True Fire Skink?

[Sputnik]

I can't believe how long I haven't posted... Darn computer!

Anyway, while I missed you all, our reptile addiction has reached a new level and my son has decided that he urgently requires a lizard! Large enough to handle comfortably but not huuuuuge enough to get mixed up with a dinosaur.

We lookedat green Anolestoday, but though they are lovely, they really don't seem to like being handled. Not too keen on Leopard Geckos, more amazed by Day Geckos, but know nothing of their care.

While researching, I came across a few articles which suggested that Blue Tongued Skinks could be ideal. But then I spotted the True Fire Skinks and my heart skipped a beat! Oooh so beautiful! Does anyone here have any experience with them? Do you think they are easy enough to care for?

[adamanteus]

True Fire Skinks and my heart skipped a beat! Oooh so beautiful! Does anyone here have any experience with them? Do you think they are easy enough to care for?

Lygosoma, right? I've never kept them myself, but I don't think they're paricularly difficult. Stefan's your man on this one, Esther, he's well into skinks!

[ScimitarX]

We have experience with fire skinks, theyre a nice lizard to look at, but they are very nasty and fast. I recommend the berber skink, they are very friendly skinks, that are pretty and fairly active during the day. We love watching our group of 4.

[GarterGuy]

I'll put a vote in for Blue tongues. I've had one for almost 12 yrs. now and he's great. Very intelligent lizard with lots of personallity....always seems to be something going on with him. Really nice and tame as well and does well in a very easy care set up. Nice sized lizard for handling too. Will eat pretty much everything....mine's a garbage can..anything that anyone else won't eat he will. Nice that he doesn't need live insects, so I don't have to go out all the time and get crickets or such. All his food is frozen, I just thaw it out and put it on a plate for him. Every now and then I get him live stuff....just to watch him chase them around...it's a riot. If you're looking for more of a "pet" skink....blue tongues are a really good choice.

Roy

[Ameivaboy]

I have worked with fire skinks (Riopa fernandi). They really dont appreciate being handled but are interesting captives regardless.

Blue tongues are awesome and most species put up with handling a lot better than a fire skink would.

[krystalirelan@southslope.]

we had a blue tongue for 24 hours (long story). anyway he was great and i kinda wish i would have kept him but a friend has him now and he is almost like a lap dog. she sits and watches tv with him at night!

[adamanteus]

I agree, Blue Tongues are great!

[enigma200316]

I agree, Blue Tongues are great!

Thats just because you like the whole blue man thing.....lol:D

no,but really I think there are a lot of great looking Skinks I've just never owned one, I'm not to sure why either:confused: I hear there fairly easy to take care of, unless I've been misinformed.....:eek:

[Thamnophis]

I kept one for a year or so. No problems. Keep one part of the vivarium dry and the othe a bit moist. They have to be abled to dig in the soil to hide.

[enigma200316]

I'm really thinking about possibly getting one in the near future now...:)

[drache]

blue tongues are pretty cool and if i ever get some spare space, they're definitely on my list
I visited the forum at bluetongueskinks.net for a while to learn more about them, as there are several sub-species with different looks and personality traits
I did learn from people there who had both BTSs and beardies that they're more mellow than beardies
I love my beardie
I'd probably love a bt skink as well
they need about the same amount of space, but I understand that the bts are easier to feed
hope that helps

[Sputnik]

The more I read about the BT skink, the more I like them. :) I really want one myself now.
Thank you so much everybody for your wisdom!:D

[Sputnik]

Guess what? I have a beautiful new friend! :D She is an adult BTS and I am besotted. My computer is still sick so pictures will sadly have to wait.

[Snaky]

Congrats with your new pal. :)
Has it shown it's tongue already? Great view when they do that...

[drache]

congrats
where did you get her?
and what kind is she?
can't wait to see . . .

[adamanteus]

Thanks to the wonders of MMS I have already seen a picture of Esthers' new Blue Tongued Skink. Thanks Esther. It is VERY beautiful.

[GarterGuy]

Very cool Esther...welcome to the wonderful world of Bluetongues!:D

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//514/medium/Bane.jpg

[ScimitarX]

Congrats!! Hope you have lots of fun with her:)

[Sputnik]

Everybody, meet my beautiful girl, Tallulah:

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u24/Guillotinerock/tallulah.jpg

She does have a proper tail but the end is hidden in the pictures. I believe she's an Irian Jaya. :)

[Elliot]

Very nice.:)

[adamanteus]

Esther, she really is lovely! What a beautiful face!

[drache]

nice looking BTS
looks pretty mellow as well

[GarterGuy]

Everybody, meet my beautiful girl, Tallulah:

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u24/Guillotinerock/tallulah.jpg

She does have a proper tail but the end is hidden in the pictures. I believe she's an Irian Jaya. :)

Actually looks a lot like my Northern. Too bad you're not closer, she'd make a nice girlfriend for him.....LOL.:cool:

[Sputnik]

Thank you all. :)

Do you think Tallulah is a Northern, too, then? Despite my best intentions of asking 1000s of questions at the reptile shop and getting them all answered, I bought her without the guy being able to answer them all. Ifell in love wit her and would have had to take her whatever. Was a bit od though for the guy not to know more about her. Grrr. I tried identifying her via the pics on the bluetongueskink.net site.

If I lived closer, yes I would certainly get her to meet your treasure! Would be wonderful to breed from her.

[GarterGuy]

Yeh, looks a lot like my big boy Bane....here's a full pic of him.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//514/medium/Bane1.jpg

He's a little lighter, but the pattern pretty much looks the same. If I remember correctly the Irian Jaya has more red to it, but I'm honestly a much better snake person then bluetongue person....LOL.:cool:

[Sputnik]

To be honest, I think his pattern is quite different from Tallulah's, lol.
The lines on her back are more solid and brown. I might be brave and post on the b.t.s. forum, maybe they can shed some light. :)

[Lori P]

Oh wow Rosina, Tallulah is gorgeous!!! (I have a goat named Tallulah!) I bet she's going to be loads of fun!!! Definitely keep sending pics!!!

I have a skink-- he is, I believe, a Schnieder's skink. I rescued him from an aquaintance's kid who was keeping him in a dark closet in one of those little plastic critter carriers, no bedding, no water, no heat... you get the idea. I named him Eddie Lizard. :-) He's SO cool.... he eats pretty much everything you give him (including my fingers if I'm not quick enough, lol) from veggies to fruits to all kinds of feeder insects to pinkies... and since we raise our own meat animals here, I feel comfortable giving him bits of raw beef, chicken or goat (I wouldn't do that if I had to buy meat from the store tho).

He spends most of his time buried in the sand, but when he's out he climbs and explores like crazy. I have him in a 55 gallon tank, and he really uses every bit of it. And he's such a hoot, he watches the dogs thru his tank with a look on his face that says, "As soon as I can figure my way out of this jail you will be my next meal..." LOL I think I'D be his next meal if he could fit more than a finger in his mouth!!!!

Here's a pic... :-)
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/Eddie_eating_001.jpg

[GarterGuy]

Skinks are just so cool! Esther, I'd go ahead and pick some brains on the blue tongue forum. They'd probably have a much better idea about the various subspecies (I think Irian Jaya is a subspecies???) then I would. I love my big head to death, but still just a GarterGuy.;)

[Stefan-A]

Here's a pic... :-)
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/Eddie_eating_001.jpg
Nice boar skull. :D

[Lori P]

LOL!! That is-- er, was-- a male potbelly pig. As you can see, if you look between his eyes, he died if lead poisoning... ok, sorry, that's so bad!! (sheepish) Actually, he had to be put down due to an illness, and I do have a fascination with skulls, so when that happens we have a place we lay them in the woods until nature leaves us with a nice clean skull.

It's really cool to watch Eddie climb all thru it! He rubs on the teeth to help shed.

[Stefan-A]

I've been considering getting a skull like that myself. Too bad most domestic pigs don't get to have tusks.

The most impressive skulls come from pigs and baboons, in my opinion. :)

I've also been looking for an animal with a skull capacity of about 2-2.5 dl, but that's another story. ;)

[Lori P]

I could send one to you but it would probably be quite expensive!!

[Stefan-A]

Thanks, but that's not necessary. :D

[adamanteus]

Stefan, you are one strange guy!:D


I've been considering getting a skull like that myself.

What's wrong with the one you've got?:rolleyes:

[Stefan-A]

Stefan, you are one strange guy!:D
Oh, you have NO idea how strange I am. :D


What's wrong with the one you've got?:rolleyes:
Nothing, but you know two skulls are better than one. ;)

[drache]

we have a place we lay them in the woods until nature leaves us with a nice clean skull.

how long do you have to keep it out to get picked clean?
my mom always boiled the flesh off skulls and it smelled pretty awful

[Lori P]

Rhea, ewwwwww. lol Yeah I couldn't do the boiling. Well, it depends on the time of year but where we live, there is 2000 acres of woods behind our property that is host to all kinds of critters... so usually between the foxes and coyotes and buzzards and other things, it doesn't take more than a few weeks. I just stay away from the area for a couple of months to be sure, lol. Sometimes everything gets dragged off and you loose it. And I only do this with the occasional goat or pig that never had a name (hence food animals)... I couldn't do it with any of the pets or horses, altho I do think it would be cool to have a horse skull. And you can't do it with any animals euthanized by the vet because of the chemicals-- they do have secondary toxicity.

[Stefan-A]

We usually use ants to do the job for us. Just strip away as much of the skin as possible (doesn't hurt to cut away some of the flesh too), wrap it in a "bag" of chicken mesh (protection against scavengers) and just leave it on an ant hill. It takes a few weeks as well, but the ants will really strip it clean. Someone I know uses a chemical made for opening up clogged drains to get it clean. Some people use acids, but I guess most people here probably just boil the flesh off.

[Sputnik]

STOP!!! TOO MUCH INFORMATION!!! What have you done to my lovely thread, lol?

[Lori P]

ROFL--- so sorry Rosina!!!!!!!!! How is your lovely lizard doing today??

:-)

[Sputnik]

Awww, Lori, thanks for asking! She's doing very well, thank you. :) She's making a few huffing noises when I bother her, but she needs time to get used to her new home.

My son twisted my arm today and I allowed him to get a baby bearded dragon from a local reptile shop which is sadly closing down.
"Eragon" is the cutest little thing and I'm sure he'll get introduced in the not too distant future.;)

[Lori P]

Oh I can't wait to see pics of Eragon!! They are SO CUTE!!!

I keep wondering if I could get a companion for my little skink... but not sure if they co-exist peacefully. Need to do more research.

[enigma200316]

you know how we all love pics here,so of course we can't wiat to see...........:)

[Sputnik]

No longer "Eragon" as apparently that isn't the name of the dragon in the book, oops, but still a delightful little creature, temporarily nameless...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/MrsSputnik/bab.jpg

He's six weeks old and looks actually much bigger in the photos than he really is.

[Lori P]

Well he's just cute as a button!! :-)

[Sputnik]

He is indeed. And loves to sit on our hands.


Btw., Lori, I think skinks prefer solitary. I must have read that on bluetongueskinks.net .

[Lori P]

Ahhhh... thanks for the info. I'll check that site too. Let us know what you end up naming your little guy. :-)

[Sputnik]

I think skinks prefer solitary.

Solitude even. :o

[lizardkingboston]

i have 2 fire skinks, they are very friendly and easily handled. i dont understand why so many comments are made about them being difficult. they are the sweetest and most beautiful little creatures. i have many different species of lizards and i have to say that the tokay gecko is the only truly aggresive one ive experienced yet. if you get the lizards young enough and handle them regularly with love and care, your results will be rewarding. good husbandry is the foundation for raising a loving lizard.

the lizard king.

[colby]

i have a true fire skink i find him easy to take care of just keep the soil moist somewhere for him to hide and he is pretty happy mine crawls right onto my hand and eats out of my hands the more you handle them the more they get use to it but you will get bit till he does