LOTS of pictures of my fire skink

[VampyricAngelX]

Cleaned out my fire skink's tank today and got ALOT of pics.

 

[JordanAng420]

He's beautiful! They look like such fun pets. :smitten:

 

[VampyricAngelX]

Well maybe not as fun as my geckos, I can't really handle him yet (maybe someday I'll be able to) but I love him like crazy anyway :sweetheart:

 

[malt_geckos]

He's so handsome! Looks like a handful though. He has that proud look on his face. lol.

 

[Musicanimal]

Mine is still a youngin, around a year MAYBE. When I first got him I had no problems handling him, but it seems he's liking it less, or I've fallen off the wagon with holding him as the other day he chomped on my skin between my thumb/finger. Didn't leave a mark but it gets your heart beating! So yeh, the leos are a little more fun still, tho these guys are amazing to look at.

 

[VampyricAngelX]

Thanks for the comment. My guy doesn't freak out when he sees me now, he knows I give him yummy bugs XD Plus I can usually bring him up out of the dirt by tapping a worm on the area above where he's hiding. Its become his dinner bell of sorts.

I've been able to stroke his back near his tail while feeding him, he's busy munching on a worm or cricket and will just kind of stare at me. But I'm fine with not being able to hold him. He's just a little annoying to move when its time to clean the tank. My leos (well my Dante mainly) are my cuddly reptiles and Agni just sits and looks pretty ^_^

 

[thestack510]

Your Skink looks great. Nice pics.

 

[gitrdone0420]

So cute! I love skinks =]

 

[reptinut]

Nice! You've got to love those critters! I'd get some myself but i dont know much about there care...care to give me some tips?

 

[VampyricAngelX]

Sure. I actually find him pretty easy to care for. First off, here's a list of care sheets I used when I started researching them:

• http://www.the-lizard-lounge.com/content/species/fire-skink.asp
• http://www.reptileallsorts.com/fireskink-cs.htm
• http://www.herpcenter.com/fire-skink-caresheet.html
• http://www.repticzone.com/caresheets/1415.html
• http://www.reptileuv.com/reptile-caresheets/fire-skink.php
• http://www.jackspets.com/pet_tips/reptilehints/FIRE SKINK.htm
• http://www.geocities.com/pinktonguedskink/fireskink.htm
• http://www.herphobbyshop.com/fireskink.html

I used those to plan my set up. I have a 30 gallon long tank with 3-4 inches of eco earth (I use the condensed bricks from Zoo Med and use two at a time, though I might be experimenting with other mixes soon to see which holds humidity the best). The water dish I use is the Groovy Jacuzzi from Flukers, the X-Large size. I read they like to soak but haven't seen mine in there yet. I do like how it sits down in the substrate though, and he likes to make burrows around it. I have a bark bend on the side I keep the lighting on for something to hide under and climb on.

The bulbs I use are a 50 watt heat bulb (which hasn't been used much this summer) and 5.0 UVB bulb. They're in a combo light fixture from Zoo Med and I have it plugged into a timed power strip. The UVB bulb is currently running from 9 AM to 9 PM. Then of course I have a temp. guage and a humidity guage. The temp. during the day is around 80-85F and stays in the mid 70s at night. I mist his cage about two times a day and try to keep the ground humidity between 70-80%. I also mist the sides of the tank when I see him up because he likes to lick at that for water (only seen him drink from the bowl once).

Feeding him is pretty easy, now that he doesn't hide when he sees me. He'll eat superworms, crickets, red wigglers (though he doesn't care for them and I haven't gotten them since I ran out), and mealworms in any stage. First started feeding him the red wigglers, as I was told he'd only eat those. Learned he would eat crickets and put 5-6 of those every other day in for him to snap up. As he learned that the tongs and me being near the tank equals food I started feeding him 3-4 supers every other day. Would mix those with mealworms sometimes, and he'd even take some extra pupae/beetles from my breeding colony. Now I tend to feed him every 3 days, since he's gotten a bit pudgy. He has slimmed down some with that schedule.

For supplements, I just use the Rep Cal calcium I use for my leos and dust his meals once a week. I use the Rep Cal vitamin supplement once a month.

So far he's been doing great. I'm surprised at how active he is since I'm pretty sure he was wild caught. He can still be a bit timid and does not like to be touched (have stroked his sides and near his tail when he's in the middle of munching on superworms sometimes) and I still have to coax him into a plastic bin during his once a month tank cleanings but overall he's a great lizard. Very fun to watch when he tunnels around and pops up with dirt on top of his head lol Hope the links and all help ^_^ Also, my complete picture gallary of him and his tank is here, if you want to look around. The moss in the tank pictures is no longer being used though - it was just extra moss I had at the time.

 

[Gecko]

I taught mine to come to the surface with a bell actually. Don't know if they could actually here it or it was the vibrations, etc.

Mine also would take some fruit mashed up to mush occationally. Mango was a favorite as was squeezed grape juice.

 

[VampyricAngelX]

It's probably the vibrations, but who knows. It is a bit funny when they pop up with the "omg food!" expression.

I've tried giving mine banana flavored baby food (read they might like it somewhere), the 100% fruit kind, but he didn't care for it. I should try mashing up other fruits to see if he'll eat some.