Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have had a Male Fire SKink for 2 yrs now. He lived by himself till about 4 months ago. I added a smaller Fire Skink, was trying to get one comparable in size and a definite female but the store I work in when they were ordered kept coming in small (6 inches) I wasn't going to get the one then but the Reptile specialist ordered another and that too was small and they don't sell well so I took the one home that I thought was a female though so hard to tell. I have no one to probe it to find out. And from what I have read that is not always accurate. She/he has grown a little. At first I had it separate from mine who is 14 1/2 inches and I know is male as for one he goes into breeding color each spring and pretty much can tell from descriptions, for me it is hard to tell on younger ones. Well the little one is maybe 7 inches now. I put them together maybe 2 months ago and all was fine. They don't really hang out together..come out separate times. But this morning they were out together and my older much larger one had his head on it's back end, I thought it odd but thought he was just resting it..then I watched and he followed the little one all over and kept resting his head right above base of tail. He is very strong, very largely built ..larger than any pics I see on the net here. Well he continued to stalk it and at one point pressed it up against the aquarium wall when it was eating a cricket and head on it again and it almost looked like he grabbed it, unsure the cage is tall and he was at least subduing it again with his head, if not using his mouth this time. I got him off of it and the other skink went and burrowed. It sounds aggressive but not having more than one of these am not sure. I thought they only go into breeding condition once after hibernation (he hibernates himself until march) so maybe is a girl and breeding behavior or is a boy and still maybe he is feeling territorial??? I know when they go into breeding they don't get a long with other males. He is really bright again but would not say he has the vermillion blush down his dorsum that he gets in spring. Anyway I am sorry this is so long, looking for an experienced fire skink person to help me. DO I separate them? I often hear they are communal so wondering. Is this just innocent behavior and my older one just being dominant?

Thank you for taking the time to read this!!
Karen

Fire skinks will breed year round if you let them. Hibernation is not necessary. If they are a true pair, the female will be duller than the male and be reddish brown with less black and white spotting along the sides. The male should be a rich, dark red with contrasting black with white spotting along the sides. Grabbing of the female by the neck is typical breeding behaviour, and is normally followed by the male attempting/succeeding in pushing his tail beneath the tail of the female to copulate. After a successful mating is achieved,between 2 and 4 eggs will be laid and buried in the substrate, most often beside or in hides or at the side of rocks, stones etc.The eggs are best removed - when you find them! - and moved to an incubator set at 83/84 degrees F with high humidity. Eggs hatch at around 53 days.
If eggs are laid, you will have to search the sybstrate regularly, I have had females lay 3 or 4 successive clutches with only weeks between them.
If you are successful in hatching baby Fire skinks, you will need to feed them on pin head crickets, wax moth grubs, wingless fruit flies, small worms etc. for them to survive.
N.B. You would be best to keep the sexes seperate until you want to breed them. I have had males kill females when kept together all the time.
N.B. Spray the substrate and wall of their enclosures daily, they require a very moist habitat.
Eric Davies

My big one defintely a male, my smaller one has black but not the white spotting that he has. I don't know if the spotting comes as they mature?? He was pressing his head down on the base of her tail like to restrain her. Not at her neck as they do in mating.

I will separate them. I have heard they are communal, so that is wrong information?

I do mist aquarium a lot. It is bark with eco earth under neath to burrow in and a moss dish that he sleeps in sometimes. I absolutely love him though, my big one, he is very tame. He never bites me and you can actually hold him, he has come a long way since i got him. The little one hates me though, she (if is a girl) I can just look at her and she goes and hides even after a few months. I pick her up but she is always ready to bite although you can pet my big one. I heard too that females are supposed to be more docile than males, have you found this to be true? So far that isn't panning out here.

Well thanks for your advice and information, I appreciate it.

Karen

Most, if not all Fire skinks sold commercially are wild caught, so your 'female' will probably come around before long. Try hand feeding her a couple of pinkies, they love 'em. Goo luck with your breeding attempts. Eric

I agree as a whole the males dont like any other skinks in their tank even females thats the general rule with My male and from my readings.
However some can keep a pair together no problem that wasnt the case with my pair. The male after a few months became mean not mating mean but biting leg,tail head to do harm and they are seperated.
I do know of someone for yrs has pair never problems but I think thats an exception.
At 6 inches I think its impossible to sex them. As adults putting the color aside the head is wider,bigger on a male .

I have a breeding pair, and they seem to get along fine. They are in a 48" x 24" x 24" terrarium, with lots of live plants, logs, rocks, and hide boxes. This way the female can escape from the male if she wants to.

Mark.

Mine did not get a long my male doesnt like any other skinks tho very nice with me but I know some get a long great . I think fires together for long term might be the exception rather than the norm.
I do have a pair of ocellated skinks that have been together for 5 years in a 30 gallon long and get a long great not to mention have had babies .
Fires sadly I have never been able to breed but you and a few others have which considering most are wild caught is great.