Tiliqua occipitalis

[kankryb]

I was lucky and got a pair of 3 month old german bred occipitalis, my question is what do you feed yours occipitalis? I already keep scincoides scincoides, scincoides intermedia, nigrolutea and rugosa rugosa but I read that occipitalis dosn't eat a lot of greens so what do you feed your occipitalis?

 

[Sdaji]

Just feed them the same stuff as your other Tiliqua. I never gave any of my Tiliqua much in the way of greens anyway.

 

[Nero Egernia]

Beautiful skinks. How common are they over seas?

I'm with Sdaji, I don't really feed my skinks much greens at all. Although they will eat fruit and vegetables, usually something that's brightly coloured in my experience. They eat relatively the same things as other Tiliqua, with a preference towards protein based foods.

 

[kankryb]

Thanks, overhere they are rather rare I have been waiting a long time for captive bred animals. My shinglebacks are almost vegan but all my other bluetongues get a meal a week that is greens and fruit and seen to want it rest is grasshoppers roaches snails pinkies and catfood wet/dry

 

[Sdaji]

Thanks, overhere they are rather rare I have been waiting a long time for captive bred animals. My shinglebacks are almost vegan but all my other bluetongues get a meal a week that is greens and fruit and seen to want it rest is grasshoppers roaches snails pinkies and catfood wet/dry

Go easy on the fruit. A little bit is good, but more than that is not good for them. It's a bit like feeding kids. They'll certainly eat cake and lollies, as much as you give them, but it's not good for them. Tiliqua love fruit but it's not good in more than a small amount. Stumpies (rugosa) are a bit different from other Tiliqua and do eat a lot more plants than the other species, but they'll still do well on the same diet. In general they are all opportunists which will eat whatever they can find. Stumpies do have common succulent plants available seasonally to them, some populations of occipitalis and multifasciata do too, but other than rugosa I'd give them all the same diet, and generally speaking I'd probably just give the stumpies the same stuff out of convenience. Insects, snails and cat feed is the bulk of what I'd feed them. Some fresh vegetables would be good too, and the occasional bit of fruit. When I was a kid I fed mine a heap of banana which really wasn't the best.

 

[kankryb]

Thanks for good advice, I might overthink the diet thing because the animals don't live here and I only have books to go from and only want the best for my animals very few people have australian bluetongues and less that would like to share their "how to do it"

 

[Sdaji]

Thanks for good advice, I might overthink the diet thing because the animals don't live here and I only have books to go from and only want the best for my animals very few people have australian bluetongues and less that would like to share their "how to do it"

I grew up in an area with two species of Tiliqua within walking distance of my home and four species in my home state, and I started keeping them decades ago. They're real garbage guts animals which are opportunistic and take advantage of whatever food they can find, but generally they most like to eat insects/small animals. Fruit is very rare for them in the wild and eating a lot of it doesn't seem to do well. In some cases some species have access to a fair amount of edible vegetation, but they're much happier when they find some carrion or insects/snails/etc to gobble up.

I understand how you feel with animals you have no personal connection to the natural history of. When you've never been anywhere near the natural habitat of a species you can really feel in the dark about how they live and what you should be giving them. Blue-tongued Lizards are extreme generalists though, which makes it far more easy than when dealing with specialist species Also, I've caught Centralians in scorching hot, bone dry conditions in central Australia and Blotched and Easterns in cold, fairly wet areas of the south east, but they all do well in pretty similar conditions (excepting Stumpies need to be more dry and Easterns and Botched are more cold hardy). You could certainly have a set of conditions including diet which would allow all of them to completely thrive though - the southerns forms *can* tolerate colder conditions but don't really benefit from them.

 

[kankryb]

Thanks Sdaji, that is the knowledge I can't get from books and one of the reasons I joined here
[doublepost=1569748597,1569745368][/doublepost]

garbage guts animals

PS. Funny thing, you call them that because here they are my pride and joy and love them almost as much as my kids

 

[Sdaji]

Thanks Sdaji, that is the knowledge I can't get from books and one of the reasons I joined here
[doublepost=1569748597,1569745368][/doublepost] PS. Funny thing, you call them that because here they are my pride and joy and love them almost as much as my kids

Believe me, I say it in an endearing, not derogatory way! I totally understand the love you have for them and can't describe the admiration I had for them as a kid. They were the most amazing and magical creatures in the world to me as a child and I still have a soft spot for them.

 

[kankryb]

I did not misunderstand you
my point was that overhere their food and care is almost science and to you guys and girls they are just gutter gutt animals because you see and know them