At www.btskinks.com, we strive to produce the highest quality captive bred blue tongue skinks, and m I was hooked immediately. Facepalm. Most people don't get it.
My name is Jeff, and I have been a reptile enthusiast for my whole life. I started catching lizards as a young boy, and found ways to keep them in my room without my mother's knowledge. It would usually only be a few weeks before she would discover my latest catch and force me to release it, but even then I was fascinated by these creatures that most people found "gross". As I got older my passion
for them grew, but unfortunately, my mother's distain for them never wained. It wasn't until I moved out that I was finally able to keep more exotic species than the stuff living around my house. The first animals that I kept were leopard geckos and garter snakes. I enjoyed them a lot, but somehow knew that these were not the ultimate animals for me. Everything changed drastically the first time I had the opportunity to hold a ball python in the early 80's. This was before all the crazy morphs existed, so it was just good 'ole normals back then. I thought they were the greatest thing ever! This fairly large (to me at the time), slow moving beast that I could sit and handle for hours if I felt like it, really made me feel like I had found my niche. I kept and bred a number of them in the 80's, when many people still considered them difficult to breed. The next major turning point in my reptile life occurred in 1990 when I married my wonderful wife Lori. Lori is the perfect wife, mother, and woman in every way, BUT she has similar view about reptiles as my mother. At the time I married Lori I actually didn't have any reptiles due to being a college student and not really having the time or space to maintain them properly. So in all fairness, the tension caused by our differing opinions was mostly my fault. In retrospect I would have definitely discussed the issue with her before we were married. Lori is so wonderful that she did allow me to get a few animals a few years into our marriage even though the thought of having snakes in our home almost made her nauseous. I will always love her for that, but after a few years it became clear to me that it wasn't fair for me to do something that was so offensive to her. I decided to get rid of my ball pythons. I knew that was the right thing to do, yet at the same time t was agonizing to me. It was probably only a few months later that I asked Lori what she would think about me keeping a lizard. To my surprise, she didn't throw anything at me! After quite a bit of research, and more conversations with my wife, I brought home a bearded dragon. Bearded dragons are awesome! This was still before everyone on the block owned them too, so it really made me happy to have one around. I didn't really dare press my luck and try to get more at the time, I was just grateful to have the opportunity to keep such a great pet without causing marital problems. This was pretty nice until my beardie died for no apparent reason at 7 years of age. Once again I was a reptile-less reptile addict. My wife just rolled her eyes when I asked her shortly after if she would be ok with me getting another lizard. She said, "You're just going to do it anyway, so why are you asking me?" I love that woman! As much as I love bearded dragons, I somehow knew that I wanted something else. I spent a ton of time researching just about every lizard on the planet. Bluetongues were one of the lizards I found interesting, but I had only seen a few of them in person at that time. They all looked really "mean" to me, and not like the kind of animal you could handle without getting bitten. Bearded dragons were getting ridiculously common by that time though, and blueys were still pretty rare to see in pet stores. The size, shape, and overall appearance finally made me decide I wanted a bluetongue skink. After more research I found a breeder and ordered my first BTS online. I knew immediately that these were awesome animals the day my baby skink arrived, but it wasn't until my skink reached adult size that I realized that I had found my calling. Bluetongues are the boids that I have loved for years, with 100x the "personality". Everything about them is perfect in my opinion. I found that the "mean" look was all show. Most of the BTS I have owned have been the most gentle animals I have ever seen. They tolerate handling as well as anything I have ever kept. They not only have the best dispositions around, they are also incredibly beautiful and diverse. I have a room full of these guys now, of various species. I have been breeding them for quite a few years, and I have successfully produced northerns, easterns, and shinglebacks. I have kept and hope to eventually breed blotched and meraukes as well as all the other species that I haven't kept yet. For many years now, one of my sons (Christian) and I have been working together to maintain and breed our skinks. We hope to continue to grow in the future. It's tough because many species cost a fortune to obtain, but we are truly committed. Lori still just rolls her eyes. I have no doubt in my mind though that BTS will be part of my life until I die. Finally, NOTHING is missing! These are the absolute perfect animals for me, and I am sure, for many others as well. I am currently also lucky enough to be raising two groups of tortoises as well. I am still fairly new to torts, but I have leopard tortoises that I acquired as hatchlings 9 years ago that have just begun producing eggs in the last year. In addition, I have 4 young Burmese star tortoises which is an extremely rare species. They are another amazing animal that I hope to successfully breed in the future. Thanks, to everyone who bothered to read this novel! I just got going and couldn't stop.
