# Blue Tongue Habitat



## mrhoyo (Jan 13, 2011)

So as not to hijack Hornet's thread I've started a new one.
I'm after pictures of places people have found wild blue tongues, both the exact spot and the general location e.g. if you found one on a log in your garden I'd like a picture of the log where you found it and a picture or two of the garden it's in.
A location name would be good too.
Thanks

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## Jay84 (Jan 13, 2011)

What are your reasons for wanting to know locations etc? I have found a fair few Blueys but never photograph them


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## Jk888 (Jan 13, 2011)

well im not going to take photos of them but i can tell you if you lay a hollow log, sheet of steel, wood, or any item or object that a bluey can fit under comfortably they will be more than happy to go under it


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## mrhoyo (Jan 13, 2011)

I'm not wanting to find them, I live in the UK so I'm interested in the kinds of places you could expect to fins a wild blue tongue. 
People over here have no idea, some keep them like they're from a desert, some like they're from a forest, some even keep them with huge areas of water like amphibians.
Our male is from Irian Jaya so I'd assume he was caught in some kind of forest or woodland.

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## hornet (Jan 13, 2011)

they are found in a wide range of habitats from open forest to wet schlerophyll (almost rainforest), cleared grassland, natural grass land, desert, woodlands and probably many other habitat types


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## fairy09 (Jan 13, 2011)

Hey there,
I have one living in my garden and around my garden in my back yard. SOme times we have found him under the rubish bin and hubby has picked him up let the kids have a pet and then let him go again back int he garden.
We have a pond int he front garden with native plants and the back garden is filled with veggies. I have never noticed any missing so I think he just loves us. We don't feed him or anything but yet he is still here.
I will try and get a photo of him!
Cheers


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## mrhoyo (Jan 13, 2011)

hornet said:


> they are found in a wide range of habitats from open forest to wet schlerophyll (almost rainforest), cleared grassland, natural grass land, desert, woodlands and probably many other habitat types


 I'm aware of this, I assume certain ssp stick to certain types of habitat though.
The closest wild reptile we have here to skinks is the slow worm and this is the kind of habitat you'd find one in:
http://www.euroherp.com/Resources/Trips/120706_P34slow-worm-habitat.jpg
http://bendypaws.co.uk/images/slowworm.jpg



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## hornet (Jan 13, 2011)

those habitats listed are all for the eastern blue tongue, i havent had any experience with any other species


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## Jay84 (Jan 13, 2011)

mrhoyo said:


> I'm aware of this, I assume certain ssp stick to certain types of habitat though.
> The closest wild reptile we have here to skinks is the slow worm and this is the kind of habitat you'd find one in:
> http://www.euroherp.com/Resources/Trips/120706_P34slow-worm-habitat.jpg
> http://bendypaws.co.uk/images/slowworm.jpg
> ...



I used to have a pet slow worm!


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## mrhoyo (Jan 13, 2011)

hornet said:


> those habitats listed are all for the eastern blue tongue, i havent had any experience with any other species


Wow, they must be pretty adaptable then. Probably why they're such forgiving pets, eh?


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## hornet (Jan 13, 2011)

easterns are by far the most adaptable species, found in almost every habitat in their range


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## Wally (Jan 13, 2011)

fairy09 said:


> Hey there,
> I have one living in my garden and around my garden in my back yard. SOme times we have found him under the rubish bin and hubby has picked him up let the kids have a pet and then let him go again back int he garden.
> We have a pond int he front garden with native plants and the back garden is filled with veggies. I have never noticed any missing so I think he just loves us. We don't feed him or anything but yet he is still here.
> I will try and get a photo of him!
> Cheers



A wild Blue Tongue in a veggie patch will no doubt enjoy the snails living there also.


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## mrhoyo (Jan 14, 2011)

hornet said:


> easterns are by far the most adaptable species, found in almost every habitat in their range


It's a shame they're so hard to find over here, there are a few about but there aren't many being bred at all. Most of the stuff here is imported from Indonesia and Western Papua cheaply so nobody really tries breeding blue tongues.
Are easterns common in Australia? I saw some cb on the classifieds for $25 (16gbp), over here they would be around ten times that from a private breeder, if not more.


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## hornet (Jan 16, 2011)

Easterns are very common over here, almost every keeper has or has had them at some stage but they are still a great lizard


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## mrhoyo (Jan 16, 2011)

I might look into finding some over here. I know people who have them but they're not necessarily people who breed them.
Are they typical blue tongue temperament? I know someone with a tanimbar bts and it's pure evil!

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## dihsmaj (Jan 16, 2011)

Mine was extremely calm, perfectly fine with being handled as long has he had firm ground under his feet.
Funny thing is, I think he was wild-caught by my brother-in-law.
Shows how things can calm down.


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## Dannyboi (Jan 16, 2011)

I have relocated a few blueys from friends backyards. I have yet to be bitten.


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## hornet (Jan 16, 2011)

they generally become very calm after a while, even wild caught specimens can get very very tame after as little as a couple of months


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## AllThingsReptile (Jan 16, 2011)

dammit....i photograph the blueys.....not the locations...lol

---------- Post added 16-Jan-11 at 11:35 PM ----------




hornet said:


> they generally become very calm after a while, even wild caught specimens can get very very tame after as little as a couple of months


 i've found that most wild specimens i've found are calmer than some of the completely captive bred ones....lol

just 2 days ago i found a pair, both specimens i'd found seperately before, one was a huge male with its tail missing, the other was the brown colouration, with a slightly offset jaw, those things are how i new which ones they where, they were under a roller door me and my mate rolled out and layed on the ground, it is in 1 of 3 "scatter grounds", which consist of random objects like tin and logs spread around in a spot lol

---------- Post added 16-Jan-11 at 11:36 PM ----------

both of the specimens didnt care that i picked them up and took pics


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## hornet (Jan 16, 2011)

i'm yet to come across a nice wild bluey, every one i have found to date goes nuts if you approach them


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## AllThingsReptile (Jan 16, 2011)

i found another pair under a big tip pile at my house, it was tin, then things like old couches, chairs, blankets, old toys, anything really, we found them both in a rolled up piece of tin, at the bottom of the pile, but there was obvious tunnels through the chairs, in the ground etc..

i found a baby under an old wooden bridge, it had fallen down, and big peices of timber were everywhere
another was under a piece of tin at another "scatter ground" , another was under a BIG piece of tin just near the roller door, it had the brown bluey with the offset jaw, it now hosts a RBB ALL these finds have been this season

---------- Post added 16-Jan-11 at 11:43 PM ----------




hornet said:


> i'm yet to come across a nice wild bluey, every one i have found to date goes nuts if you approach them


 50% of the ones i find almost seem to enjoy being picked up, 40% struggle a bit, and hiss a bit......10% head straight for the kill


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## jamesn48 (Jan 17, 2011)

Easterns are common in just about every habitat exept really dry areas, Westerns are usually found in drier areas than Easterns, Centralians are commonest in spinifex deserts, Shinglebacks are common in most dry habitats, and Pygmy Blue-tongues are only found in a small patch of grassland north of adelaide. The Easterns have adapted well to urban areas you can find them under large sheets of metal, logs and other debris. I have never seen one in the bush. Shinglebacks are Very common in rural areas, where they are all over the road and under just about every piece of cover.
Most aussie blue-tongues will try to bite you, but settle down after about 15 mins of handling.
Shinglebacks get very tame very quickly.


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## Jay84 (Jan 17, 2011)

mrhoyo said:


> It's a shame they're so hard to find over here, there are a few about but there aren't many being bred at all. Most of the stuff here is imported from Indonesia and Western Papua cheaply so nobody really tries breeding blue tongues.
> Are easterns common in Australia? I saw some cb on the classifieds for $25 (16gbp), over here they would be around ten times that from a private breeder, if not more.


 
Is it becuase they are not successfully bred over there? 

Here, the Bluetongue is one of the most commonly kept lizards for the beginner as well as the advanced keepers. I have 2 Blueys i got at age 10, and 17 years later and they are still going well! I have kept Blotched Blueys and Easterns and have always found wil Easterns to be more docile than Blotched, after being handled for a few minutes they soon calm down.


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## mrhoyo (Jan 17, 2011)

Jay84 said:


> Is it becuase they are not successfully bred over there?
> 
> Here, the Bluetongue is one of the most commonly kept lizards for the beginner as well as the advanced keepers. I have 2 Blueys i got at age 10, and 17 years later and they are still going well! I have kept Blotched Blueys and Easterns and have always found wil Easterns to be more docile than Blotched, after being handled for a few minutes they soon calm down.


 I think it's more to do with the numbers. There aren't many in the country, the total number of easterns over here is probably under 150 and not all of them will be kept by people willing to breed. Add the small litters and the fact that babies have a habit of eating eachother to the cheap cf and wc imports from Indonesia and it doesn't make breeding easterns profitable.
I'll try to get hold of a pair at some point though, I'd love some centralians too but they're even less common.
I saw a blotched in a pet shop once for around 100gbp. It must've been smuggled into Indonesia and sent over by accident because they're normally around 1000gbp. 


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## Jay84 (Jan 17, 2011)

mrhoyo said:


> I think it's more to do with the numbers. There aren't many in the country, the total number of easterns over here is probably under 150 and not all of them will be kept by people willing to breed. Add the small litters Easterns usually have quite large number of young? and the fact that babies have a habit of eating eachother Eating each other? I havn't heard of this before now? I have bred quite a few Blueys over the last 17 years and have never had any cannibalism?to the cheap cf and wc imports from Indonesia and it doesn't make breeding easterns profitable.Are the imports from Indonesia pure Easterns?
> I'll try to get hold of a pair at some point though, I'd love some centralians too but they're even less common.Centralians are beautiful animals, i wouldnt mind some myself!
> I saw a blotched in a pet shop once for around 100gbp. It must've been smuggled into Indonesia and sent over by accident because they're normally around 1000gbp. 1000 pounds?!?!?! WOW..... here you can get them for about $40, and i catch them in my garden too!
> 
> ...


.


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## mrhoyo (Jan 17, 2011)

Haha that's the way it is here unfortunately. All the good stuff is expensive, a perentie would set me back around 50,000gbp and I'd have to get it imported from Europe. 
Most Australian stuff is expensive except Beardies dragons, carpet pythons and children's pythons.
I imagine exotic stuff would be expensive for you lot, I'd you can even get hold of them. 

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## dihsmaj (Jan 17, 2011)

We don't have exotics at all, mrhoyo.
No imports.


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## mrhoyo (Jan 17, 2011)

Plimpy said:


> We don't have exotics at all, mrhoyo.
> No imports.


Don't you even have stuff from before the import ban? I always thought you could get stuff like leopard geckos they were just expensive because there weren't any allowed in anymore.


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## dihsmaj (Jan 17, 2011)

I'm not sure about that, but I know I've certainly never heard of anyone in Aus. legally keeping exotics.


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## mrhoyo (Jan 18, 2011)

Plimpy said:


> I'm not sure about that, but I know I've certainly never heard of anyone in Aus. legally keeping exotics.


 You're not missing much, all the best stuff is from Australia and maybe Indonesia so you've already for most of them available.


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## Dannyboi (Jan 18, 2011)

The only legal exotic reptile I know of is the New guinea GTP.


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## mrhoyo (Jan 18, 2011)

Why is that legal? I thought there were Cape York green trees anyway?

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## Dannyboi (Jan 18, 2011)

I'm unsure. Best ask someone like waterrat. I would rather live in South Africa or somewhere you can get everything. But Australia is so diverse and is full of amazing wild life I could never make the move.


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## mrhoyo (Jan 18, 2011)

South Africa with its high crime rate? No thanks.
We can have everything here but the weather is just awful.
We were thinking about making the move to Australia but I don't think the Mrs could cope being so far from her family. A shame really.

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## Dannyboi (Jan 18, 2011)

I know people who lived in South Africa who really miss it. It depends where in South Africa you live. Also the weather here is a big change for people in the UK. (My Mothers side is from England they couldn't handle it at first.)


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## mrhoyo (Jan 18, 2011)

Dannyboi said:


> I know people who lived in South Africa who really miss it. It depends where in South Africa you live. Also the weather here is a big change for people in the UK. (My Mothers side is from England they couldn't handle it at first.)


I suppose everyone misses their home though. Isn't the weather by you quite mild? Ours has been horrible the last few years, up to 30c in summer and down at -100 in winter.
We were thinking of NSW, she already has some family there.


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## Dannyboi (Jan 18, 2011)

40-48C in summer heat waves it kills the tourists. right now though its 28c.


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## mrhoyo (Jan 18, 2011)

That's pretty warm! I thought the average was around 28c, anything over 35c starts getting to me.
What reptiles are there in South Australia?

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## Cabb11age (Jan 18, 2011)

south australia has a great range of reptiles from beardys, blueys to large monitors heaps of geckos and a variety of different locaions to find them. i think we only wear a jumper for two or three months of the year, the rest is shorts thongs and singlets lol BUT south Australia has the best beer in Australia if not the world >>>COOPERS...


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## Dannyboi (Jan 18, 2011)

I don't wear jumpers I wear an open jacket or go for a run. Its only when I go out fishing with my uncle or whatever that i actually zipp up my jacket.


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## dihsmaj (Jan 18, 2011)

mrhoyo said:


> You're not missing much, all the best stuff is from Australia and maybe Indonesia so you've already for most of them available.
> 
> 
> Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk


I can list many exotics I'd prefer over our natives.
I like about 98% of our animals...


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## AllThingsReptile (Jan 18, 2011)

Plimpy said:


> I can list many exotics I'd prefer over our natives.
> I like about 98% of our animals...



CHAMELEON 

ok back at mr hoyo, bluetongues are actually quite easy to breed, i dont know why they arent hugely popular over there, they give live birth, give medium to large litters, the babys are almost invincible, and will adapt to whatever you put them in, they are actually such simple pets,that here in victoria they are license exempt, and you can even breed them without a license...


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## mrhoyo (Jan 18, 2011)

Plimpy said:


> I can list many exotics I'd prefer over our natives.
> I like about 98% of our animals...


Really?! There are very few species we can't keep over here and there isn't much that interests me outside the general Australasian area.
The bearded dragon is the second most popular lizard here after the leopard gecko. They're boring but Australian.
You've got access to loads of skinks, pythons and monitors, many of which are expensive and hard or impossible to find anywhere else in the world. Those are the only three families that interest me but I know there are lots more you should be proud of having.


I know blue tongues are pretty easy to breed but that's still harder for the pet shops than buying cheap imports. I'm working on getting a female for my male Irian Jaya and then I'll try to find some Easterns to breed. I think Centralians will be next after that or maybe some silver Indonesians.


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So does anyone have any habitat pictures then?

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