Identifing Lizard

[drewlowe]

Hello all,

This morning i got woke up by the phone, it was my mom (all exited, and as a side note my mom didn't used to be "into" herps until ME). Anyway she told me she found a lizard on her doorstep yesturday, she put it in a plastic container and saved it to bring to me. Now normally she wouldn't have caught it and brought it back to me, but the little one is injured and she said when she caught it, it wasn't moving at all. Then she showed up at my door at 10:30 with this little skink (what i think it is ). He/she has several injuries, recently dropped tail and all kinds of little scratches under his/her chin and on top of the body, and his/her right eye is missing. She thought maybe someone ran over it with a lawnmower.

Now the moral delima, do i keep it or let it go??? I do have it set up in a temp cage (pics). With everything wrong with this little one it sure has a strong will for survival. If i take it back to where it was found, i don't know if it would make it long, as i said my mom found it at her doorstep and she lives in a very busy subdivision, and i don't want to release it just anywhere. What would you (personaly) do???

If anyone can help identify it that would be great also. It has to be Missouri native, my mom lives maybe 30 mins from st. louis (if that helps). To me it looks like some type of skink (about 12 inches long), but i'm not positive. Next time i talk to my friend i'm going to have him bring over his Missouri native species bookl, but figured maybe someone from ssnakes might know.

I did hold him/her for a few moments and it seem nice and calm, but it could be very "stressed" at this point.

Here's the pics.

http://ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/1695Skink-redo-1.jpg

http://ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/1695skink-redo-2.jpg

Here's a pic that shows his missing tail, It looks "fresh", but is not bleeding or anything. My mom said that's how he looked when she found him/her.

http://ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/1695skink-redo-3.jpg

Here is his temp. home, "if" i keep it i plan on setting up something more naturalistic, and if fecals come back clean.
http://ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/1695skink-temp-cage-redo.jpg

Thanks for looking and any help,

Jamie

[Leviathan]

It's a skink for sure. In Missouri there are Broadband skinks, Five-lined skinks and Northern Prairie skinks. Do some more research on those three and you should be able to ID it. They all kinda look the same somewhat and I don't remember which is which.

Alecia

[drewlowe]

Thanks Leviathan, After making my post i started searching and i belive it's a broadhead skink (Eumeces laticeps). I did get ahold of my friend and he should have the book to me in a few hours, that should confim what species he/she is.

I read up on them and i switched the light bulb to a higher wattage and added a uvb light 5.0. I doubt he/she eats but i went ahead and got some 1/2 inch crickets that i'm gutloading and will try to feed in a day or two, i do have a couple of mealworms (in a dish) just incase he/she will eat. Good thing the skink ended up on my moms doorstep and not a herp haters. LOL

Still the question in mind is "Should i keep him/her"??? Should i keep him and try to provide the best care i can or should i take him/her out to a woodsy area (no where near houses or anything)???

[Leviathan]

Personally, I would let it go, but that's me. It's up to you if you want to keep it. Oh and I'm pretty sure it's a her, not a him ;)

Alecia

[drewlowe]

Got the book and it's a five lined skink.

[Bartman]

Arnt five lined skins blue with yellow? I could be wrong but i remember, i think rmbolton, posted pcis of a 5 lined skin and it had a blue tail with black body and yellow, maybe they change colors as adults though...poor little guy...id keep him until he gets better, then let him go...

[Leviathan]

Bartman, juveniles are yellow and black with blue tails and yes they change as they grow to an adult :)

Alecia

[K1LOS]

it is definately a five lined skink, that is how the adults look. The juvies are a lot more colourful.

Geoff

[WingedWolf]

A little antibiotic ointment on the wounds would probably be helpful...but the skink would probably be happier if you did let it go. So long as it's healthy, that is.

If the wounds (the tail is nothing, that will grow back) are moderately serious, you should probably hang on to her, at the very least until she's healed. Perhaps a cat got her?

Let her behavior tell you what is best...if she's continually trying to get out, release would be more humane. If she settles in, eats, and seems content, keeping her would be reasonable.

[concept3]

the chances of a one eyed animal surviving are so minimal. put a cricket on the floor and cover one of your eyes then try to catch it. I would personally raise it to health than let it go to give it a bit of a chance or if its really bad....... i think you could geuss. i would personaly keep it

[Slannesh]

Gonna have to agree with concept.

Depth perception is necessary for visual hunters. A one eyed skink won't last long in 'the wild' i'm afraid.

[sketchy4]

id say fived lined skink

[drewlowe]

Everytime i try and post this it won't go through so i'll give it another shot.

This precious little girl passed away a few days after my mom brought her over. I took her out to check on her and give her some water (i noticed she wasn't drinking). At that time she threw up on me. So i placed her back in the cage and within 30mins. she was gone. It's only speculation but i believe she may have had some internal damage. Shortly after she passed on she had blood filling up her mouth and starting to come out.

She is now buried in the back yard near my baby Loki.

Jamie

[V.hb]

Sounds like it was attacked. From your photos the lizard appears to have dropped its tail in defence much like geckos. Probably got attacked and suffered internal damage, then dropped the tail to get away. Natures way i guess.

[Slannesh]

That's too bad Drewlowe. Your heart was in the right place but sometimes nature has other ideas I suppose.

Still, kudos for at least trying to save the poor little guy.

[M_surinamensis]

Couple points here...

First off, just to conjecture as to the cause and nature of the wounds and resulting partially healed scar tissue... Most North American skinks will happily beat the living crap out of one another and the result is generally a fairly widely scattered series of small cuts, gashes and abrasions, like those pictured. While there are a few species that look similar and Broad Headed are easy to sex as adults, the others are far less so... the guess that it was female seemed to be based off the assumtion that it was a broad headed and may or may not be accurate. Even if it were female, male skinks (like many other animals) are pretty much serial rapists when it comes to their interactions with females and can frequently chew 'em up pretty bad. Males and other males... they simply fight until one is dead or runs away. Even females can be a bit territorial with one another, although not quite as blatantly most the time.

That is to say... It could have been a cat, I doubt it was a lawnmower but it was probably another skink.

As to the depth perception and it's impact on the sucess of this species in catching food... Take a look at the placement of the eyes on the head. The area where the visual fields overlap is minescule and wouldn't start for several inches forward of the nose/mouth, meaning anything close enough to be eaten can only be seen by one eye at a time, or even neither eye by the time they're ontop of the prey item. Having only one eye might mean a missed insect now and then if it's on the blind side but it's not the life or death issue it was represented as being earlier in this thred.

Moot point now, but it might come up again. Maybe. I suppose. Sometime. Eh.