Intruder alert!

[Pure]

I went out to get some crickets this morning and guess what I found in one of my cricket tanks.

This guy was pretty big for a native Florida Skink. He was about 7 inches TL. I keep my crickets in old tanks. This was a really really old 50G tall. The hight of this tank is enough to keep the crickets in, so I never put a top on it. Looks like he put a hurtin on my cricket population too.

 

[chams1]

Yikes! What a pleasant surprise..... I guess the poor little guy was hungry!

 

[AJA]

Cool. Are you going to make him wash dishes to pay for the free meal?

 

[Pure]

I caught him with a large fish tank net, then released him. I also pulled the tank away from the wall in an effort to keep him out of there.

I know this guy personally. He's lived in my carport for at least the last 3 yrs. So I don't mind too much that he got his belly full. Maybe, I'll start cup feeding him some Crickets a couple of days a week.

 

[nscar00]

Oh man, do you like skinks though? If you do, this would be more of a pleasant than nasty surprise. Don't you think? VERY pleasant. Then again, it might be the worst thing ever, depending on how you look at it.

 

[laurie]

You know if you start feeding the whole neighborhood it is going to cost mega bucks.

 

[Pure]

Sometimes my heart is bigger than my head. lol

I like skinks just fine. I actually want a blue tongue. But natives do not make good pets. They do not like being handled, and are very nervous creature. And really they just need to be left in the wild.

 

[kinyonga]

It must have thought it was in heaven getting an easy meal like that!

 

[Nicodemayo]

I have a large blue tailed skink that runs loose in my chameleon rooms. I dont see him very often, but he has lived here alittle over 2 months. His name is Bruce. Next time I see him, I will try to get some photos!

 

[jojackson]

But natives do not make good pets. They do not like being handled, and are very nervous creature. And really they just need to be left in the wild.

??? Say what? how does that apply to your native garden skinks but not to chameleons?
Every reptile species ever kept in captivity came from the wild originally.

 

[Pure]

??? Say what? how does that apply to your native garden skinks but not to chameleons?
Every reptile species ever kept in captivity came from the wild originally.

Because, these guys are nervous. Way more so than chams. You could keep one, but he will pretty much stress all the time, and if you keep him properly, in an enclosure full of leaf litter. You will never see him.

I've tried keeping these over the yrs. They just never seem to settle down.

Blue Tongues and Prehensile tails, are not good examples of normal skink behavior. Least not the skinks round my house.

 

[jojackson]

Well if by 'settle down' you mean become as placid about handling as larger skinks, yes, but thats to be expected. Many herps are considered look dont touch.
That dosent imply they any less 'pet quality', its subjective.
What does a keeper get out of keeping fossorial sp.?

I dont agree thats reason to imply that should be 'left in the wild' , atleast no more than any other species, excepting a species, be extremely hard to keep in captivity or rare/endangered.

Many many folk here keep species of small skinks like the one you posted.

Glad your heart is bigger than your head though and you released the little guy unharmed.

 

[Pure]

No, by settle down I mean start eating and drinking and just being ok with their habitat. Most of the ones I tried to keep were released after not eating, before the animal died of starvation. I might not have tried hard enough. I was young. Still 3 weeks with no food is a long time for a little lizard.

I in no way meant that that it's OK to take Chams but not these just because of stress. I meant that they never seem to acclimate..at all.

Some may have had better luck than I. All I can do is speak for myself.

Last time I tried I had been keeping both BTs and Pre tails among many others for over 5 yrs. So failure wasn't because I didn't know how to handle/acclimate herps.