#schnieder's skinks

[animal-plant-or-rock-wumf]

Schnieder's Skink

Today's animal segment is about an animal that is predicted to be up and coming in the pet trade this year- Schnieder's skink.

I'm a big fan of skinks. They're cool little dudes, and they're very active and affectionate pets. They kind of look like what would happen if you gave a snake legs. They're very tubiform creatures, and with some varieties, it looks like the legs were tacked on as an afterthought.

Schnieder's skinks are one of the smaller varieties. They're only about 12-18 inches long (including their long tails) and particularly slender. The tails will drop, but they can regrow. They can even drop them in sections! The regrown tail looks completely normal, though it may be a different color than it was originally.

One of these skinks can be kept in a 20-gallon enclosure minimum, but bigger is always better. However, one of the best things about these animals is that they do great in groups. If you keep two, it is best to use a 40-gallon "breeder" tank. They are terrestrial lizards, so the height of the tank doesn't really matter. It should end up being about a foot to a foot and a half tall because those are the typical dimensions. No need for a custom build here! However, if you're into that sort of thing, you can make some really cool display enclosures. They like to burrow, so keep that in mind when you choose your substrate. Be sure to include some enrichment as well, like a little log decoration for them to climb on. Not only does it make them happy, but it makes your enclosure look cooler. Ensure that the enclosure's lid is secure, they can be little escape artists.

Skinks are ectotherms, like any other lizard. This means that they get their body heat from the environment. As such, they have certain care requirements that you need to meet to keep them healthy. They need a temperature gradient in their enclosure so that they can move to a cooler area if they get too hot, or vice versus. The exact temperatures are debated- as of now, they're not a particularly popular species- but the general consensus is to keep the warm side at 95-110 degrees Fahrenheit, and the cool side at 85 degrees. At night, you can let this drop to 70-75. The humidity should be kept between 30 and 45 percent. This is also highly debated, but most people split the difference between the outside estimates of 20% and 60%, and it seems to be working well. This can be done by leaving them a bowl of water in the enclosure full time. The evaporation will keep the humidity up, plus they can drink from it. Alternatively, you can mist their enclosure whenever the humidity dips. They also need a UVB bulb, to ensure that they can process calcium. You can look up some professional tips on how to set up your enclosure for some more specific advice.

They are omnivorous, so you have a wide variety of food sources to use. They can eat vegetables- be sure to check if the ones you plan on feeding them are safe for that species- insects, such as crickets, dubia roaches, etc, and even Pinkies (which are very small, frozen mice. Please thaw them out before you feed them to your lizard.) You should cycle through their food options day to day to ensure that they get a more balanced diet. Don't be worried if they don't eat their salad, though. Some care guides will mark them down as insectivorous, but they do eat plants in the wild. They may just be picky eaters.

Schnieder skinks are big personalities. They're very active animals and love to interact with their enclosure, and you. Despite being terrestrial animals, they will jump around and climb. They aren't very good at either, but they'll sure try! They're super fun to handle and super entertaining. While a "big personality" in animal care is typically synonymous with "will bite you if you look at it wrong," that is absolutely not the case here. They're not big biters, they tame down super quickly, and they seem to enjoy interacting with their handlers.

They're also not that expensive. The biggest price tag I've seen was only 60 dollars- which sounds like a lot, but some other skink varieties from the same distributors were over 1.5 thousand dollars. Unfortunately, they're not very common, so if you want one, keep your eyes peeled. On top of online reptile sites such as MorphMarket, you should also check out nearby reptile expos.

Schnieder skinks, are just awesome. They're in my top five list for my future reptiles, and I just love the little guys.

Thank you for tuning in for the final installment of Animal, Plant, or Rock's WUMF 50th birthday specials. Stick around to hear tons of awesome programming!

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Sunshine got her tank cleaned today. She spent most of the time staring at me  in this pose.

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Halloween-themed lizard is ready to celebrate

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Yes, really.

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Further updates on Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

(Minor warning here for animals with rather unpleasant medical conditions. No pictures or gory details, but it’s still rather a nasty situation. I’ll will tell you up front that she’s fine, didn’t experience much pain and is on her way to making a full recovery) 

It's been a rough few weeks. After Cinnamon had her pinky toe amputated, as hard as I tried to keep the wound clean, it got very infected. The toe next to the one that had been removed and a small portion of the side of her foot started to turn black and what I thought was just scabbing and betadine stains turned out to be dry gangrene.

I went back to the vet for some emergency antibiotics two weeks ago and have been keeping the wound protected with neosporin. The infection was halted, but it was too late to save the toe. And some time on friday, it completely fell off.

This may sound pretty awful, but the good news is the skin under the dead tissue looks super healthy and the infection is gone. Apparently the prognosis for dry gangrene is good as long as you stop the infection from spreading. At a follow up appointment yesterday, the vet said there's not really anything more he needed to do. I just have to put silvadene on it daily and in about a month the skin, and even the scales will grow back.

In the last week she's perked up immensely and as far as I can tell she's no longer sick with anything. She seems to get around perfectly fine despite missing two toes, climbing and falling off branches for about an hour daily just like Sunshine.

In another month, I plan on moving her bin from my closet to the office so I can better keep her warm as winter comes. And about mid-december, she’ll be introduced to Sunshine.