Reptile & Amphibian Forums

You know, I always wonder what make good beginner pets. Everyone always seems to think bearded dragons and leopard geckos, but the beardeds get rather large, and everyone and their grandmother has a leopard gecko and it seems that a lot of people want something that's not so common (I work at a pet store, so I hear it every day haha). But I've always found red eye crocodile skinks and crested geckos to be great. They get to a good size, but not too big, they like cooler temperatures, don't need UV (in the cresteds at least), don't need huge cages, have a simple diet, and take handling EXTREMELY well in my experience. What is everyone else's opinion on this? I'd really like some input, so I know whether or not to recommend these two lizards.
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0.0.1 Piebald Ball Python
1.1 Albino Nelson's Milks
0.1 Dumeril's Boa
0.0.1 Albino Corn
0.1 Mex Mex

I don't think a wild caught animal should be anyone's first reptile. Croc skinks are not widely captive bred.
Besides, there's a REASON everyone has leopards. (cresties are going to be the 'next' leopard, so enjoy them before they're popular, I guess)
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Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!

Yea...but we always try to keep the croc skinks in the store at least 2 weeks before selling them. And people just seem to like the personality of the cresteds as opposed to the leopards. I would say half the leopards we get in do even decently with being held, while every crestie has been great. And it feels a little better, because people who buy cresties usually go the extra mile in setting up a larger, more natural setup...one thing that I always try to encourage.
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0.0.1 Piebald Ball Python
1.1 Albino Nelson's Milks
0.1 Dumeril's Boa
0.0.1 Albino Corn
0.1 Mex Mex

I would NOT recommend Croc Skinks. Though they may seem to be docile and easy to care for they are not a good candidate to recommend. Here is why...to my knowledge they have not been bred in captivity (if they have been it does not happen often...I've never seen a CBB Croc Skink). If you recommend these lizards and keep buying them to sell in a pet store as a pet then it will not help out wild populations. I can understand seeing some being sold on here for those that are really trying to breed them and sustain a Captive Bred population of Croc Skinks. I don't understand buying one and not trying to get it to breed.

If you stick to things like Crested Geckos which are commonly bred in captivity to sell in your pet shop time may pass and someone may crack the breeding situations needed for Croc Skinks. Wild caughts would eventually not be sold anymore if breeder get really successful with breeding them and prices will fall allowing for more profit for your store when you recommend a Croc Skink as a great beginner lizard.
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14 Leopard Geckos 5.9.0
2 Tokay Geckos 2.0.0
1 Graybanded Kingsnake 1.0.0 (on vacation in my house)
1 Baird's Rat Snake (Thanks Vadoni!) 1.0.0
1.0 Ambystoma sp. "Axolotl"

Another thing too. I do not mean to offensive just my two cents.

If breeding has yet to occur for Croc Skinks in captivity that would be a sign that there is a flaw in our husbandry techniques. This is something that all owners of Croc Skinks should be working towards so that they are in the optimum environment. They are one of the more demanding species that I've worked with. They tend to die off because they are wild imports and little is known of their needs.

Just wait until more is known about Croc Skinks until you recommend them to your customers. I'm sure a lot of them are parents looking for a pet for their child. Crested Geckos are much cooler than Croc Skinks to me anyway. They tend to be out in view more than Croc Skinks. The Croc Skinks I took care of were rarely seen until evening.
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14 Leopard Geckos 5.9.0
2 Tokay Geckos 2.0.0
1 Graybanded Kingsnake 1.0.0 (on vacation in my house)
1 Baird's Rat Snake (Thanks Vadoni!) 1.0.0
1.0 Ambystoma sp. "Axolotl"

They do relatively well as captives. They do die but they don't have the mortality rate of say, flying dragons or mandarin ratsnakes, as long as a few simple needs are met. The reason there aren't more CBBs is that they only breed in the fall, they only lay 6-8 eggs a year, and the hatch rate for the eggs even under the best circumstances is 30%. So I'm sure you can see why there aren't more CBB's. The husbandry is pretty well known but the breeding process needs some work!

(holding an animal in a store for 2 weeks does not free it of internal parasites and does not make it a good beginner pet. they're nervous little animals and just because they don't bite doesn't mean they like being held.)
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Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!

Who has bred croc skinks? Are there any papers out there with how they are being bred?
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14 Leopard Geckos 5.9.0
2 Tokay Geckos 2.0.0
1 Graybanded Kingsnake 1.0.0 (on vacation in my house)
1 Baird's Rat Snake (Thanks Vadoni!) 1.0.0
1.0 Ambystoma sp. "Axolotl"

We hold them two weeks not at least make sure that they are feeding well and have a sustained health through the time they are here. As far as the skinks, none were sold as a pet for a child. One was a family pet, and two were picked up by collectors. And as for captive breeding, actually two of the three people want to breed them. The family and one collector, to be more specific. I wouldn't mind giving it a shot either lol. I can't remember where I read it, but I recall hearing somewhere that they are year-round breeders. But before I try it, me and the guy I work with have a couple other pairs we need to concentrate on first. They are definitely an upcoming project for us though. So far our Cresteds have mated, now we just have to get the Ford's Rainbow Boas to follow suit haha. Thanks for your help everyone.
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0.0.1 Piebald Ball Python
1.1 Albino Nelson's Milks
0.1 Dumeril's Boa
0.0.1 Albino Corn
0.1 Mex Mex

VMS herpetoculture has a caresheet on the net, that's the only one I've seen. The funny thing is that they said they never had a male and female pair fight. My pair fought and the female ended up dying, go figure. I'm sure I'll end up buying another female before breeding season comes around again.
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Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!