I’m planning on getting a nice pair of shingleback skinks from a breeder(if I can find one) or a responsible importer in late 2023, so I was wondering, does anyone have any breeding information on them? I can’t really find that much info about them in this aspect.
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Given Australian species cannot be exported, there is not such thing as a “responsible importer” of shinglebacks
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Yes, you are correct, but people are importing some captive bred shinglebacks from europe and canada.
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I suggest going to coops reptiles on youtube for advice on alpine blotchies. Also, I second the westerns and centralians thing.
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it’s pretty much the same as other blue tongues for alpine blotchies except for the fact that you brumate them like snakes. research how to brumate though before just dropping their temperature though.
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It’s also worth noting that just because something is available as “captive bred” in Europe doesn’t mean it was legally exported to begin with. Borneo earless monitors come immediately to mind; every individual in captivity originated from wild caught animals that were poached following a scientific publication that revealed location information following the species rediscovery after 100 years of presumed extinction. Availability in Europe is not the litmus test for what is legal or ethical.
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Right here is truth 
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I’ve seen the specific importer I’m talking about recommended by several people before, and. from all I can tell, they do it legally and are very upfront about their reptiles, so it seems pretty legit.
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Then it should pan out 
I will just leave this right here…
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also, can someone just chime in with the breeding info?
I know they are completely monogamous in the wild, so you would likely need an already bonded pair to breed. I would imagine breeding them is probably very difficult because of them being monogamous, so it would probably be like trying to pair leachies, if not harder.
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Alrighty… first things first. When it comes to shinglebacks, you cannot really “plan on” getting a nice pair at any point because the availability for one, let alone 1.1 is very rare and not with any sort of regularity. I generally might see one or two available a year, and then for a few years… nothing. Some are actually nice, some older animals are a bit beat up. Last year, I happened to see 6 available, but the source was questionable. This year I actually did see a pair from a very reputable breeder. There are only a handful of breeders in the US who have had any real success and they tend to be sold and traded among those breeders. Most successful rugosa breeding has happened in Europe, specifically the Netherlands and Germany. Obviously you cannot get these from Australia, but you also cannot legally import tiliqua species that are of australian in origin direct from Europe either, even if they were CB in Europe, due to a current ban. There are legal workarounds to this that you will need to do your due diligence on. Also, expect to pay anywhere from 4k-6K for a single animal before shipping / import fees. My best advice, save up 10-15K, and wait. If you do find them, ask a LOT of questions and ask for photos as there are a lot of people looking to scam you. You also should not purchase these with the expectation of being able to make that back. Breeding can be a bit tricky. There is some truth to the monogamy claim, but many males will also mate with several females. There is a book, known as the Blue Tongue Bible: “BLUE-TONGUED SKINKS Contributions to Tiliqua and Cyclodomorphus” that has all of the information regarding temperatures and brumation for breeding. I recommend hunting this down. It pops up from time to time for about $100. As far as finding actual animals, I would recommend joining as many skink and rare reptile forums and Facebook groups that you can tolerate. I wish you the very best of luck. There is a lot of gatekeeping with rare reptiles, but one person’s success can be everyone’s when it comes to availability. It is expensive and competitive, but they are such remarkable animals, easily my favorite reptile, ever.
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you know what, I’ll stick with getting a single shingleback, that is if I can find one. I know some pop up every once in a while at my local reptile expo, so I’ll save up a bunch of money and then keep going there and looking online.
That’s probably the most realistic plan. I’d forgotten that there are at least two domestic expos they’ve appeared at. Generally, sales of the more rare stuff happen outside fo such gatherings. They are fortunately, very long lived, so even an older one that’s got some scratches and dents will make a wonderful pet and at least get you halfway there towards building a pair. Be very, very careful about URIs, though. There is some conjecture about sexing, but I’ve always found it easy to tell the difference with at least two of the four subspecies. Good luck to you!
I hate to be that guy, but when dealing with rare and difficult to breed species I loath the idea of people just getting singletons to keep as pets and thereby removing those animals from the hands of people with the actual time/dedication/ability to actually reproduce them. The gene pool for these species is already shallow, it pains me to watch watch it get drained further
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If i can figure out how to breed them and can find a real pair, then I may breed, but that just seems unrealisitc.
the small group of Lanthanotus borneensis that were collected and thankfully put into the hobby by very dedicated reptile breeders, have proven to be a succesful venture in that now they are being reproduced outside of their native habitat in small numbers and will be preserved for future generations. The rest of the story you failed to mention in your self-righteous post, was that the exact location where these animals were rescued, has now been totally wiped out for palm oil plantations and they would have all been plowed under by heavy equipment. So before you cast aspersions on the dedicated herp community, maybe learn about the rest of the story, and see the positives that are also taking place at a grass roots level by individuals who truly do care about the animals.
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Perhaps before you attack long-standing members of this community, you should consider the full story.
Illegally collecting and smuggling animals is illegal regardless of what happened to the habitat after the fact. Add that the animals that were collected were not acquired under the actions of members of a “dedicated herp community” but people looking to capitalize on a new species. Truly “dedicated herp community” members would have gone through legal pathways to collect specimens under valid paperwork that would not then have to be smuggled internationally. The people who collected the animals originally did not care about the animals, they cared about the cash.
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If by “successful venture” you mean “poached animals from their native habitats following a massive scientific rediscovery but before scientists could assess their wild population status” then sure, it was successful.
Having captive breeding colonies to “save” species by putting them on an open market for thousands of dollars before they were assessed for population viability isn’t conservation, it’s capitalism.
Also, there is a wide body of literature, published by professionals in the field, that tell this story accurately. Here is the official publication and yes, this is written by biologists working with this species on the ground and trying to actually conserve these species from pet trade poachers: Keeping an ear to the ground: Monitoring the trade in earless monitor lizards - Wildlife Trade Report from TRAFFIC
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