return to main index

  mobile - desktop
follow us on facebook follow us on twitter follow us on YouTube link to us on LinkedIn
 
Click for 65% off Shipping with Reptiles 2 You
Locate a business by name: click to list your business
search the classifieds. buy an account
events by zip code list an event
Search the forums             Search in:
News & Events: Kingsnake Merch Store . . . . . . . . . .  Kingsnake returns to Tinley . . . . . . . . . .  kingsnake.com joins Monitor Brains! . . . . . . . . . .  Sneak Peek . . . . . . . . . .  Amphibian gut bacteria showing promise in cancer research . . . . . . . . . .  Herp Photo of the Day . . . . . . . . . .  Herp Photo of the Day . . . . . . . . . .  Meet The Baroness - The world's longest snake . . . . . . . . . .  Herp Photo of the Day . . . . . . . . . .  Updates? . . . . . . . . . .  Herp Photo of the Day . . . . . . . . . .  The mechanics behind the viper strike . . . . . . . . . .  Snakes on a Train? . . . . . . . . . .  Tracking the animals in the Florida Everglades - Meet the Croc Docs . . . . . . . . . .  Reintroduction attempts give San Francisco Garter a second chance . . . . . . . . . .  Promoting Reptiles is Our Jam Man . . . . . . . . . .  Origins of Chytrid discovered . . . . . . . . . .  Wisdom Wednesday - The Forums - The water is warm... Come on in! . . . . . . . . . .  Kingsnake.com Past, Present and Future . . . . . . . . . .  IHS Celebrates 50 years . . . . . . . . . .  End of January 2026 . . . . . . . . . .  Fun Fact Friday - Green Tree Monitor . . . . . . . . . .  The Evolution of the Osteoderm discovered . . . . . . . . . .  PACNWRS Expo Jan 2026 . . . . . . . . . .  Diamondback discovered in new Texas county for first time . . . . . . . . . .  Expo Setup . . . . . . . . . .  Reptiles greater than Golden Globes . . . . . . . . . .  Meander Monday . . . . . . . . . .  Update: Release mobile friendly!! . . . . . . . . . .  Reptile Super Show Pomona California . . . . . . . . . .  PACNWRS - Apr. 18-19, 2026 . . . . . . . . . .  Colorado Herp Society Meeting - Apr 18, 2026 . . . . . . . . . .  Chicago Herpetological Society Meeting - Apr 19, 2026 . . . . . . . . . .  Bay Area Herpetological Society Meeting - Apr 24, 2026 . . . . . . . . . .  DFW Herp Society Meeting - April 25, 2026 . . . . . . . . . .  Big Sky Reptile Expo - April 25-26, 2026 . . . . . . . . . .  Greater Cincinnati Herp Society Meeting - May 06, 2026 . . . . . . . . . .  CRE - May 16-17, 2026 . . . . . . . . . .  Colorado Herp Society Meeting - May 16, 2026 . . . . . . . . . .  Chicago Herpetological Society Meeting - May 17, 2026 . . . . . . . . . . 
Click to Visit PACNWRS Expos
full banner - advertise here .50¢/1000 views
Click here for Dragon Serpents
pool banner - $50 year

RE: Fire skinks feeding help

[ Login ] [ User Prefs ] [ Search Forums ] [ Back to Main Page ] [ Back to Skinks ] [ Reply To This Message ]
[ Register to Post ]

Posted by: OliveJewel at Sun Jun 10 18:43:06 2012  [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by OliveJewel ]  
   

Skinks are typically fed about every other day, depending on the size and kind of food being fed.



If you choose to feed your skinks live crickets, you might find it helpful to keep a small cricket tank. Just a small container (old 5-10 gallon tank) filled with a good thick layer of potting soil, and you put in old veggies, garden scraps, cereal, whatever--feed them calcium supplements too for the lizards sake. Old lid with wet paper towels. egg cartons. keep soil moist. you can also use this exact same set-up for super worms and roly-polies/isopods (excellent source of bio-ready calcium).



now you can buy like 40 crickets and dump them into that tank and feed your skinks a few at a time, instead of overwhelming the cage with a cricket dump.



i recommend using surgical forceps (giant tweezers) to feed your skinks their crickets one at a time. that way you know how many they eat and you can keep track of the crickets as well.



However you feed them, dust with calcium with vitamin D for their metabolic health.



And the question of how many to feed? Depends on how hungry they are and how big the crickets are! If you are just releasing the crickets into the cage, start small, just 2-3 crickets per skink. If they eat them all, observe their behavior to see if they are still hungry. Do they run around with searching behavior, tongue flicking and looking around. Or do they go to the basking area and stretch out. If you decide to feed them more, just give 1-2. It's okay if they still seem a little hungry because they will settle down. A meal of five crickets would be a good size meal for a fire skink that is fed every other day.



introducing earthworms into the dirt of their enclosure would be an *excellent* enrichment! Rolie-polies, a.k.a. isopods would also be an excellent organism to introduce into their enclosure. I am assuming that you have a nice thick layer of soil for them to dig in? Earthen potting soil, mixed with coconut fiber.
-----
Lisa Rakestraw

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My skinks:

1.1 Corucia zebrata (Joni and Kid Charlemagne)

0.1 Eumeces schneideri (Mabel)


   

[ Reply To This Message ] [ Subscribe to this Thread ] [ Show Entire Thread ]


<< Previous Message:  Fire skinks feeding help - senorgabe, Tue May 22 20:04:48 2012

Click here for Dragon Serpents Click here to visit Classifieds Click here to visit Classifieds
KINGSNAKE.COM

Enjoy all our content free of charge with a user account that gives you full access to every feature. For added visibility, paid options are available - post in our Classifieds, showcase your business with Banner Ads or a Directory listing, promote reptile events, and more.

Quick Links
Community
Legal & Safety
Support

Register for free ✓ Sign up!

Kingsnake.com ® is a registered trademark © 1997-