# trouble taming bluey



## riley.t (Oct 7, 2011)

My Grandad just caught me a blue tongue lizard but im having some trouble taming it, i would appreciate some tips and advice.


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## jinjajoe (Oct 7, 2011)

maybe let it go.....


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## Boidae (Oct 7, 2011)

Taking animals from the wild is illegal mate.
Let it go...


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## Wally (Oct 7, 2011)

I'm sure Grandad meant well but if you're after a bluey I'm sure you could find one for sale.


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## JasonL (Oct 7, 2011)

First up you need a chair and a whip......


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## riley.t (Oct 7, 2011)

k thanks ill let it go


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## mad_at_arms (Oct 7, 2011)

Preferrably let it go where Grandad found it.
Since you have it already and _are_ going to let it go, post some pics of it for us.


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## riley.t (Oct 7, 2011)

k


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## JasonL (Oct 7, 2011)

You can buy a captive bred one for around $10 - 20 bucks, plus license costs, come Jan there will be hundreds of them for sale... parasite free, wild ones on the other hand come with free parasites.


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## Wally (Oct 7, 2011)

JasonL said:


> First up you need a chair and a whip......



Don't forget hoops, defiantly need those.


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## GeckPhotographer (Oct 7, 2011)

Some Bluetongues were recently posted on a well known classified site. Prices close to $40 for a common and $150 for a Blotched.


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## ianinoz (Oct 7, 2011)

riley.t said:


> My Grandad just caught me a blue tongue lizard but im having some trouble taming it, i would appreciate some tips and advice.



My advice based on my success in befriending a wild eastern water skink is 
1) be very patient with the lizard and don't try to force things to happen
2) get the lizard use to you being around by spending a lot of time nearby and talking calmly to it , it'll get used to you be around and will get used to your voice
3) avoid handling the lizard until IT SHOWS IT IS READY, you'll know from the lizards body language and behaviour when that is (I believe)
4) give the lizard lots of really nice yummy lizard treats and make sure the lizard knows you are the one who is giving it the nice food treats , it'll come to associate you with something very pleasureable - this will help it accept your presence and to accept interaction with you.
5) in a few months try hand feeding the lizard with the treats that you know it really likes and looks forward, this will help build a trusting relationship.
6) I've learnt this from my experience with Lizzy - don't touch the lizard on it back or side of its body until it's cool with you touching it (by tickling it under the chin or on the side of it's head), and NEVER from above or behind - it'll react like you are a predator. Unless the lizard is used to physical contact with you it will be very stressful to it to be handled.
I found that Lizzy let me know when she was ready to let me inside her confort zone by one day becoming very very curious about me and coming really close to me of her own accord. She did the same to my wife recently too.

It took about 2 or 3 months to get Lizzy to stop running away and hiding from us when we entered the room, 
It took another month or two for her to start accepting food treats from my open hand (mealworms did the trick with Lizzy) , a stationary outstretched open upside down hand is very non-threatening I think.
Another month and she was accepting roaches, crickets and mealworms from my fingers and she was cool with an occasional handsurf (she climbs onto my open hand to take a food treat of her own accord sometimes and often lingers and is quite relaxed about the occasional handsurf - I think she even enjoy it.
More recently (the last couple of months I've been permitted to tickle Lizzy under her chin when she's enjoying a nice mealworm, cricket or roach, she even assumes the position so I think she likes it. 12 months ago I never thought I'd have come some far with my relationship with Lizzy.

BTW - Lizzy comes and goes as she pleases, and she doesn't have an enclosure and not a captive or imprisoned. She likes to sleep under or inside our modular lounge.

She basks on the modem's transformer and if the air con is in heat mode, basks on top of the head of the lounge.
She is frequently seen outside too and rarely disgraces herself inside the house - I think she goes under the house to go to the toilet (and mark the boundary of her territory).

Everything Lizzy does and all interactions between Lizzy, my wife and I are Lizzy's choice. I've never forced her to do anything. As a result she and I have a great relationship now and I think she has come to like me.
She chooses to hours most days hanging out with me and often is so laid backl and reaxed that falls asleep only a couple of feet away and she is not concerned when I come within an inch of so from her.

If your lizard has been captured and is being handled against it's will you will need to back off and let the lizard settle into it's new home (enclosure and it's surroundings) , I think it'll take a little while for it to over it's fear of humans when ever it sees you and then starting to build trust and to get it to be comfortable with you around.

PS don't worry about the negative comments from the purists and breeders who wnt to make some money by getting you let your lizard go and buying another lizard.

Personally - I'd probably set up outside enclosure using bird wire that's big enough for your lizard run about in and which has somewhere for it to bask, and somewhere it can hide, and get it used to living in your yard and you being around, and it may choose to make your yard it's territory then and you can let it go in your garden when you've befriended it - it will probably hang around (at the very least for the food and treats). 
Many suburban bluetongues become very tame and friendly with kind people who give them food treats and who are quiet when they are about and do nothing to scare the lizards.


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## Tassie97 (Oct 7, 2011)

ianinoz said:


> My advice based on my success in befriending a wild eastern water dragon is
> 1) be very patient with the lizard and don't try to force things to happen
> 2) get the lizard use to you being around by spending a lot of time nearby and talking calmly to it , it'll get used to you be around and will get used to your voice
> 3) avoid handling the lizard until IT SHOWS IT IS READY, you'll know from the lizards body language and behaviour when that is (I believe)
> ...


NO, let it go where it came from and let it live its life in the wild if you would like a pet lizard purchase a captive bred one .


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## mad_at_arms (Oct 7, 2011)

ianinoz said:


> My advice based on my success in befriending a wild eastern water dragon is
> 1) be very patient with the lizard and don't try to force things to happen
> 2) get the lizard use to you being around by spending a lot of time nearby and talking calmly to it , it'll get used to you be around and will get used to your voice
> 3) avoid handling the lizard until IT SHOWS IT IS READY, you'll know from the lizards body language and behaviour when that is (I believe)
> ...



Once again you try to relate every other form of lizard to a EWS.
This is a wild caught specimen that should be released to its original location.
Your input is less than helpful on this occasion.


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## Tassie97 (Oct 7, 2011)

lol he said eastern water dragon instead of skink lol :lol:


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## ianinoz (Oct 7, 2011)

It's always the same little band here who don't want to say anything positive or unless it's to their mates.

Another to add to the ignore list.


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## mad_at_arms (Oct 7, 2011)

ianinoz said:


> It's always the same little band here who don't want to say anything positive or unless it's to their mates.
> Another to add to the ignore list.



Ooo thats cold bro.


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## Wally (Oct 7, 2011)

I'm not sure it's worth saying anything or not. I might be on ' the list '.

This instance sounded a little different to what you've got going on with your skink Ian. Letting something come and go, and making attempts to ' tame it ' may differ from what the OP was suggesting.


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## chase77 (Oct 7, 2011)

I reckon you should have titled it 'Taming of the Blue'.

Sad I know


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## jinjajoe (Oct 7, 2011)

let it go lol.....


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## Em1986 (Oct 7, 2011)

*Not everything is about people trying to make money!

*It has been suggested that it is set free where it was taken from because it can get you in trouble for having it especially if you have a licence and other reptiles.
It is also dangerous and can introduce parasites and disease to your collection (if you have any reptiles already).


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## PythonLegs (Oct 7, 2011)

Ian, if you have nothing helpful to add, best to just stay quiet. Then again, we'd never hear from you.

It's illegal for you to keep the lizard. Please ignore the uninformed opinion.


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## kitten_pheonix (Oct 7, 2011)

I would let him go and find a captive bred it won't miss a life in the wild its never had then you can also get a baby that will grow and get used to you. It would be like taking a lion from the wild not going to be tamed. And it's also cruel to take something used to wide open spaces and put in a cage


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## hnn17 (Oct 7, 2011)

yep, let it go where your granddad caught it. the only way you can befriend it like ianinoz did is if the bluetoungue was naturally living in your backyard, but it isn't in this case.

ianinoz: you seem very obsessed with lizzy, maybe buy a water skink as a pet for yourself.


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## ianinoz (Oct 7, 2011)

Wally76 said:


> I'm not sure it's worth saying anything or not. I might be on ' the list '.
> 
> This instance sounded a little different to what you've got going on with your skink Ian. Letting something come and go, and making attempts to ' tame it ' may differ from what the OP was suggesting.



True and I pointed the differences out. This is the reason why I've made no attempt to catch my EWS or imprison it.



hnn17 said:


> yep, let it go where your granddad caught it. the only way you can befriend it like ianinoz did is if the bluetoungue was naturally living in your backyard, but it isn't in this case.
> 
> ianinoz: you seem very obsessed with lizzy, maybe buy a water skink as a pet for yourself.



Lizzy will do (for now).


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## hnn17 (Oct 7, 2011)

ian do you have a website/blog or facebook page dedicated to lizzy ?


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## Tassie97 (Oct 7, 2011)

Bahahah lol


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## Wally (Oct 7, 2011)

ianinoz said:


> This is the reason why I've made no attempt to catch my EWS or *imprison it*.



That's fine Ian and I don't particularly mind what you do with the EWS that pays you visits. As long as you're not doing anything detrimental to it's health, more power to you.

What I would ask you to be mindful of though is using the above terminology. If that's how you feel, I don't mind. You're entitled to you're opinion. But please, respect the fact that the majority of the uses on this forum do keep their captive bred stock in enclosures. Keeping and breeding reptiles in a captive environment, whilst not diminishing completely, does mitigate wanton collection of wild reptiles from our fragile environment.


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## GeckPhotographer (Oct 7, 2011)

> ian do you have a website/blog or facebook page dedicated to lizzy ?



He does it's called APS, maybe check it out some time yeah.

While I appreciate reading about Lizzy would it be too much to ask to try and keep it all in the one thread where interested people would know to go to check out the latest Lizzy update? Sometimes while reading a thread it is tiring to read a post made about Lizzy and realise to late I have heard the same thing a million times before.


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## kitten_pheonix (Oct 7, 2011)

I think the forum needs a trial separation from lizzy.


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## snakeynewbie (Oct 7, 2011)

I think this has got off track a bit.

When you get down to facts you are doing the right thing by releasing the lizard so good on you for following that advice. As well as being illegal to keep and the associated fines if you are found out there are also potential health issues that wild animals may carry which if you ever decided to get other reptiles in the future could potentially cause you grief.

There is a big difference between catching a lizard and keeping it as a captive pet compared to befreinding your local wildlife, if you put some logs, etc around your yard you may find the local wildlife moves in and then you can set forth to make friends with it there


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## ianinoz (Oct 8, 2011)

kitten_pheonix said:


> I would let him go and find a captive bred it won't miss a life in the wild its never had then you can also get a baby that will grow and get used to you. It would be like taking a lion from the wild not going to be tamed. And it's also cruel to take something used to wide open spaces and put in a cage


I agree that it's cruel to deprive a wild lizard of deprive it's freedom. It would be very stressful to the lizard IMO unless it's got a very large enclosure.

I'm also dubious about keeping captive bred lizards in enclosures or cages, but as pointed out if they've never known true freedom and if it's going into a home where it gets treated with lots of love and kindness and gets plenty of sensory stimulation and interaction , and is well cared for , and not just left to it's own devices with just a daily feed or treated like a commodity then I guess that's OK.


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## snakeynewbie (Oct 8, 2011)

> I'm also dubious about keeping captive bred lizards in enclosures or cages



Kind of an interesting statement to make on a forum that revolves largely around the captive husbandry of reptiles...


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## abnrmal91 (Oct 8, 2011)

While you on the topic of lizzy just thought I would add. It's not good to feed wild animals. Yes watch them but don't feed them.


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## thelionking (Oct 8, 2011)

Tassie97 said:


> NO, let it go where it came from and let it live its life in the wild if you would like a pet lizard purchase a captive bred one .


Where do you think the captive blue tongue lizards came from?


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## snakeynewbie (Oct 8, 2011)

All our domestic pets were once wild animals however many generations ago, that doesn't make it ethical to take them from the wild now, we have licensing and guidelines for a reason, it's to protect our wildlife and ensure that they can continue to exist in the wild as they have for thousands of years. You only have to look at the rates of extinction in countries where poaching is rife to know that being lax about taking animals from the wild never ends well.


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## gandal88 (Oct 8, 2011)

ian flame suit on and extinguisher ready lol


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## Tassie97 (Oct 8, 2011)

snakeynewbie said:


> All our domestic pets were once wild animals however many generations ago, that doesn't make it ethical to take them from the wild now, we have licensing and guidelines for a reason, it's to protect our wildlife and ensure that they can continue to exist in the wild as they have for thousands of years. You only have to look at the rates of extinction in countries where poaching is rife to know that being lax about taking animals from the wild never ends well.



read that ^^ lion king


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## crocdoc (Oct 8, 2011)

ianinoz said:


> PS don't worry about the negative comments from the purists and breeders who wnt to make some money by getting you let your lizard go and buying another lizard.


You really do have a bad habit of shooting your mouth off about things you understand poorly. The people here were suggesting he/she let this animal go and buy a captive bred baby for reasons other than personal profit. I did not see a single one of them say that they were a breeder. Even if they were, at $40 a pop they're hardly going to make anyone rich, are they. The reasons for letting this one go and getting a captive bred individual instead, are:
1. It is illegal to take reptiles out of the wild
2. It is cruel to take an animal out of the wild and force it into the confines of captivity. That's the reason it isn't 'taming' down. No, one is not doing the animal a favour by 'saving' it from the wild.
3. It is probably an adult or close to adult size. If the O.P. buys a captive bred baby it will grow up around people and consequently cope better with both people and the concept of captivity itself as an adult
4. Captive bred babies are parasite free and of good health. Wild caught reptiles often languish in captivity because the stress of being held in captivity reduces their resistance and the parasites already in their system start taking over. 

Seriously, Ian, feeding one wild water skink does not make you the expert on all things lizard.



thelionking said:


> Where do you think the captive blue tongue lizards came from?


I am always amazed when people put forward this argument in favour of the continued, unnecessary removal of animals from the wild. It's right up there with the justification one often hears for people buying the illegal products made from endangered species "it was already dead when I bought it". 

My neighbour is the descendant of slaves. I'm sure he'd be cool with us continuing the slave trade because, after all, where do you think he came from? Same logic, different application.

In case it is still a bit unclear, there's a difference between removing a small number of animals from the wild to create a captive breeding population, from which the demand for pets can be met, and continued removal from the wild. No, bluetongues are not in any way endangered, but given that they are readily available in captivity and it is far less cruel to raise a captive bred baby than to remove a well established animal out of the wild, the latter isn't necessary. Even if it means saving a measly $40.


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## darwin_freak (Oct 8, 2011)

mate we all did it as a kid i would let it go and buy one but if you want to keep it for a while go for it !!!!!!


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## crocdoc (Oct 8, 2011)

.


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## Australis (Oct 8, 2011)

You can get nice albino ones now to


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## Tassie97 (Oct 8, 2011)

crocdoc said:


> You really do have a bad habit of shooting your mouth off about things you understand poorly. The people here were suggesting he/she let this animal go and buy a captive bred baby for reasons other than personal profit. I did not see a single one of them say that they were a breeder. Even if they were, at $40 a pop they're hardly going to make anyone rich, are they. The reasons for letting this one go and getting a captive bred individual instead, are:
> 1. It is illegal to take reptiles out of the wild
> 2. It is cruel to take an animal out of the wild and force it into the confines of captivity. That's the reason it isn't 'taming' down. No, one is not doing the animal a favour by 'saving' it from the wild.
> 3. It is probably an adult or close to adult size. If the O.P. buys a captive bred baby it will grow up around people and consequently cope better with both people and the concept of captivity itself as an adult
> ...


can you plz tell the tassie government this too thanks


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## ianinoz (Oct 8, 2011)

hnn17 said:


> ian do you have a website/blog or facebook page dedicated to lizzy ?



No but I did briefly give some consideration to setting up a FB page for Lizzy a while ago and I decided against - FB IMO is more bother than it's worth and I'm not a fan of FB.
I have a private facebook page but I use it only to stay intouch with family and never accept friend requests from strangers.


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## Eddie2257 (Oct 8, 2011)

this thread went from a wild blue tongue to facebook .


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## snakeluvver (Oct 15, 2011)

ianinoz said:


> PS don't worry about the negative comments from the purists and breeders who wnt to make some money by getting you let your lizard go and buying another lizard.


Oh my god. You dont get it do you? Its ILLEGAL to keep a wild reptile. Theyre not telling him to let it go so theyll make money. Theyre saying it because its ILLEGAL to take a wild reptile from the wild and keep it and big fines apply if the person is caught.
Theres no arguing with the law.


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## Wally (Oct 15, 2011)

This thread needs the green dream.


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## 69blottfilms69 (Oct 15, 2011)

I bet he did't let it go i bet hes keeping it and just not telling anyone
if you read all of this
LET IT GO


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## zacthefrog (Oct 15, 2011)

yeh, his grandad meant all the best but if he's still on here let it go....it's the best for you and the lizard.


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