# Blue Tongue changing colour with MVB?



## StimiLove (Jun 12, 2013)

I have a baby western blue tongue skink. It was a lovely cream colour when I got him and in the few short weeks (about 3 weeks) I have owned him, he has gone quite dark. He shed and was still very dark. He has a MVB for heat/light and I was just curious to know if any one else out there has had this happen to their skink? The lamp is 2 ft above him and his basking spot is 30 degrees. Keep in mind he is very young, hence the lower temp.


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## Rogue5861 (Jun 12, 2013)

Very strange, as far as i was aware MVBs improved colours due to the higher uvb an better colour of light. What colour is his substrate and surrounding tank decorations, colour of vivarium?

The mvb being as high as it is probably isnt providing enough uvb to improve colour?

Rick


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## lizardwhisperer (Jun 13, 2013)

Has he shed since you bought him ?

Darkening up before a shed is my first guess.


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## StimiLove (Jun 13, 2013)

I was told to raise the light by the seller as it was originally about 40cm's away from the little guy and the basking spot was around 37 - 38. He shed last weekend and he was just as dark when the skin came off. Just very fresh and shiny looking. His substrate is a mixture of Kritters Krumble and a bit of 100% clay kitty litter (as it holds the warmth under the lamp). He lives is a super large click clack and all his furnishings are plastic exo terra hides etc. All I can think of is the lamp was too low in his first week with me and it made him extra dark? He eats well on fruit, veg and a smear of dog meat to taste. I also powder every second feed.


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## varanophile (Jun 13, 2013)

Hi Stimilove. They do change colour as they get older and most western bluetongues tend to get darker. What did the parents look like? It would be helpful if you could post a picture of him to see if he has anything unusual going on with his skin.


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## animal805 (Jun 13, 2013)

lizardwhisperer said:


> Has he shed since you bought him ?
> 
> Darkening up before a shed is my first guess.



Read his post Rob, clearly states that the lizard has shed and is still dark


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## Niall (Jun 13, 2013)

Don't really have photos of the adults, these are the best I have.
also attached is a photo of one of the other babies that came from the same adults.


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## StimiLove (Jun 13, 2013)

I tried to get some photo's on here last night and they just wouldn't upload. I'll try again tonight.
My little blue tongue is way darker than all the above pictures. 
I feel that i am not doing anything wrong as such, heaps of people use 100watt MVB's on their lizards - i am just very perplexed as to why mine is going so dark so fast. 
He does lay under the main beam for a full 12 hours a day though. Never moves from the hot spot. 12 hours of UV and heat, day in and day out - thats all i can put it down too.


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## cathy1986 (Jun 13, 2013)

i got told uva/b lights should be no further away than 30cm from lizard to work maybe the light is too far away


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## Amazing Amazon (Jun 13, 2013)

cathy1986 said:


> i got told uva/b lights should be no further away than 30cm from lizard to work maybe the light is too far away


No closer than 30cm, not further away with MVB.


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## Echiopsis (Jun 13, 2013)

StimiLove said:


> I tried to get some photo's on here last night and they just wouldn't upload. I'll try again tonight.
> My little blue tongue is way darker than all the above pictures.
> I feel that i am not doing anything wrong as such, heaps of people use 100watt MVB's on their lizards - i am just very perplexed as to why mine is going so dark so fast.
> He does lay under the main beam for a full 12 hours a day though. Never moves from the hot spot. 12 hours of UV and heat, day in and day out - thats all i can put it down too.



Without pics it's impossible to see how much darkening has actually occurred. Like has been said, occipitalis do darken with age and it is a dramatic difference between neonate and adult colouration.

Blueys will bask day in day out in the wild, I cant see constant basking having any kind of adverse affect. To me that suggests the hot spot isn't high enough though, I'd get the surface temp up to 35 degrees personally.


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## cathy1986 (Jun 13, 2013)

Amazing Amazon said:


> No closer than 30cm, not further away.



depending on brands most UVB is useless any more than 12inch 30cms there is not UV output bad part about MBV there a heat source aswell they need to be thermostated once its reach temp your UV goes out aswell imo its important to offer separate UV and heat source​


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## StimiLove (Jun 13, 2013)

I had the MVB about 35cm's above him when i first got him. He started to go very dark very fast. Becuase he was getting darker by the day, i was worried i might be burning him. He literally changed colour in about 5 days, so i raised the globe in case i was causing him harm. He is only a few months old after all.
This post was more of the point "has anyone ever heard of this happeing to a young lizard - or experienced the same thing". As soon as i get home, i'll try getting some photo's on here.


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## StimiLove (Jun 13, 2013)

Got some pics! 

this is when he was light...





and this is him getting darker. This all happened within a week.



Its like his little cream head is turning black. The last photo was taken a few days ago, and i beleive he looks even darker today.


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## varanophile (Jun 13, 2013)

I see what you mean. The change has been quite dramatic, however I still think the MVB is unlikely to be the cause from 40cm away. Looking at his head the scales look to be stained just on the very top of scale ridges, with sparing of the rest. I wonder is he has been rubbing against anything that may have stained him?


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## StimiLove (Jun 13, 2013)

there isn't anything that would do that in his tub. He's in a very large white plastic tub, his furnishings are plastic plants and exo-terra hides in a light cream colour. He doesn't rub his body around the edges trying to get out, he just sleeps and does regular lizard type stuff.
Its so odd, isn't it!


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## Ramsayi (Jun 13, 2013)

Echiopsis said:


> To me that suggests the hot spot isn't high enough



^^This.
I think it may be temp related,maybe darkening up to absorb more heat.


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## davobmx (Jun 13, 2013)

as above, probs darkening himself to absorb more heat/uvb, check temps and globes.


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## StimiLove (Jun 13, 2013)

but what makes me think that isn't the issue, is the MVB was originally about 30 - 35 cm's away from him and the basking spot was near on 40 degrees. That's when he dramatically changed in colour. I raised the globe away from him AFTER he turned dark.


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## Simon_Archibald (Jun 16, 2013)

The lizards behaviour suggests to me what has already been said. If the lizard is sitting directly under the basking spot for 12 hours a day then the basking spot is not hot enough. End of story.

The darkening of his colouration suggests that the lizard is trying to absorb more hear. The darker his skin, the more easily the heat is absorbed (just like black clothes vs white clothes, as an example).

The fact that he started darkening before you raised the height of the light does not disprove the above. The lizard will still turn darker to absorb heat when the basking site is sufficient.

But really just step back and look at this bigger picture. You haven't burnt him, he hasn't been stained, he's not a hyper melanistic one of a kind. His colour change may just be what was always going to happen and it's a coincidence that all the other timing and heating factors became evident at the same time.

The last picture you posted simply shows a beautifully coloured animal, in good condition. I would suggest from a good pedigree (though not knowing its origins).

Raise the temp of the basking site and enjoy your lizard.


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## Renenet (Jun 16, 2013)

He is very cute.


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