Your Questions About Baby Care

The Expert answers:

Blue tongue skinks are from Australia originally; living in grasses, leafy areas, rocky areas and forest and heavily planted areas.

Their wild diet is meat based as well as vegetable and fruit based (50% fruit, 50% vegetable). Suitable “vegetables and fruits” are weeds like dandelion, puha, plantain, clover, as well as courgette, tomato, melon, paw paw, peeled apple and pear, celery, carrot etc.

Insects (live) that are good to feed are snails, slaters, waxmoth larvae (small amounts), and other slow moving invertebrates. It is not uncommon for a blue tounge to refuse a locust, cockroach, cricket or other fast moving invertebrates.

If kept indoors, and indoor supplement is necessary (contains calcium:phosphorus ratio of approximately 2:1 as well as vitamin D3 which they would usually get from sunlight).

If kept outdoors, the calcium and phosphous ratio is still extremely important, but not the vit. D3.

Supplement is extremely important to avoid your lizard experiencing MBD in the future and other health problems.
Reptiles are ectothermic (“cold blooded”) which means the environment directly determines their body temperature.
They need to be warm to metabolise food. They will not usually eat or be very active when cold.

They need a temperature gradient within their enclosure in order to regulate their body temperature (e.g. From a warm area maximum 35 degrees Celsius, and a cold area no lower than 12 -15 degrees Celsius).
By keeping a reptile at a constant warm temperature, you are keeping it active, hungry, and significantly shortening its lifespan in the future.

Juvenile blue tounges need to be kept slightly warmer while young in order to get them eating and putting on weight to ensure good health in the future. Terrariums are good to keep temperatures realitively constant while the lizard is young, though as the lizard gets older, it is best if it is kept outdoors with an indoor area for guaranteed warmth and shelter.

Leaf piles are good to provide cover and hiding places as this species likes hide.

The amount and regularity of faeces is dependant on temperature and the amount of food consumed.
Faeces should be removed when seen, and hands washed thoroughly as one type of bacteria in many lizard’s intestinal tracts is salmonella.

Lizards also shed their skin.
Mist your lizard with luke warm water every few days and monitor their shedding progress. If shedding around digits like toes and tails especially, soak the area in a sink of warm water and remove the skin from the digit if it can be easily done. Many lizards lose sections of tails and digits due to constriction of blood circulation to the area by sking tightening during a shed.

The information I’ve given you is very brief.

Like many other people commenting, I cannot give you all the information on “yahoo answers”. You do need to gather your own information BEFORE purchasing the lizard. Reptiles are extremely different from mammals and many suffer due to owners having a lack of knowledge about their chosen pet species.

Any more questions, please let me know.

Scott.

The Expert answers:

First of all I admire you for not getting an abortion and bringing a new life into this world. I’m only 20 and just had my first he’s now 2 months and I was pretty clueless. But to be honest alot of things you need to know come naturally, I think its a gift God gives every women. So, just raed as much as you can online or buy a book or talk to other women you know with children.
My best advice is that as soon as the baby comes home he will sleep most of the day she will sleep and just sleep when she does so that you’ll get some sleep because babys wake up to eat every 2 hours at first. Also you shouldn’t give your baby a bath everyday because they dont get very dirty and it can dry out there skin. Also you should think about what you’ll do about childcare. And the number one thing is that Patience is key, just be patient and I promise you will get the hang of it. Even though you are young I have no doubt that you’ll be a wonderful mother. Just enjoy watching your baby grow and develop a little personality. I will keep you in my prayers!! Good Luck!

The Expert answers:

There is nothing wrong with you. For all you know it’s a womans instinct kicking in. I’m not in a relationship or thinking about having a kid anytime soon but i’m always looking at baby stuff too and thinking about the best morals to raise him/her on, best foods to feed them, etc, etc, etc. I guess when the time comes i just want to be pre-prepared to do the job right and be a kick-a$$ father.

The Expert answers:

You’re going to need a sturdier keyboard. My twins can’t kill my Microsoft Natural, so I’d suggest it.

For the diaper change, use your mouth. NOOO not like that…hang a toy in it. Pop a toy in your mouth and try shaking it to make the bells inside rattle, or something. If you’re game, try growling, chasing the baby across the room, and pinning him to the floor to gnaw his belly first. Change him when he’s weak from giggling.

For the hair, remove his hand every time he reaches, take it, touch his own hair with it, pat his head and repeat “nice.” Say “I like nice, be nice.” Then, in a few days, after about 100 repetitions, coach him “nice. Touch me nice.”

As for the bottle, if he needs it to sleep he’s obviously not sleeping too well alone. Try changing his bedtime routine to include a rocking chair and a bottle, or a lap and a bottle. Have him finish, then let him sleep.

On the teeth, I’ve had to switch to small soft brushes instead of gauze, and dude, I get bitten all the darn time.

The Expert answers:

Yes, there will be surprises you can’t learn from a book, but books are a good place to learn the basics (and usually a lot more credible than the Internet). Just go to the “parenting” section of the bookstore—there are hundreds of choices.

You can take parenting classes at hospitals, but most people take them once they are pregnant.

You’ll have nine months to learn these things. I’d say don’t worry about it until you have to!