Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,

I am new to this forum.. I run a reptile rescue in upstate NY and got 2 Schnider Skinks in. Both real bad shape when they came in. One died, real sad, but the other one is doing great and is almost 100% healed. Since working with these two, I have grown attached to the personality of the one that made it. Totaly puupy. Loves to be handled, will only eat if I hand feed him. The more I read about these great little lizards, the more I plan to do some breeding of them since most are CB.. I can sex most lizzys and all snakes, but not sure how to sex this lttle guy to find a mate for him or her.

Also can't wait till the gash on its back is 100% healed and I can put this little one in a sand base. He has been tearing up the newspaper, funny to watch..

I would appreciate any help with how to sex these lizzys..

Thanks
Steve

Hi Steve
Welcome to the forum. I have a Blue Tongue Skink myself, but there are others here who have Schneiders and will hopefully be able to help you - I think Deke for one.
Great picture, by the way - you have done a wonderful job healing her/ him!
Susan

Hello Susan,

Thanks for the welcome and kind words.. I have been checking out BTS myself as of late.. There is one local I have been thinking about, its 21 inches they want $130.. So I am thinking..

The pic I posted above is 2 weeks and one shed after I got the little guy.. Here is a pic of what he looked like when he came in.. See that gash. It goes right to his spine.. Poor guy.. But happy now..

Steve

Here he/she is getting a treat the other night.. The only food so far he/she doesn't like is crix.. Will take most worms I offer, if I hold it for him/her..

Steve

G'day Steve! In the words of the Great Susan - Welcome! That is one nasty gash dude! Any idea how it happened? As With Sue - I'm a BTS keeper - so i can't help out with your Schnieder but You seem to be doing well with this one. NEW SAVORY!!! Dang - sounds yummy - I'm gonna go get me some right now! Gotta bail!

Good luck mate!

Luke.

Hey Luke,

Thanks for the welcome.

Since the two S. Skinks I got in came from the general pet trade, it really isn't 100% possitive where the wound came from. My best guess is it is a pressure gash from a net, maybe a net that was used to catch him from the wild or some type of trap that caught him. They came from PetCo. I was called by the manager who just got them in and was real worried about them. The one that died 4 days into his care had a different problem. Some dype of deep wire burn. After removing the dead tissue of that poor one, it exposed not only its spine and ribs, but also internal organs on the belly. I treated him with some antibiotics, but the damage was too deep and the secondary infection from the burn was too extensive. So my plan with the S. Skinks is to do some breeding to put some more CB ones in the market in hopes to ease the capture of WC ones..

Steve

Hi, Steve:
We need many more people out there who are willing to put aside their convenience or economic gain for the sake of furthering the captive breeding of animals, whatever they may be.
I applaud your efforts with these two Schneider's and I wish you best of luck breeding them. If you decide to get a blue-tongue, I will gladly help you set him up properly.
Keep up the good work!
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Edward
Carpe diem

Hey Edward,

Thanks for the nice words.. I will be the first to admit I am still collecting data on Skinks. My main line has always been snakes, BCC and BCI boas mainly, plus BP's, Rat snakes, a few venomos ones, etc.. But I have dealt with a few types of lizzys, and the skinks have perked my interest. They have the funniest personalities..LOL.. The more I have read on the Schinder skink, the more I keep reading that 99% of the available ones are WC.. That is sad for so many reasons.. My guess it that most folks will not take the needed to time to introduce CB ones because the S. Skinks are not BIG reptiles. Well if all goes as planned, I will have atleast 4 breeding groups of these little guys going by years end.. I will hopefully be able to put some new data out there that will let others do some breeding of these guys.. Time will tell.. I will also be sure to post if I end up with a set of BTS.. Any help is always appreciated..

Thanks
Steve

We need these same kind of breeding projects for Fire Skinks. I think these skinks are equally beautiful and fun to keep, though, I have yet to keep any since I'm waiting for CB ones to become more readily available.

Yey! My first reccomendation! Thanks! Anywho, from the picture, and my experience with them. It looks to be male. The wounds look as though they were caused by another male, possibly a former resident of the vivarium. As the males are very territorial, they will often chase each other, taking bites at the tail and sides. If you could post pictures of both skinks from above, this would be great. The males are usually slender looking, with the longer head. The females have quite a broad body shape and shorter head. Therefore, headshots would also be useful. If you can get these, i can hopefully do a better job.

This is the female from above. Note the body shape and smaller head

Hi Deke

Thanks for the info. When this one first came in it was though to be a possible fight wound, but after removing the infected skin and the gash itself, it is some type of pressure cut, believed to be by a nylon net of some kind, maybe the way it was captured.. The cut completly wrapped the top and both sides of his body in a very straight across gash. The sad part was the gash only stopped because of hitting the spine. This one looks like it will make a 100% recovery which is good news.. Here are a couple of fast snap shots of the head.. not my best work, but I can get better ones later today when things settle down. This little gu/girl is just crazy active today, didn't want to stay still for even a min.. Had him/her out earlier, only wanted to run in circles when it made its way to the top of my head..LOL

So the only way to sex these guys is by visual? No femoural pores or probing like I do with my snakes?

Thanks for the info..
Steve

Here is the second shot of the head..

Steve

Schneiders, like a lot of skinks, lack in femoral pores, and such is with most lizards, probing is not advised. It often damages mal reproductive systems, and you may not get an answer from it. A lot to lose and little to gain. I'll try and post a couple more pictures of my pair and the other male i have. from the looks of it, yours is a male, but the above shots will definetly help a lot!

If you manage to obtain a Schneider of opposite sex to the one you currently have, then breeding, although very hard (and rarely acheived) in captivity, it is always worth trying. I tried this year, but i believe they weren't hibernated at the shop (understandable, as they don't want to sell stock that could become pregnant to an inexperienced keeper)
so this year, i'm gonna try my best. They are both healthy specimens. I may also try and locate a mate for my new male (he was a rescue from someone who was keeping him with two leopard geckos!! no wonder he doesn't like company)

It was too bad the other one never made it. It hung on for 4 days, but once the extent of the damage was uncovered through cleaning and removing the dead infected skin, I would have had little choice but to put him down anyway.. Atleast his last few days was in a clean tank with very little activity around him..

This shot was done directly after his first cleaning the night he arrived.

Steve

If you do get a BTS, stay away from New Guinea (Indonesian) aka Tiliqua Gigas. These particular BTS are commonly imported and, therefore, are not as healthy as captive-bred skinks. You may see some adults for as low as $75, but please resist the temptation to buy this species. These individuals are usually plagued with health problems and you would just be wasting your money. Make sure you stick with captive-bred, and you'll end up with a good BTS. Northerns are the best, imo, and Irian Jayans are good too, but they are also occasionally imported but no where near as much as New Guinea's.

Hi Rich,

Northern BTS are what I am looking at. The only time I consider WC reptiles is if I will be 100% sure to breed them. But since BTS are abailable CB, I am sure that is the route I will go. With any WC I deal with, the first thing I do is a fecal and treat them for any paracite, protazoa or worm problems.. I am sure the S. Skink I have is WC only because of where it came from. After it heals 100% I will be treating him as needed. I manly deal with snakes, mainly boas. I have several. I wouldn't want to risk any of my collection. So this lizzy will remain in quarenteen till I am 100% sure he is 100% safe..

Thanks for the advise...

Steve

n/p
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Edward
Carpe diem

n/p

Hi Steve!

It's nice to hear that you are seriously interested in breeding these skinks. They surely aren't any fame and fortune lizard to breed! The effort must come from genuine interest and dedication in helping this species. I'm always clad to notice there are more people like that out there.

As for sexing males have bigger jaws, broader head and their body is more straight as females' body is round. Unfortunately sexing based on sexual charasteristics such as those isn't never 100% accurate. Only sure way to tell the sex is when they breed. However from the pictures yours looks like a male as Deke already guessed.

Male and female. Which is which?

Check out my web page on schneiders. I just added a little bit of my breeding experience and I'm going to add more soon.

Sorry, have to include a picture of my newest hatchling. Hatched on 29.6.

Good luck! Keep me posted on your process!

Aino
(aino.tuomola@helsinki.fi)
Aino's Skink Page

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www.helsinki.fi/~tuomola/

Hi Aino,

Thanks for the info.. My guess based on what I have been told, would be the lower one in the pic, on the bottow, darker on.. Female and the male is on picture top.. Right??

That baby hatchling is so cute.. Looks like a gator baby.. Thanks for sharing that pic..

Yeah no purpose to breed this type of lizzy for the money.. They sell for 17.99 at petCo.. I just would like to get more info together for some future breeders and just get some new fresh CB babies out there.. Not sure how much one person can do to ease the imports of these guys. But I will try..

Thanks for the help..
Steve

Steve,

>>My guess based on what I have been told, would be the lower one in the pic, on the bottow, darker on.. Female and the male is on picture top.. Right??

That is correct.

>>Yeah no purpose to breed this type of lizzy for the money.. They sell for 17.99 at petCo.. I just would like to get more info together for some future breeders and just get some new fresh CB babies out there.. Not sure how much one person can do to ease the imports of these guys. But I will try..

There are now 3 breeders that I know of. 5 years back there were none. I'm optimistic about what the situation looks like after 5 years.

Aino
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www.helsinki.fi/~tuomola/

Hi Steve!

It's nice to hear that you are seriously interested in breeding these skinks. They surely aren't any fame and fortune lizard to breed! The effort must come from genuine interest and dedication in helping this species out. I'm always clad to notice there are more people like that out there.

As for sexing males have bigger jaws, broader head and their body is more straight as females' body is rounder. Unfortunately sexing based on sexual charasteristics such as those isn't never 100% accurate. Only sure way to tell the sex is when they breed. However from the pictures yours looks like a male as Deke already guessed.

Male and female. Which is which?

Check out my web page on schneiders. I just added a little bit of my breeding experience and I'm going to add more soon.

Sorry, have to include a picture of my newest hatchling. Hatched on 29.6.

Good luck! Keep me posted on your process!

Aino
(aino.tuomola@helsinki.fi)
Aino's Skink Page

-----
www.helsinki.fi/~tuomola/