fire skinks...

[Nicky]

i'm soon hoping to get a fire skink but have no idea of there price range does anyone know? also i have a spare 40 gal tank would that be large enough for the fire skink when its full grown? and does anyone know what the set up should be for it like forest like or more of a desert and how hot it should be and so on i;ve been trying to get info but so far i've found it very hard because most books on skinks don't provde much info on them and does anyone know there temperment? any info would be greatly apprecaited thx
nicky:)

[LISA127]

a 40 gallon is plenty big enough. more than enough room. i think part of their substrate is supposed to be moist. i know there is an article on them in one of my magazines. im just not sure if it was reptiles or the old reptile and amphibian. ill look for it and post what magazine and what issue here when i find it.

[Nicky]

thx i've been having so much trouble finding info:)

[Stockwell]

Yes, I have bred this species. They require moist quarters, and good lighting. They are quarrelsome and can only be kept as sexual pairs, like most skinks.
If you end up with two males, they will usually fight until one loses a tail or has a broken leg...eventually you'll only have one male.
Soil and peat moss make a good substrate, and they like to dig.
Use bark instead of rocks. Rocks can easily crush skinks if they shift and fall.
They eat almost any animal material. Insects of all type and also pinky mice. They have large appetites.
They love Fancy Feast beet and liver. Mine got that as a staple and they do well on it.
And yes a 40 is plenty of room for a pair. Some people find they can keep two females with a male, but I found females too will fight..Best kept as pairs only in my opinion, especially once they are sexually mature.
This is a hard species to sex, there are no bulges and no pores... Males generally have slightly wider heads and brighter color, but this wont be evident until maturity.
They lay clutches of 2 to 6 eggs which resemble Leo eggs.
They can be incubated in the same fashion as all parchment shell eggs..Moist vermiculite, bake slowly for 60 days at 82F

[Wuntu Menny]

What he said..

I found that leaving the eggs in the cage too long is more temptation than my male can handle. He consumed an entire clutch not long ago! I've since removed the female to a separate enclosure when she's about to lay.

I wasn't to concerned about removing that clutch as the previous one had hatched in the cage without my knowing it had ever been laid.

Learning as I go,

WM

[ohh_kristina]

I have been thinking of getting one or two of these skinks. Do they do well alone?

[Nicky]

thx for all the info everyone:):)

[Nicky]

by the way who did u buy your skinks off anyway and would they ship them to ontario? thx again

[Wuntu Menny]

I ordered mine through a (gulp) local Super Mega Monster Pet Store with the intention of breeding them. They weren't even removed from their shipping containers before pickup. After seeing a pic of the hatchlings, I knew I had to get to know them better.

WM

[Wuntu Menny]

Like I said, you see the neos and you have to learn more!

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/152hatchling_riopa_____profile-med.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/152hatchling_riopa__dorsal-med.jpg

WM

[lynsey_togofire]

everyone said it great! i had one of these little guys. mine was about 8 inches. 40 gallon tank is a great size for a couple of them, yet they do well on their own too. they burrow constantly and watching them chase crickets is histerical. the basking temp should be between 90 - 95 degrees and the humidity should be between 80 - 85 percent. they are very tame gentle little creatures and i hope you enjoy it as much as i enjoyed mine. have fun!

lynsey :)