Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi
I am interested in keeping a pair odf ocellated skinks .

My plan is a standard 30 gallon long tank which is 36 inches long and 12 5/8 inches wide with mixed soil ,sand substrate .

Few pieces of mopani wood here and there and small water bowl.

Hot spot of 100- 110 degrees on one side of tank .

Anyone have any input ,suggestions ?

I would love if they bred but not sure if winter cooling is needed and not sure if M/F would do okay together all year long?.

Thank you

Rita

Sounds good. I have never kept them, so I don't have personal knowledge. But skinks tend to be pretty hardy. What is your substrate? I have kept Schneider's skinks in that size cage, but I prefer the deeper floor plan of the Vision cage. (deeper in width). I find that the depth allows for more gradients. Downside to the Visions is trying to keep sand out of the sliding glass door area.

I would imagine that winter cooling would be an important part of getting your skinks ready to breed. I keep my M/F pairs together all year.
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Lisa Rakestraw
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My skinks:
1.1.1 Corucia zebrata (Berman and Joni, baby Charlemagne)
2.2.2 Eumeces schneideri (Jack and Mabel; Kaa and Cochisa their babies)
2.3.9 Egernia striolata

Hubby's snakes:
1.0 Bogertophis subocularis (Humphrey)
0.1 Lampropeltis alterna (Sandy)

I love ocellated skinks! In fact, a baby ocellated skink was my very first real reptile pet (behind box turtles I found and kept overnight in a cardboard box.) The cage will do just fine for a pair. Make sure the substrate is a few inches deep because they are a "sand swimming" species. Breeding is really quite straight forward from what I understand, a slight cool down period for approximately 6-8 weeks. They give birth to anywhere from 2-5 babies at a time.

Good luck!

I apologize for not replying sooner but as usual forgot to check the notify of reply box.

Oh I imagine if you found one you live in Mediterranean
.
There are ocellated skinks found here in a few sandy ,bush areas which border beach but impossible to catch but some dealers know how to catch them.

I live in knight anole,iguana area lol aka S.Florida.

They are very pretty and eating machines which is nice. I have 2 young one's and so far so good hope they are a pair.

They have 4 inches of substrate sand/top soil mix . They do bask but slightest noise they hide but I do see them often and again hope a pair that will breed.

I apologize for not replying sooner but as usual forgot to check the notify of reply box.

I have 2 now and hope they are a pair but still to young to tell but no fighting which might be a sign.
If they fight I will section off the enclosure but a pair is my goal.

I am suprised you would use vision cages as yes the sand getting in door slide is a pain and would think hard to light from above?

I have a low barrier up against the doors to reduce sand being kicked in, but i still have to get out the vacuum every so often to clear out the tracks. Also, the visions have the light wells for basking and uv, which work fine. Good luck!
-----
Lisa Rakestraw
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My skinks:
1.1.1 Corucia zebrata (Berman and Joni, baby Charlemagne)
2.2.2 Eumeces schneideri (Jack and Mabel; Kaa and Cochisa their babies)
0.0.4 Egernia striolata

Hubby's snakes:
1.0 Bogertophis subocularis (Humphrey)
0.1 Lampropeltis alterna (Sandy)

Oh that's right that some visions have light areas.
I have only sen the smaller models with no light areas so forgot that.

They do hold heat very nicely.

I imagine at night you just shut the lights off go down to room temp?

I have been doing that and seems they like night time temp drop

Yes, the lights are on a timer. Right now they get 10 hours of heat light and only about four hours of UV (mid-day). It seems like the UV can be harsh on their eyes if it is on all the time.

Yes, room temp at night in the warm months. In the cool months I leave the window open to cool it down further.
-----
Lisa Rakestraw
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My skinks:
1.1.1 Corucia zebrata (Berman and Joni, baby Charlemagne)
2.2.2 Eumeces schneideri (Jack and Mabel; Kaa and Cochisa their babies)
0.0.4 Egernia striolata

Hubby's snakes:
1.0 Bogertophis subocularis (Humphrey)
0.1 Lampropeltis alterna (Sandy)

Yes I read about the Spiral UV bulb being harsh if on for to long but bearded dragon keepers seem to disagree.

Thanks for the info