Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How do you sex a fire skink?? thnx in advance

I've bred them for 2 years now and can tell you sexing them is very difficult until after they've bred. Once the female has produced a clutch of eggs the base of the tail remains noticably wider compared to males and the females tend to stay more robust. I've seen the colors of both males and females intensify and fade in cycles that seem very random. Once you have a sexually mature animal that is settled into it's cage, the best way to determine it's sex is to introduce another sexually mature fire skink. If your animal is male and you introduce a male, yours will attack the intruder and you can immediately remove him before harm is done. If you introduce a female, he will immediately start courting her (puff himself up a bit, push his nose into her side with jerking motions, and attempt to bite her neck to hold her for copulation). If your animal is a mature female, and you introduce a female, she will attack it as well. If you introduce a male, she will ignore it and wait for him to start courting her. If you have a young animal, and nothing of known sex to try my methods, your guess is as good as anybody elses.
Paul