Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Our laboratory now has a lab mascot -- we are the proud owner of a new fire skink, Dante, who is about 10" long. A few questions:

1. We are planning on a diet of earthworms, mealworms, and crickets (heaviest on the earthworms due to composting). How much to feed per day / week? Not planning on pinkies -- how often to dust with calcium? Will they eat any fruits/vegetables, and if so, what?

2. How communal are they? Should we buy a companion? They seem difficult to sex, but he(?) was in a group of 2-3 other skinks at the store -- would buying another one from the same group tomorrow make sense?

3. Tank setup -- right now he is in a 10 gallon, which might be a bit small -- would like to get a 15 gallon low (same footprint as a regular 20 gallon). He has a large water dish that he can immerse himself in, 3" dampened coconut fibre substrate, and corkbark sunning / hiding spaces. He will be getting a couple of 1" potted plants. He gets natural light but we will be adding a full-spectrum lamp on a twelve hour timer. We are also planning on a hot pad under one end of the tank. Comments? Suggestions?

Other comments welcomed. I had a southern alligator lizard who lived for over 11 years, but this is a new species and a different environment.

Fire skinks are very cool. Forget the meal worms, they're not good nutrition and have lots of chiton. Besides a fire skink that size should be able to handle super worms, no problem. As for dusting if you put mineral supplement in with your earthworm food the earthworms will have plenty of calcium without dusting.

While one is cool two in the same enclosure could be problematic. As you stated they are hard to sex and two males will fight. They're such aggresive feeders that there is a great probability that one could get injured during feeding.

I like and use the coconut fiber and put a layer of sphagnum moss on top. It helps hold the moisture better as they will burrow in the fiber and if not kept at the right moisture content the burrows collapse. Not dangerous but mine returns to her same burrows with regularity. She has one against the front glass that she likes to peek out of and watch the world go by.

If you have to get a larger tank anyway I would recommend a 20L instead of the 15. An adequate sized UTH should be all you need unless you keep your home on the cool side.

They love pinkies.
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Hope this helps.

BigT

Thanks for the quick reply!

The spagauhm moss is a good idea. We were originally planning to get a salamander, and the moss would have affected its skin pH. But since salamanders are out of season, we got a fire skink instead. The top of the coconut fibre is already drying out, so the moss would certainly be less hassle than spraying every day. How deep do you have the coconut fibre for tunneling? He burrowed down for a little bit today, but mostly likes to hang out underneath the cork bark half-tunnel with his head sticking out, so I'm not sure it is deep enough.

Unfortunately, the space for the tank is only 27" wide, which limits the tank size to a normal 20 gallon or low-profile 15 gallon. I got a hot rock instead of an undertank heater for the moment, since I'm not sure I'll keep him in this tank. He feels secure enough to come out and hang out on it, though he likes the edges where the temp is a bit cooler. The full-spectrum light is coming tomorrow, so I guess he has just had a couple of cloudy days.

He's going to get a diet of mostly earthworms... just some crickets and mealworms for variety. The mealworms are from an undersink composting bin, so its high-grade -- the salamanders have been thriving for over a year without supplements. I don't see how to feed the worms additional supplements, so hopefully the table scraps will serve the same purpose. We want him to associate humans = food, so we've been feeding him with feeding tongs -- the mealworms are small so we get more entertainment!

I am tempted to try another one, though. I was watching the tank at the pet store for awhile today. I know it is more likely to be regional differences than sex differences... but the fire skinks with the longer, slenderer snouts were all cozied up together underneath a piece of cork bark, while two other skinks with short, broad snouts were in other parts of the tank. If the former are females and latter are males, then I think Dante is actually a he. I can see how they wouldn't get along at feeding time though -- they are voracious!

Thanks again!

(PS: If I wanted a critter I would feed pinkies to, I would have gotten a snake!).

n/p
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Edward
Carpe diem

PLEASE!!! Get rid of the heat rock. Not only is there a danger of severe burns but often the cases will crack when exposed to moisture creating and electrocution hazard as well.

The coco fiber in my enclosure is about 2.5-3" deep and well moistened. Full spectrum lighting from incandescents will cause a major loss of humidity better to use fluorescents that don't create as much heat.

I thought the same thing when I had my pair together, broad head=male long slender head=female until I saw my female mount my male and he is now gravid.
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Hope this helps.

BigT