beanbun wrote:hey there guys !!
I am soon to be an owner of a blue tongued skink,
a juvenile from here, and I just had a question regarding gender! Do males or females tend to be more 'cuddly' and playful or does gender not matter in that regard? thanks for any help !!
Gender is hard to determine with BTS as there are not any truly noticeable physical differences between males and females. Some more familiar with blueys can sometimes 'eyeball' a gender based on head and hip shape and dimensions, but that's no where near 100% accurate. Unless you can get a proven gender (males will sometimes drop sperm plugs, but even a bluey that never drops them may still be male; or a female that's been bred and had a litter) then knowing your skink's gender is pretty hard.
I honestly don't believe gender makes any difference in temperament. It's much more of an indiviual's personality, occasionally species (northerns are typically regarded as the most docile, but the other species can be just as docile) , and whether the animal was captive born and bred (much more docile), captive bred (typically offspring from a wild caught female - these are typically pretty defensive at first) or wild caught (much more flighty and defensive at first).
Considering you're ordering from SAS, I'm going to guess your bluey will likely be an Indo species that's captive born or wild caught. These little guys may not have the best tempers to begin with, but give them time - and food; as the way to a bluey's heart is through its stomach- and they'll be as good a skink as any! ;u; I'd also recommend taking them to the vet as soon as possible for a check up and parasite test, as wild caught and captive breds can have parasites that can negatively impact their health over time. Make sure you get a proper ID of your skink's species once you do get them, as different species require different humidity levels, and what you see for the image on site with SAS may not always be what you get (they have two different skink species listed there- scincoides and gigas, which is a little concerning). T. Gigas consists of the Indos, Meruakes, and Kei Islands, while T. Scincoides are your Northern, Tanimibar, and Eastern
source. T. Gigas require much higher humidity temps than the T. Scincoides species, which means different husbandry. Luckily, they're pretty easy to tell apart if they're not hybrids.
I do have my own bluey, a CBB Northern named Barley (aka- Grump or Pancake), and I'm involved in a lot of other sites that deal with the species. I'd recommend Reptile Mountain TV on YouTube (run by a highly respected BTS breeder from the states) and the blue tongue skink forums for more information on the little pancakes.
