Monkey-Tail Skink?

Skink Keeper · 11-06-03, 01:14 AM

I am pretty sure i have a pregnant monkey-tail (i will try to post pics soon to get others opinions) but i'm so confused on what to do if she has a baby, some people say leave it in the tank with the parents, others say take it out, so my question is what do you think? When i breed my blue-tongues i take the babies out but i don't want to screw anything up with my MTS.

Also if anyone has pics of their MTS enclosure i would love to see it as i will be building one in the near future and just needed some ideas. Thanks

C.m.pyrrhus · 11-06-03, 04:10 AM

To be on the safe side, I would recommend seperating any young to another enclosure. I would do this with any species of herp. There are many reasons for this, being in general the ease of controlling the environment it gets. I know some folks who do keep them together, but IMO it is safer the other way.

icequeen · 11-06-03, 05:08 AM

Do NOT separate the baby from the mother.
PTS live together quite harmoniously in the wild, and in captivity.
And in fact the baby can live with the mother it's entire life, unless of course it's a male, and attempts to breed with mom.
Mother PTS are known for their protectiveness of thier young. They will even guard thier baby if it is still born, or dies in infancy.

You will be doing both the mother and the baby a great disservice by separting them. PTS live in a community in the wild, and deserve to do so in captivity as well.

Congratulations if she does in fact turn out to be gravid!!! How long have you had her for? Hopefully all will go well, as PTS are known to miscarry, unfortunately. Apparently this is more common the further north you go (meaning...less likely to happen in say Florida, and more likely to happen in Ontario).
The gestation period is 7 to 8 months, and PTS always give birth at night.
I hope you are able to post some pictures...I'd love to see her!!!!

Good luck to you and your PTS!

icequeen · 11-06-03, 05:41 AM

This is a picture of my girl, Dill, and her home. She is housed in an old wall unit, which is 4ft wide, 4ft high, and 2ft deep. There are 3 different hide areas, and two large water bowls. One near the top for her to drink from and/or soak in, and one on the bottom of her enclosure which she uses as her bathroom. PTS prefer to do thier business in water for some reason, and prefer thier toilet area to be in a low area of thier enclosure.
I do provide a uva/uvb light, although the jury is still out as to whether or not they NEED one. Also an incandescent light is used to provide heat.
Dill is missing numerous toes (lost prior to her coming to live with me) so much of climbing areas are covered with rubberized cloth so she can get traction on them.

This is a picture of Dill in her "bathroom bowl". You can also see her "handicap ramp" in this picture. She uses that ramp more than any of the other branches in her cage to travel up and down on...probably because it's wider, and she can get good traction on it.

I have two or three live Pothos plants in Dills cage at all times, as she LOVES to eat them! This plant is toxic to most animals, but PTS have adapted to be able to eat them. Pothos will cause PTS urine to turn a purpleish brown colour though. Dill can mow down a Pothos plant in no time, leaving nothing but stems all along the vines. Now, my friends and neighbours are constantly supplying me with cuttings to be able to replenish the supply! All the other plants in her enclosure are artificial.

So, there you have it. Hopefully I haven't overloaded you with too many things you've heard a zillion times before!!

Skink Keeper · 11-06-03, 12:32 PM

icequeen-i've had my girl for only about 4 months but the guy I got it from said he thought she was gravid when he sold it to me and she's been gaining alot of weight. Those are nice pics, its too bad about Dill's toes, my male is missing a couple but it's not too bad, so he can still climb. As for pothos, my PTS love'em too the eat mine so theres just dirt left. What is the main diet you feed Dill? cause my guys will barely touch anything but Romaine lettuce.

snakegal12345 · 11-06-03, 07:38 PM

i think they shoud be seperate even though crystal gardens here has the baby with parents but the tank is like 6times the size you need

icequeen · 11-07-03, 03:18 AM

Skink Keeper - I feed Dill chopped Dandelion greens, collard greens, small amounts of parsley...any of the dark greens.
Avoiding the cabbage family altogether. I will also occasionally give her some chopped romaine...but she's only had it three or four times in the 7 months I've had her.

She loves pureed cantaloupe melon, papaya, and REALLY ripe pear.
Also, I will sometimes mix chopped thawed frozen mixed veggies in with her greens. I also mix in either pea or sweet potato baby food...otherwise, she won't eat the greens at all. I also always buy her fresh veggies, other than greens when I go grocery shopping...things I've found she likes are chopped carrot, butternut squash, green beans, snow peas, and small quantities of chopped red bell pepper.
I always make sure everything is chopped fine for her. To the consistancy of chopped parsley. I got a cheap little mini food-processor from Zellers for $14. It was WELL worth the money!!
I also occasionally add bee pollen to her food...in the fruit. And usually a little extra water, to be sure she's getting adequate fluids.

Once again, if your skink is gravid...please don't remove the baby from the mom. I have not heard of any reason to ever do so, until they reach sexual maturity.

If you get a chance to get some pictures....please post them, I'd love to see your PTS.

Kim

Skink Keeper · 11-07-03, 03:59 AM

icequeen- For my guys i did a little taste test, i tried something new everyday to see what they liked so i new what to feed them , but they are really picky they ate all the romaine and the cantaloupe but they didn't like the dandelon or collards. If my female is gravid would she eat more or less, with my blue tongues the females eat less be giving birth, is this the same for PTS? ( I know i'm asking alot of questions but it just seems like everything i read is telling me something different. I have done lots of research.) Thanks again

icequeen · 11-07-03, 06:02 AM

From what I understand, the further along Mom gets, the less she will eat, and the less active she will be. She may also become considerably more grouchy.
Baby PTS are SO big when they are born, so they take up a lot of room in the mothers abdomen, which doesn't leave a lot of room for food.

Did you try putting the cantaloupe right on top of the greens to kind of disguise them? Dill won't eat any greens, unless I trick her into it.