Corucia zebrata

Tigergenesis · 12-05-04, 09:33 AM

Well here is my latest and final ( I seriously mean it this time ) herp. It's a 3 month old Monkey Tail Skink (aka Prehensile Tail Skink or Solomon Island Skink). Haven't come up with a name yet. An awesome lizard!
S/he is still small so the cage is temporary and I'm still adding to it. I'm having a custom cage built (3x2x4 or 4x2x4) to move him/her into in the next few months.

"Hey, what's on the other side of this log?"

lostwithin · 12-05-04, 10:50 AM

Beautiful animal, I love monkey tailed skinks, Do you mind if i ask where you picked it up, I have 1.2 of them and plan to pick up a few more in the future. 3 months is young, I only Know of a couple people that breed them in Canada. I would love to find out there is another.

At 3 months the little thing probably will be quite open to replacing the mother figure in its life, you should be sure to handle the little guy/girl allot. They are really very social animals.

Devon

Tigergenesis · 12-05-04, 11:16 AM

I got her here in the states. The guy I got her from still has her mother and twin sibling. The mother was an import in 2000. He actually bought the trio from the actual breeder (but I can't recall their name at the moment). I'm slowly beginning to handle her more often each day (wanted to let her settle in a bit). My only concern w/ getting another right now is that I don't know the gender of my little one and don't want to end up with 2 males and any problems that might cause. I'm considering buying the mother (as he is keeping her twin), but then I'm concerned if my little one ends up a male that I'd have a breeding pair consisting of a mom and son - or is this a problem? I know with snakes it's generally not.

lostwithin · 12-05-04, 11:25 AM

I didn’t even notice you weren’t from Canada sorry about that. As for mother son pairing I always avoid it , even with snakes, and you wouldn’t want to keep 2 males together as they become highly territorial. My 1.2 are LTC, they haven’t breed for me as of yet, but these things take time. Watch out not to get bit, they sure pack one hell of a bite.

Devon

Tigergenesis · 12-05-04, 11:48 AM

When can you determine gender? I've heard they can be popped as early as 3 months. I'm kind of hoping mine is a girl so that I can get her mom as a cagemate. 2 females are okay? do you have any pics of your MTS? I'm having a custom cage built - either 36x24x48 or 48x24x48.

lostwithin · 12-05-04, 01:06 PM

Sure I'll try and post a few pics, I keep my 1.2 together in a tall 6x4x2 cage, that is custom made. I cut down a couple small apple trees trimmed the small branches off and placed them in the cage for climbing. I did have 2 very large pothos plants in it as well, but I missed a feeding and they ate them both. You would have no problem with a mother daughter caging together, in the wild they live in groups.

As for sexing, as far as i know they are very difficult to sex. males develop a wider skull then females, but you would have to see allot of them to be able to tell the difference.

Devon

lostwithin · 12-05-04, 01:36 PM

Here are a few pic’s for you to look over, first this is there cage, (before they ate the pothos plants lol) It also shows the 2 hide boxes screwed into the back, they often share one box and just all pile in together.

Next is the 3 of them eating, "yellow" female still has some shed on her neck and shoulders. The one next to her still half in the tree is my other female. The male is closest to the camera.

Here's a close up to show off the "yellow" females unique coloration she is very high in yellow and blue unlike the other 2 who are the usual dark greens.

And one of the 1.1 normal colored one’s. The bottom one is male top is female. You can see sort of the difference in head width in the male.

And lastly here’s one of the male enjoying a container of moist sphagnum moss. I use containers full when I run short, I prefer keep the entire bottom of the enclosure covered with it.

Let me know what you think.

Devon

reptile boi · 12-05-04, 02:04 PM

Thats an impressive cage devon. What is it made out of? And if you wouldnt mind me asking, how much did it cost ya to build it?

Thanks,
Ben

lostwithin · 12-05-04, 02:28 PM

The cost for it was next to nothing .the sides are doors off the fire equipment units in a hospital. (You know those things in the halls where the water house axe and fire extinguisher are kept) The hospital a guy I know worked at replaced them all and he took the doors. Then it’s just a base build of 2x4’s with a 4’ x 2’ sheet of plexi glass which I happened to have out of another old cage., and a top build out of plywood (painted silver to match the rest).

Devon

Tigergenesis · 12-05-04, 06:51 PM

Thank you very much for your help and the pics. Looks like a happy little MTS group you have there.

lostwithin · 12-06-04, 06:06 PM

They are amazing creatures, feel free to e-mail me if you ever have any questions about them, I would do my best to offer any help I could. My 3 seem to be doing pretty well. I would really suggest keeping a few pothos plants, they are the main food source of wild populations, there is a toxin that they have evolved to digest. Weather it is necessary for them to have it or not is debatable, but I look at it as they have spent who knows how long evolving with it in their diet so I like to feed it to them.

Devo

Tigergenesis · 12-06-04, 07:35 PM

So it is safe for them to eat it....most info I've read says it is except I did stumble on one site that said it was toxic (but I think they just must have assumed so since I hear it is for other lizards). I've seen mostly Golden Pothos in stores - is this okay? do they just snack on it or will I be replacing them often?

I could use a little advice on the ventilation for my cage I'm having built. Some have said go for an all screen top or have one of the sides or door all screen. Someone else suggested (and I think it might work out better for humidity) to place a smaller vent on one side near the bottom and a larger one on the opposite side near the top - however, if I go with this method I'm at a loss as to what size to make each vent.

I'm also not sure what to do about humidity. I've seen some people install automatic misting systems, some just mist by hand (I'd prefer something more automatic) and some use ultrasonic humidifiers. The humidity in my room is naturally about 30% so I will need all the help I can get to keep it up.

Also, I've seen people build shelves in their cages and I was wondering if they can walk on the smooth surfaces or if something needs to be added to the shelves for traction, etc?

Any info you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Are you familiar with the C/A biometric ratio method of determining gender? Others have mentioned it on Kingsnake.

lostwithin · 12-06-04, 08:40 PM

Hey, as for ventilation I prefer use lots of ventilation with animals, especially lizards as they defecate much more often the snakes do. My cage has a grated panel down one half of the back wall, and a ¼” wire screen section in the top that measures 16” x 24” the I have had no problems with the grate in the back, but occasionally I will find a skink stuck hanging upside down from the top of the cage, they get up but cant get down, they have very pointy claws so the wire screen is a pain to use, and I would say they would rip right through mesh screens. I would suggest a couple good-sized grated panels on the back of the cage. I would use sphagnum moss a couple inches deep as a substrate and keep it moist they will go into it if they feel the need for more humidity, other then that I just mist whenever I’m in the herp room and have 2 water dishes big enough to soak in. By the way they LOVE being misted.

They will have trouble climbing smooth surfaces. My hide boxes have melamine coating and they have trouble moving around on it. I wouldn’t bother with shelves at all just branches.

Pothos is a toxic plants it would cause harm to any other animals, PTS have evolved to eat it, the toxin does not harm them it makes up a large portion of there diet in the wild. They have adapted to eating it. Golden pothos will work fine the “golden” is just the result of selective breeding. Mine were just munching on it a bit until I missed a meal then they ate it all, both the plants in the photo were devoured in a very short time by 2 skinks, and I mean all of it, right down to the dirt. (Which by the way you would have to replace because they might eat it as well when eating down to the roots) Now I only have one plant left which I keep out of the cage and toss a bit into there salads when I’m feeding.

Devon

Tigergenesis · 12-07-04, 04:53 AM

My little one hates to be misted - if I accidentally get a little on her she freaks out (it's a fine mist). She also seems very careful not to fall in the water bowl.

Once again - thank you for all your help.

lostwithin · 12-07-04, 07:44 AM

Really the little one hates it?? Mine all love it, they all just lay there and raise their heads into the spray. Even my more aggressive female tames right down to allow herself to be misted.

Do you mind if I ask what you feed the little guy, ? I am always curious to know what others feed them. Mine have a staple diet consisting of green beans and dandelion greens and then whenever possible I substitute it with pothos, mango, papaya, various melons, or squash. They all have a favorite treat, the male loves bananas, the normal female loved apples, and the yellow female loves strawberries. So I feed these as treats to them. not as part of the regular diet. This helps when they refuse to come out of a hide box, or if they are feeling a bit “territorial” when I need to clean. they are intelligent animals if they smell that I have treats they never lunge or bite at me.

Devon