood from the lizard – they attach themselves to the skink and other reptiles and feed on the blood.
While few mites or ticks are not hard to remove, a serious infestation often leads to serious health issues. Seeing external parasites often means that your blue tongue skink is a wild caught animal.
Number 12:
Check the vent area – it should be clean without any caking.
Number 13:
If you can – check the tank that the skin has been living in – it should be clean, large, with lighting, hideouts, food bowls and some accessories.
Small and dirty tank causes skin damage, injuries, various infections and tells you that the seller doesn’t truly care about the lizards. Make sure that the seller is using the right substrate (read about good and bad substrates here).
Number 14:
If you can spot the poop, take a look at it – it shouldn’t have any blood or small worms in it – this is a sign of internal parasites.
If you can’t physically see and handle your future blue tongue skink pet, ask questions and request pictures. With minor problems, such as mites, broken scales or missing toe, request a lower price if you still want the blue tongue.
Wild caught or captive bred blue tongue skinks?
Being a wild caught lizard means that it’s been taken from the wild and exported from the country of origin for sale. Wild caught blue tongue skinks often don’t make good pets – all because they are wild and never been around people before. What is more, they can carry internal and external parasites – such as ticks, mites and worms.
On the other hand, captive bred blue tongue skinks have been born in captivity. These blue tongue skinks are often free of parasites and more used to people, making them better pets.
It’s always recommended to buy captive bred (CB) animals. Some wild caught (WC) blue tongue skinks might not become tame and docile and will need health checks and longer quarantining.
If you wish to breed and sell blue tongue skinks, you will need to get a special reptile wild caught animal license. If you got a wild caught animal, take it to the vet for an examination, perform a stool test and quarantine it for around 2 months. You can tame a wild caught animal, but it will take longer, sometimes a month or even few.
Why is there only a small number of blue tongue skink breeders?
That is true, you won’t be able to find as many blue tongue skink breeders as bearded dragon or leopard gecko breeders. This is because female blue tongue skinks only produce babies once a year, and the gestation period is often long – around 100-150 days. One clutch often equals to 5-15 babies, on average.
What is more, blue tongue skinks are not very easy to breed – and sometimes breeders might need to skip a year, providing them with a cooling period etc. All of these factors make breeding for sale not so profitable. That’s why you can find less blue tongue skink breeders.
Should I get one or few blue tongue skinks?
Blue tongue skinks are solitary, shy and territorial creatures, so you shouldn’t house two skinks together. It even applies to males and females. You should always house each blue tongue skink separately.
Even if they have been living together in the same tank from an early age, they can suddenly become rivals when they grow up and cause each other serious injuries.
The only exception can be Shingleback blue tongue skinks, who are seen living in colonies in the wild (with relatives). They are also monogamous – meaning they come back to the same partner for breeding for many years.
Does a male or female blue tongue skink make a better pet?
In many other lizards, males and females have different kinds of temperaments. But in blue tongue skinks, females and males are similar. The main difference will be female’s ability to produce hatchlings.
Should I get a young or mature blue tongue skink?
Whether it’s better to get a young or mature blue tongue skink will depend on your needs and preferences. If you want to get a young blue tongue skink, tame it and see it grow – then this is a better choice for you. Another advantage of getting a young blue tongue skink is a higher chance of it being captive bred.
Mature blue tongue skink can also be a good choice – if it’s already tame and docile, and needs to have a good home for the rest of its life. But if you are choosing a mature blue tongue – make sure it’s healthy and docile. There are many sellers who want to quickly sell mature wild caught aggressive or even sick blue tongues to make money.
Where to buy or adopt a blue tongue skink?
There are few places where you can find a blue tongue skink for sale. That is online (hobbyist ads, dealers or directly from breeders), reptile expos, or pet stores. And you can also find them at shelters. But there are many things that you need to know before buying your adopting your blue tongue skink. Let’s discuss them in more detail.
For example, it’s permitted to export reptiles from Indonesia at the moment – so most young or mature Indonesian blue tongue skinks are wild imports. Australia has very strict rules on reptile export – so most Australian blue tongue skinks should be captive bred.
If you are in the USA, Canada, UK or other country, you should not find any rare blue tongue skinks that are vulnerable and endangered in the wild (for example Centralian, Western, Adelaide Pygmy species). The easiest to find subspecies of Australian blue tongue skinks are Northerns.
Buying your blue tongue skink at a pet store
Buying your blue tongue skink at a pet store might not be always the best idea. The problem is, many pet store employees are not knowledgeable about the skinks and their origin, so you won’t be able to know everything 100%.
But this is not always the case, so just be careful when choosing a blue tongue skink at a pet store. Perform a health check on your blue tongue (listed above), check its tank and ask questions.
ut this is not always the case, so just be careful when choosing a blue tongue skink at a pet store. Perform a health check on your blue tongue (listed above), check its tank and ask questions.
If you have no choice but to buy a wild caught blue tongue, it must be in good health and docile. Handle your skink or ask the employees to handle it and observe. It should be calm and inquisitive, and shouldn’t hiss or try to escape.
Most pet store employees won’t know about blue tongue skink’s history and origin and they can lie about it. Both young and mature blue tongue skinks can be wild imports, and it can be very hard to find out. Health check can often tell you if the blue tongue has been either imported, or mistreated.
Sometimes, even pet stores can’t properly accommodate reptiles and might place two or more blue tongue skinks together. This can easily cause blue tongue fights, resulting in stress, injuries and missing toes/limbs. If you see this, it’s better not to support them by buying the skink.
To sum it up, please remember that large pet store employees are often not experts or even knowledgeable about blue tongue skinks. This is because they are sold rarely, and they just try to sell it to you quickly to make money.
To sum up on pet stores: While this is not always the truth, large pet stores aren’t always the best place to buy your blue tongue skink.
It is much better to buy them from local family owned pet shops that probably breed blue tongue skinks, care about them, and know how to care for them. It can also be hard to find a blue tongue at the pet store, but you can always try.
Buying your blue tongue skink at the Reptile Expo
Finding a captive bred and well cared for blue tongue skink at the reptile expo might be easier. If you decide to visit a reptile expo, try to find out which reptile sellers will be there so you can research about them beforehand. You might come across reputable breeders at the reptile expo.
But however, there might be bad sellers that might lie to you and hide the truth. Be sure to ask all the same questions, examine and handle the blue tongue.
Also, look at the housing and if there is any heat source. Some sellers might not use heat lamps so that blue tongues become cold and inactive without heat, looking more docile and calm. Don’t believe people like this.
Buying your blue tongue skink online
There are different sellers that you might find online – hobbyists with classified ads, expert breeders with their own dedicated websites and dealer websites that host various ads from breeders. Research potential breeders and see what reviews they have. But no matter what, ask questions and request pictures.
Adopting a blue tongue skink from a rescue/shelter
There are many blue tongue skinks in shelters/rescues. Some are there because their owners didn’t want or couldn’t take care of them anymore. If the previous owner was good, the skink should be in good shape. But sometimes, either the owner or the shelter might not take the proper care of the skink, causing health and tameness issues.
What is shocking is that some people online or even in physical locations might say that the skink has been received from the previous owner at the shelter, while in reality it’s a wild caught or sick skink that they will try to sell to you!
In reality, blue tongue skinks and even other reptiles at shelters should barely cost anything. If someone tries to sell a blue tongue skink at the ‘shelter’ for 50, 100 or 200$, this is a scam. Be careful, and once again, ask questions and perform a health check yourself.
Now, let’s discuss what to ask when buying/adopting a blue tongue skink online/at the reptile expo/at the pet store/shelter.
- Ask for the date of birth and the species. If the blue tongue skink is wild caught, found or adopted, the person won’t know the date of birth. If the seller is hesitant and tries to make up a date, it’s probably a fake number. Good sellers will indicate the date of birth on the ad or tell you straight away.
- Is the blue tongue skink wild caught or captive bred? Captive bred blue tongues are better and are likely to cost more.
- What is blue tongue skink’s diet? A proper diet should consist of gut-loaded insects, fresh greens and meat, even flowers and blossoms. If the seller says only crickets, dog food or fruits, he/she is probably not providing a varied diet and doesn’t have enough knowledge on blue tongue care. This skink might be suffering from calcium deficiency, for example. Avoid.
- Does the blue tongue look healthy? Perform a health check if possible, if buying online ask for pictures from few angles. Examine the scales, the skin, belly, vent, eyes, nose, mouth, tail, limbs, toes etc. See the list of what to look for when doing a health check above.
- How is the blue tongue housed? Is it housed alone (should be)? What is the substrate and is it clean in the tank? Is the tank minimum 40 gallons (at least 36 inches long, 18 inches wide and 15 inches high) and not too small?
- Does the seller have a selection of blue tongues? If they only have one for sale, or trying to push one for sale (if a serious breeder with many skinks), there is something wrong.
- If buying online, will the seller ship the blue tongue safely? The responsible seller should guarantee live delivery and fast shipping (often 24 hours). They will often ask you to pay shipping costs, though.
- Does the seller want to send you multiple pictures of the skink? Ask for at least 5 pictures from different angles to see the whole body. If the seller is wasting time and not sending pictures, something is wrong. Make sure that it’s the same skink on all pictures and that they are not manipulated in any way. Some fraudulent sellers enhance the pictures, and do other things to claim that they have a rare blue tongue skink. Observe the images and make sure that they don’t look manipulated.
- Is the seller helpful and answering all your questions? If the seller is taking long to reply or seems very hesitant, something is wrong. They should always give their phone and email for communication. Avoid sellers that don’t present much information and are very vague.
How to transport your blue tongue skink home?
If you have bought your blue tongue skink at the shop, from a breeder or at expo, you will need to transport it home safely. You will need to do everything possible so that you blue tongue skink has the safe and stress-free journey home.
One of the best ways to transport your blue tongue skink home is to place it in a plastic container that will have holes for air exchange and a handle, such as this Kritter Keeper like this. Note that the extra large size is 15.5 inches long, and if your skink is bigger or smaller, you might need another size or container.
Apart from the container, wrap your blue tongue in a cloth and secure it with a band. That will keep your blue tongue comfortable and warm. Fill the container with some newspaper/paper towels to make it full and place your skink in the container so that it doesn’t move around.
Depending on the time of the year, you might need to heat or cool the container. To heat the container in cold weather, use hot packs for camping like this, or hot water bottles.
Acclimatization period
Please be patient while your new blue tongue skink gets acclimated to its new surroundings. Place it in the new tank and don’t handle it for the first few weeks for captive bred animals, and for 4-5 weeks for a wild caught animal.
Handle only for checks and to clean the tank. Your new companion will be stressing – you will see it spending lots of time in a hideout, hissing at you, eating less and displaying its blue tongue. Give it time and don’t touch and disturb it at all – just offer it food and clean the tank.
When you can feel the blue tongue coming out and being calm, start handling sessions few times a week. Remember, the handling sessions shouldn’t be longer than 10-15 minutes – increase the timing gradually.
Blue tongues don’t enjoy handling too much and prefer being alone. With time and patience, your blue tongue will start bonding with you and trusting you.
Hope you found this article useful! Please share this article and make sure to read more on blue tongue skink care. You can also read a taming and bonding guide here.