Tis the season.... for baby Pink Tongue Skinks!

[Stompsy]

Hi guys! Long time no post!

As the title suggests, my PTS is heavily gravid/pregnant again and should be ready to give birth any day now.

Since I’ve never seen the birth occur (previous years I’ve always been out when it happened) and considering I have time off atm.... I would love to know what signs I should be looking for in regards labour.

She went off food a few weeks ago and has pretty much used up all her fat stores in both her tail and everywhere else... (can see her spine!).... she also has the standard heavy slow breathing. However I’d like to know if there are any specific things to look for to know she’s actually in labour, other than the birth part!

Since yesterday, she’s become restless and is roaming all over the enclosure but I’m unsure if that’s a sign she’ll give birth soon or if there’s anything else I should look for.

Any tips would be appreciated.

Oh, and I’ve included a picture to show just how far along she is!

 

[Sdaji]

Looking good

She's obviously showing all the right signs, she could give birth any time. I've never bred these only Blue-tongueds, but I assume they'd be similar in not doing anything like giving you a notification that they'll be giving birth at 3pm the following day. You just have to be watching at the right time. When I was a teenager my girlfriend was over and noticed one of my Blue-tongueds looking like it was constipated, struggling to defecate. After a few minutes it managed to take a giant '****', and she was so excited when it started moving and was a baby. We sat and watched that whole litter being born. As usual I hadn't noticed anything until minutes before she gave birth. I reckon yours could give birth any time. Fingers crossed you'll be there to see it

 

[Stompsy]

Looking good

She's obviously showing all the right signs, she could give birth any time. I've never bred these only Blue-tongueds, but I assume they'd be similar in not doing anything like giving you a notification that they'll be giving birth at 3pm the following day. You just have to be watching at the right time. When I was a teenager my girlfriend was over and noticed one of my Blue-tongueds looking like it was constipated, struggling to defecate. After a few minutes it managed to take a giant '****', and she was so excited when it started moving and was a baby. We sat and watched that whole litter being born. As usual I hadn't noticed anything until minutes before she gave birth. I reckon yours could give birth any time. Fingers crossed you'll be there to see it

She gave birth the morning after I posted this so I think her restlessness was a sure sign she was almost ready!

I missed the first 30 minutes of the birth but saw many babies born which was incredible to watch.

27 babies in this litter, 21 healthy, feisty bubs, two tiny little babies and two sets of underdeveloped twins who were stillborn.

They are a week old today!

Thanks for your reply!

https://imgur.com/gallery/FOQ7Mbl

Pictures and video if anyone is interested!

 

[Herpetology]

So cool!

I’m hoping my bredli is gonna birth a xmas miracle!

 

[Nero Egernia]

Awesome news, Stompsy. They're so cute!

There's no surprise that she had so many babies, she looked huge in the first picture. I'm hoping my female King's Skink will give birth soon. She's certainly looking rather uncomfortable these days.

 

[Sdaji]

Congratulations, that's a nice big litter!

 

[kankryb]

Great video and congratulations

 

[Stompsy]

Awesome news, Stompsy. They're so cute!

There's no surprise that she had so many babies, she looked huge in the first picture. I'm hoping my female King's Skink will give birth soon. She's certainly looking rather uncomfortable these days.

Thanks! Yes they are absolutely adorable, which makes it really hard to move them on!

Any pictures of your King's Skink pregnant/gravid? And baby pictures?

Congratulations, that's a nice big litter!

Thanks.... she's up 3 from last years litter, but I don't think she'll go much higher than that in coming years due to her size.

Great video and congratulations

Thank you! It was very exciting and I did manage to get 2 video's of the actual birth. Very cool indeed.


To anyone interested, I am posting these guys up for sale today.
[doublepost=1577673473,1577673389][/doublepost]

So cool!

I’m hoping my bredli is gonna birth a xmas miracle!

I didn't read this properly the first time! Congrats!

 

[Nero Egernia]

Thanks! Yes they are absolutely adorable, which makes it really hard to move them on!

Any pictures of your King's Skink pregnant/gravid? And baby pictures?

Here you go Stompsy.

A few quick phone snaps, nothing fancy. Babies were just born today. Mother's the black one, father's the brown. Looks like the majority of the babies have taken after the mother, but it could change as they grow.

 

[kankryb]

King skink babies, so cool, congratulations. I've never seen them in europe but saw them in Melbourne zoo they are awsome

 

[Nero Egernia]

King skink babies, so cool, congratulations. I've never seen them in europe but saw them in Melbourne zoo they are awsome

Thanks! They're an awesome species in my opinion. They have plenty of courage and are fairly intelligent too. There are many videos of them taking on venomous snakes to defend their territory and young.

Are you able to get Algerian Berber Skinks in Europe? They might be a good alternative, I hear they can be just as courageous too.

 

[kankryb]

Berber skinks are a common starter skink here in Denmark and cheap too
But don't become as big and tame as bluetongues

 

[Stompsy]

Here you go Stompsy.

A few quick phone snaps, nothing fancy. Babies were just born today. Mother's the black one, father's the brown. Looks like the majority of the babies have taken after the mother, but it could change as they grow.

View attachment 328265
View attachment 328266

Oh they are gorgeous! How long do you leave them in with the parents?

 

[Nero Egernia]

Oh they are gorgeous! How long do you leave them in with the parents?

It depends on growth rate and the size of the enclosure, but you can leave them in with the parents for up to a year, sometimes more. The babies are tolerated well. You'll often see them riding piggy-back on the adult's backs. Although I don't think these guys are going to be here for long, most of them are already spoken for.

 

[eaglespremiers]

Here's a photo of one of Sarah's little ones that I got off her last week:
View media item 633

 

[Stompsy]

Here's a photo of one of Sarah's little ones that I got off her last week:
View media item 633

Unfortunately, the image didn’t load!