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I just got the blue tongue skink and the guy told me it was western. The pics I have seen of westerns have a few thick stripes. My guy has many thin stripes. He also would not tell me how old it is. Is there any way to tell? Please let me know what kind of skink my guy is. I have noticed that the tongue is not very blue, either. Just the tip, and it is not the bright blue that I associate with the blue tongue skinks. Any suggestions would be great.

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------Misty-------
5.12 Corn Snakes --- 1.0 Tokay Gecko
2.1 King Snakes --- 1.0 House Gecko
1.2 leopard Geckos --- 0.0.1 Golden Tegu
1.1 Bearded Dragon --- 0.0.1 Savanna Monitor
1.1 Green Iguana --- 0.1 Chinese Water Dragon
0.1 Crocodile Gecko --- 1.1 False Water Cobras
1.1 Jungle Corn --- 1.0 Ball Python
0.1 Kenya Sand Boa --- 0.1 Rose Hair Tarantula
1.1 Emperor Scorpions --- 3.0 Ferrets
1.1 Congo African Grey (parrot)--- 0.1 dog
0.0.3 Prairie Ringneck Snakes --- 1.0 blue tongue skink
always changing # of mice and rats(snake food)

Hi Misty,
Your instincts are correct - it is NOT a western. Westerns (T. . occipitalis) are rarely found in the U.S., and almost never for sale. The western BTS have extremely different coloration than the skink you pictured. The bands are very wide, and they have the dark temporal swatches too (behind the eye). The tail is much shorter and their body is wider as well.

The skink you have pictured is a T. gigas (Indonesian). Since the seller didn't give you background info, it is safe to figure that the animal is also an import (wild caught).

Sellers such as the one you dealt with are a pain to the rest of the herp community, you might want to warn your friends.

Morgana

Western BTS -- Tiliqua occipitalis

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Edward
Carpe diem

reptayls is right!
For more info check out:

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Tiliqua