Skinks as Pets

Skinks are one of the most fascinating and widespread of all kinds of lizards. Their family – the Scincidae – comprises some 1,200 species, which makes theirs the largest of all the lizard families in the world.

A Fascinating Family

Although most skinks are a fairly typical lizard-shape, with a combined head and body length of 5 or 6 inches (12-15cm), some members of the clan are much larger while others have developed very different-looking bodies. The Shingle-Back Skink (Tiliqua rugosus), for example – also known in its native Australia as the stump-tailed, or two-headed skink – has a heavy, robust body, with strongly keeled scales making it look for all the world like an animated collection of pinecones. There is also a strong tendency amongst the skinks for their legs to become reduced in size and in some cases, such as Typhlosaurus species, to have none at all – which can sometimes lead to them being thought of as snakes on quick inspection.

Good Pets

Although they are not seen on sale quite as often as many other types of lizards, many of them make very good pets and are probably better suited to most keepers than the more commonly encountered iguanas, monitors and large agamas. Some of the best to keep include:

• The Blue-Tongued Skink ( Tiliqua scincoides and its relatives) – a large and impressive lizard growing to 20 inches (50cm) and living for 20 years or more.
• The Berber Skink (Eumeces schneideri) – another long-lived reptile, growing to around 16 inches (40cm) as an adult.
• Mabuya Skinks – including M. margaritifer, the East African Rainbow Skink, the Red Sided Skink (M. perroteti), also from Africa, the Five Lined Skink (M. quinquetaeniata) from the US and the Sun Skink (M. macularia) from Asia.
• The Sand- Fish (Scincus scincus) – an eight inch (20cm) lizard so well adapted to life in its North African desert home that it can literally swim through sand. It’s a surprisingly easy species to keep and does well in captivity.

Housing Skinks

The type of tank needed to house your skink will depend on the individual species, since some kinds are very active, others climb well, many burrow and some are best described as more sedentary in their habits. With such a varied group, it’s important to do a bit of research before you purchase your pet, to make sure you know what kind of life it lives and then purchase the right sort of tank to suit.

For most of the heavy bodied ground dwellers, such as the Blue-Tongues and Shingle-Backs, this inevitably means that the floor area is more important than the height of the tank. However, you still need to make sure that there’s sufficient room to fit the necessary heating and lighting equipment – and enough space to ensure that animals and electricals don’t come into contact with each other!

Most of these animals will require a general background temperature of around 77-86F (25-30C), falling to 70F (21C) at night and with a daytime basking hot spot of 90F (32C) or more. A suitable source of UVB light will also be necessary to keep your skinks healthy. Individual species may have different requirements, so again it’s important to find out their needs ahead of time and plan accordingly.

The choice of flooring material also depends on the species you’re intending to keep; desert dwellers need sandy or rocky ground, while skinks which normally live in forests will appreciate something to mimic their natural home, such as bark chippings, sphagnum or even sterile compost. If you have chosen any of the tree-dwelling species, then you’ll obviously need to include suitable climbing branches in the set-up too – and all skinks appreciate a good supply of hiding places. A supply of fresh water is also a must.

Feeding Skinks

Most of the skink family can be offered fairly typical lizard food – crickets, locusts, earthworms, garden bugs and thawed pinkies – depending on their size, though some species, most notably the Blue-Tongued Skink and its near relatives, are omnivores, with a slight bias towards plant material. For them, the addition of a good variety of leafy salad greens, fruit and other vegetable matter will be ideal – the key to keeping them in good condition being variety, so avoid over reliance on any one particular kind of food. Using suitable mineral and vitamin supplements will also help your animals stay in the best of health

Skinks are long-lived, playful and easily tamed, which makes them ideal exotic pets, especially for lizard enthusiast children – with appropriate supervision, of course. It’s a shame that they aren’t more commonly available – but if you do once keep a skink, you’re likely to be a fan of this fascinating group of reptiles for life!