Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, I have a baby 5 lined skink that I got at a local petstore; he's already eaten some pinhead crickets, and I have for bedding a coconut fiber/dirt mixture, some fake vegetation to hide under, etc . . . I have an extra uvb 10, should I use that or is the UVB output too high? Would a 5 be more appropriate? I've never owned a skink before, and I've been googling like crazy, but there just isn't a lot out there like I'm used to with beardies and leos and such . . . anywho, hope the picture posts, and ANY tips would be wonderful! Thanks!
Link

try again with pictures . . .

last time lol

another

Hi Shelly, I've got an adult female I've had about a year now and she does well on dusted crickets. I don't use UVB/UVA lights with her though. My set up is pretty much the same as yours except for that. Instead I use a regular incandescent light for the hot spot, which stays between 85-90 degrees. Temps throughout the rest of the tank run from there to about 70 in the cool side. Also, I don't use a UTH. Just overhead heat. Here's a shot of her from last fall.

Quig

Hey, thanks for the response!! Your skink is beautiful . . . so they don't need the UVB? That's good to know . . . thanks again!

I'm not SURE they don't need it, but mine seems to be doing fine without. Although I've often wondered if using it would help retain that blue tail they have as youngsters a bit longer. As they age that fades to brown. Takes a lot of the 'pretty' away.

Quig

Does your stay on branches,surface much?

We have them wild in the area they love the heat but dont bask but I do see them breifly in scatterd sun areas under bushes than they "dive" into the soil. Your correct to heat from above not UTH as they dig to avoid heat its unnatural to use UTH .
I have never seen them bask but during the 2 "cold" months we have every year they go deep underground than come out come warm weather

In the wild I've only seen them bask as you described. In small sunny spots under the shrubbery and ready to dive under something at a moments notice. My set up is such that she can get within 6-8 inches of a 75 watt incandesent and bask for as long as she wants, which is usually for only a few minutes at a time anyways. Just long enough to heat up and go cricket hunting .

Quig

Here's a couple shots of her and the enclosure.

nice set up. Yes they eat than go back under substrate . There is a wild population of them in Malaysia in certain areas probably released pets as import laws are not as tough as America.
They are doing very well eating millipedes and small young baby beetles which I think is their basic diet