Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey folks!
Tahnks in advance for any assistance with this. I have 4 Irian Jaya BTS, roughly 9 mos. old. I'm trying to sex them and am having little luck. I've read through the forum and various care sheets on the web but am still unable to determine what sex they may be. I'm posting photos here in hopes that someone may be able to assist me with this.
Thanks for any assistance,
Pete

P.S. I know...the rug is ugly...it's just a scrap piece that was lying around...it's not actually anywhere in my home. If it's in yours...I'm sorry

This is #1

This is #2

#3

#4

just going by the pictures, i would have to say this:
skink #:
1)male (confident)
2)female (confident)
3)male (not as confident)
4)male (confident)

by the way, the best thing to do would be to keep them in separate enclosures and use astro-turf (artificial grass) as your substrate. the males will routinely drop seminal plugs when they do a number 2, and these plugs will stick out like sore thumbs on astro-turf. at 9 months old, the males should be dropping plugs. ( my northern started dropping them at 5 months) by the way, what substrate are you keeping them on right now??? hope this helps.

Flea:
Thanks for your input, it was quite helpful. Can you elaborate at all on what you saw to base your decision on as to sex? I was pretty sure #1 was male, based on head size but I was unsure about the others. They are all housed separately and have been since I obtained them in Sept. I am using cypress mulch as a substrate as they seem to enjoy burrowing in it. Have you had success with astroturf as a substrate? It seems to me it would be rather abrasive on their undersides. I could be mistaken though. Again, thanks for your input and I value any other input that you or others may have also.
Thanks,
Pete

no prob pcole. i go by head size and broadness as well as body shape and the relation between the two. i look at eyes but its never my "deciding factor", because some individual skinks have more pigment in their eyes which is sometimes independent of sex. remember that it is very hard to accurately sex skinks by pictures alone. i have had great success using astroturf with mine, because as i said before the sperm plugs stick out like a sore thumb when you use it. also, i have found that it is not rough on thier belly at all. another way is to introduce the skinks to each other and watch behavior, although this may be more difficult to interpret for someone who doesn't know what to look for. basically i would say that if you REALLY want to accurately sex them, i would put them on astroturf and you will start seeing seminal plugs in the males cages,especially at this time of year. otherwise, just keep them on the cedar chips and they will still be fine. best regards, Alex

I noticed you said "cedar chips" at the end of your post. I'm sure you meant to say cypress chips or mulch. I'd hate to have a newbie read your post and think that cedar is alright for BTS as a substrate. I just wanted to correct that little mistake for you. np.

by the way, you should join the blue tongued skink forum over at www.bluetongueskinks.net. you will find GREAT information over there and all we talk about is blue tongues, so you will be right at home. also, many experts in the field of blueys frequent that forum such as James Wilson and Edward Martinez among others, so you will pretty much get all of your questions answered. here is a picture of my northerns cage so you can see what the astroturf looks like in the cage.