A snake with legs...

KibblesNbitz · May 30, 2010

Hi everybody! Just got a Nikon D40 with the 18-55mm kits lens and a 55-200mm VR lens last night off craigslist. I hav'nt had time to get any "real" pictures, so I figured I'd snap a few shots of my blue tongued skink to test it out...came out much better than my "8mp" droid incredible camera could ever produce! (I know megapixels mean nothing lol) The area was rather low-light, so I had to use ISO 1600 :meh:

And yes, he does have a bright blue tongue! They flick it like snakes do

iflynething · May 30, 2010

KibblesNbitz said:
Hi everybody! Just got a Nikon D40 with the 18-55mm kits lens and a 55-200mm VR lens last night off craigslist. I hav'nt had time to get any "real" pictures, so I figured I'd snap a few shots of my blue tongued skink to test it out...came out much better than my "8mp" droid incredible camera could ever produce! (I know megapixels mean nothing lol) The area was rather low-light, so I had to use ISO 1600 :meh:

And yes, he does have a bright blue tongue! They flick it like snakes do

This thread is useless without pictures.......of the blue tongue!

~Michael~

KibblesNbitz · May 30, 2010

Heh, it'll have to wait until tommorow when I can get more light for a higher shutter speed...which is required to get a good shot along with near perfect timing lol

iflynething · May 30, 2010

I'll be waiting

~Michael~

pbelarge · May 31, 2010

Jeez, that is one ugly looking lizard/snake...:mrgreen:

UUilliam · May 31, 2010

that is amazing!
didn't know such thing existed and I think i may be moving to nikon, that low-light performance! then again it is on a scaled down image...

Sw1tchFX · May 31, 2010

that's a pretty long looking reptile.

KibblesNbitz · Jun 1, 2010

UUilliam said:
that is amazing!
didn't know such thing existed and I think i may be moving to nikon, that low-light performance! then again it is on a scaled down image...

I'm pretty impressed myself. I could post the original image file if you'd like...

Sw1tchFX said:
that's a pretty long looking reptile.

He is pretty big, 2 feet to be exact :mrgreen:

So I finally got some shots of his blue tongue and just some shots I thought came out pretty good in general. Keep in mind he was in his tank so thee may be some glare and reduced quality from the thick glass. Had to take about 120 shots in continuous mode to get that tongue. Most of the pics are at ISO 1600 again due to not wanting to use a flash at the risk of creating more glare....

I caught him in a yawn!

You would'nt think it from looking at the pictures, but theyre quite peaceful animals. Very docile. His diet consists of about 60% meat and 40% fruits and vegetables. For example if I eat chicken for dinner, I'll give him the leftover scraps and he'll gladly eat steak as well. They dont really chew very much, just kind of swallow like a snake. His favorite fruits and vegetables are grapes, banana, blueberries ( not responsible for his tongue, its that way naturally), watermelon, etc. His all time favorite food is cat food and he goes crazy over eggs :lmao: He likes to lick the yoke...

Theyre natural burrowers, in that they like to burrow underneath things. Thats why his head is shaped the way it is. They also have a small "sensor" of sorts on the top of their head, that kind of detects light and helps them with orientation while burying themselves. In the wild, you'd find them buried underneath piles of leaves, bark, etc. Also, the reason they have a blue tongue is that when they feel threatened, they open their mouth really wide, like in the first picture, and wave their tongue back and forth to make predators think they're poisonous, even though they're really not