Reptile & Amphibian Forums

In general, is there a certain amount of time that is long enough or is it really species specific? I am wondering if 6-8 weeks is long enough or is longer better. For Eumeces schneideri and Egernia striolata.

I am wondering if it is like plants. As long as you cool them down to a certain temp it will trip those hormones to kick into gear once you start warming them up again. Or is the daylength changing critical too. I'm thinking that it must be species specific. Schneider's skinks are so dang tough to breed, I want to crack the code!
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Lisa Rakestraw
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My skinks:
1.1 Corucia zebrata (Berman and Joni)
2.3 Egernia striolata
2.2 Eumeces schneideri (Jack and Mabel; Kaa and Cochisa)

Hubby's snakes of the Southwest:
0.1 Lichanura orcutti (Rosie)
0.1 Lampropeltis pyromelana (Little Red)
0.1 Pituophis catenifer (Jennifer)
1.1 Bogertophis subocularis (Humphrey and Olive)
0.1 Lampropeltis alterna (Sandy)

When in doubt, follow the herp's natural environment to a "T". If you spend a while on google, you'll find that the US military has a website with the daylight and moonlight hours of any coordinate on the planet. Really cool stuff! While I don't have any proof to support this, I have a sneaky suspision that the light cycle has a lot to do with the breeding success in many herps. As far as cooling goes, I agree that it is probably species specific, or at least family specific. While the low temperature achieved is probably all that is necessary for a short period of time, while they are dormant, it's not difficult to keep them cool for longer. What happens in the wild with these guys? One important thing, that at least has been documented in some tortoises, is that both sexes should be cycled the same so they reach sexual activity peaks at the same time. It seems obvious, but I've heard of some people warming the females first, then the males later or vice versa.

I hope this helps, but I"m by no means an expert on skink breeding.

Ian

Thank you for the response! I think you are right. I am going to make a chart of the yearly weather patterns and daylight for Mediterranean Egypt (where Eumeces schneideri is from). I may not have gotten it perfect this year, but there's always next year. Ideally I'd have a cooler where I could incrementally cool the animals over the winter.

I have been keeping herps for 15 years but only actively focusing on breeding for the last four and the more I learn the more I realize how challenging reptile keeping can be!!! I keep thinking, why couldn't I have chosen birds or mammals or invertebrates for a hobby?
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Lisa Rakestraw
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My skinks:
1.1 Corucia zebrata (Berman and Joni)
2.3 Egernia striolata
2.2 Eumeces schneideri (Jack and Mabel; Kaa and Cochisa)

Hubby's snakes of the Southwest:
0.1 Lichanura orcutti (Rosie)
0.1 Lampropeltis pyromelana (Little Red)
0.1 Pituophis catenifer (Jennifer)
1.1 Bogertophis subocularis (Humphrey and Olive)
0.1 Lampropeltis alterna (Sandy)