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The cucumber and the cantaloupe seemed to do the trick!! Thanks so much for the advice. It seems enticing him worked better than forcing him. He took it on his own after I offered him the first few bits on a popsicle stick. Then he spontaneously walked over to some kale that was nearby and munched on that. What a relief! (I spent so much time shopping for Mo food and coaxing him, last night, that my own family ended up eating frozen dinners...but hey, first things first!)

To answer the earlier question: Previously, the temperature in his enclosure was probably in the low 70's most of the time and the humidity was probably very low to non-existent (I am in Southern California where it is quite dry a lot of the time) - we did not measure it. I now know better and am correcting it.

Some history on Mo: (I know you will all gasp in horror at this) We got him 2 1/2 years ago when a handyman who was doing some work on our house, asked if we wanted an iguana. He said he kept him in his truck, because he liked to hide under the dashboard, and he fed him the tomatoes from his fast food hamburgers - but that he could no longer keep him. (He also told my husband that the "iguana" was a "babe-magnet"!!) We said yes. I don't know how long he had him or where he got him, before we took him.

When we tried to find some information on him, we discovered that he was not an iguana, but rather a prehensile-tailed skink.
We kept him in a glass enclosure, 37" tall x 20" x 20" with a screen on top, and some tall branches, and a heat pad (on the outside of the glass) and one small overhead light. We also let him roam around the house a lot, when we were home, and he had a favorite spot on the couch, under a lamp. Since he seemed to do well, we really didn't think much more about it. I now realize that this was more of a tribute to Mo's hardiness than our care, and that these poor conditions have finally caught up with him, with this current illness. Now that he is getting better, I am eager to improve his habitat. (By the way, what is "hardware cloth"?)

Thanks again for all the help.

LEEWAY CORUCIA RESEARCH CENTER (LCRC)

Good Morning,

Thanks for the background story. It is interesting that the handyman didn't know what he had. If he had purchased her direct, he should have known by the much greater price, he wasn't buying an Iguana.

On the cucumber, Corucia love it and it does have high water content. But that is also a problem if feed exclusively. There is not great nutritional value so it should be supplimented with other foods or supplimented with vitamins and minerals.

Hardware Cloth is somewhat fine, square, metalwire screening. It greatly increases Corucia square footage climbing area and since this a High-Canopy Arboreal species, (STLI-.17 -Schnirel 2003: Trophic Level Analysis of Extinct Scincidae Species: Macroscincus coctei) this is very important.

You will find a greater desire for Corucia to feed, crap, and mate after a humidity spike or a rainshower. If your keeping indoors, routine misting is essential.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,
Brian
LCRC

P.S......

On Enclosures, by my stating "This is very important." I wasn't precluding the possibility of other enclosures. It is just that diminished surface area must be addressed with additional upper plateforms, more hanging vines, branches, etc. Which we have in our enclosures anyway. Our door handles are green patina Prehensile lizard. Most enclosures have a front door some have a top door-although this creates an inconvienience with the hanging vines. They also on castors.
I don't have the means or desire to post pictures but I hope this answers your questions.

If your surrounding area is very dry or cold, You may have to go with somewhat enclosed sides. Either Plexiglass panels over the hardware cloth to put on in worst weather or take off to create proper airflow. Or you may want to go Melamine as long as stagnant air is addressed. Jess is in California as well so you may find her type of set-up the best way to go. Both she and I have been very successful in breeding this species. Since an animal breeding continuously and raising their young harmoniously is the greatest expression of contentment under captive conditions, I leave the choice to you.

Sincerely,
Brian
LCRC

Hi Brian.

Since I'm always looking for more PTS literature to read, I tried to find the journal article you refered to. However, I can't figure out what STLI is. Is this the name of a journal or an organization? If so, what does it stand for? The closest thing I could come up with is that it's the National Park Service abbreviation for the Statue of Liberty. Somehow I don't think that's what you mean! <G>

Also, I'm still trying to hunt down the last articles you kindly referred me to. If you happen to know where they were published, would you mind posting it?

Thanks alot. I don't mean to be such a pain, but I do like to read as much as I can find about these guys.

-Z

Oops. Just now saw what you wrote Friday about why you don't have the complete references for the Tresplod thing.

Ah well, if you do happen to remember....

-Z