It's hard to imagine that a skink or an ordinary lizard can become a wonderful pet. But those lucky ones who have it in their home, argue that this small foot and mouth disease has the character of a affectionate cat, quickly gets used to their masters, does not show aggression and even recognizes them in person.
Lizard Skink - varieties
Skinks are the most common group of lizards, they inhabit all continents, there are 1500 varieties. Features of their appearance:
- the head of most reptiles is pointed, smoothly passes into a flattened body, which ends in a thinning tail. He may fall off in danger;
- sizes are different - tiny 6 cm Far Eastern lizards have gigantic 70 cm of tenacious relatives;
- a distinctive feature of skinks is overlapping scales lying on bone plates, some species have sharp spines;
- The head is covered with symmetrical shields;
- large eyes have separate moving eyelids;
- in the family are represented both legless and four-lopped individuals with three-, five-fingered limbs.
Skinks lead a terrestrial way of life, dig burrows, climb trees, some like to swim. Different individuals, for example, blue-tongue, crocodile, ordinary skink for keeping in the house are quite suitable, like terrariums and a tench-tailed lizard that can hang upside down. They are quickly tamed, thanks to obedience are considered exemplary pets.
Blue-tongued skink
Australian blue-tongue skink is a large lizard, in captivity it grows to 50 cm. Body color is light-brown or dark-brown with a pattern of orange, black or yellowish stripes. The species is distinguished among others by the color of the language - from bright blue to violet, the mouth itself is red. In nature, a combination of bright colors, when a reptile opens its mouth and hisses - frightens off predators.
If the house needs an obedient exot, a blue-tongued skink will do. When asked how many reptiles live, the breeders give an answer - 15-20 years. Many call them the cleverest among the relatives - they can recognize sounds, recognize people. Blue-tongued lizards love affection, like cats - they like it when they are stroked on the head. They are interesting to hold on your hands, you can take it out on people. At night, the Blue-speakers sleep and do not bother the owners. It is better to keep one individual, or pair, because two males fight among themselves.
Crocodile skink
The size of the body of a mature crocodile skink with a tail is 20 cm. The head with respect to the body is large, triangular, which makes it look like a dinosaur. Along the back and tail are 4 rows of pointed plates, the skin is covered with needle-like growths. For the adult specimen is characterized by brown color, cream-colored abdomen, inherent only crocodile bright orange circles around the eyes. In nature, this lizard lives near water, loves to swim, and hunts at night.
When keeping crocodile skinks in captivity in a terrarium, they must necessarily be equipped with a reservoir. At home, the red-eyed crocodile does not tolerate the cold, he is shy and spends most of his time in shelters, does not like to be disturbed. If the reptile is scared, it pretends to be dead and does not move even in the hands of a person. In a state of stress, the crocodile produces sharp hissing sounds.
Fiery skink
In an exotic fire skink, a variety of black, white, silvery, bright red scales are scattered throughout the body, depending on their mood, their color turns pale or brighter. This is a large lizard, in length reaches 37 cm, likes to bury and hide under the roots. The reptile is flexible and quick, dodgy, but spends most of the time digging into the substrate.
If the house lives a skink of fire, its content is produced in a spacious terrarium with driftwood and branches, and they also equip a pond. Individuals - friendly, calmly transferred, when they are taken in their hands. They are night residents, in the afternoon they sit out in shelter, and go out hunting in the dark, love to rummage in the ground. They can be kept in groups, the main thing is that all have enough shelters.
Chain-tailed skink
This giant skink in length reaches 70 cm, half falls on the tail. The main color varies from olive to dark green with black spots on the lower part of the paws. Abdomen - from light emerald to cream-colored with a gray mesh pattern. Eyes small, round, bright yellow. The chain-tailed skink is the only one in the world, using the tail for hanging upside down. It is an arboreal lizard, leads a twilight way of life, dwells on tall trees.
The chain-tailed reptile is a peaceable pet, it quickly tames and becomes very obedient. With its maintenance, a vertical terrarium with a mesh lid and a large number of plants is required. It is better to use artificial trees, otherwise the living will be quickly spoiled. In pets, the ability to form groups of male and 1-2 females is noted, they are viviparous, each giving a single calf.
Pink-tongued skink
The reptile reaches 45 cm in length, half of which is the tail used by the lizard as an additional point of support. The adult has a tongue in the color of a carnation, the body color is a gray tone with transverse black stripes, the abdomen is a light pink monophonic. Skink Gerrard leads a half-timbered way of life, is active at night, moves snake-like, in addition using the forelimbs. At home rosy-tongue lizards - good-natured and calm creatures, do not show aggression, do not have fear, calmly give themselves up.
Smaragdive skink
A beautiful representative of the family is 25 cm long. In the smaragdovoy form - elongated body is covered with smooth scales emerald green on the back and bluish on the abdomen. At the edges of the flaps, a yellow edging is visible, on the top of the body there are black stripes. Smaragdovy skink leads a woody way of life, when danger hides in the krone, it rarely descends to the ground.
In captivity individuals are planted in pairs. Smaragdovy skink at home is contained in a terrarium of a vertical type with a height of more than a meter. It is non-aggressive, can easily get along with other small species of reptiles, easily gets used to the master, sees food, runs up to the door, tries to snatch bits from tweezers. Reptile gluttonous and overfeed it is not recommended.
Far Eastern skink
This is a small lizard, the size of its body is 6-18 cm, monophonic shiny body has a gray-brown color with characteristic scales, similar to fish. On the sides of the body are wide chestnut and narrow light strips, in males at the time of reproduction the throat acquires a coral shade. Far Eastern skink home terrarium adorns infrequently, since the species are listed in the Red Book of, are rare, live on the Kuril Islands Kunashir. They lead a daily life, prefer to dig burrows near warm streams.
Serpentine skink
An unusual snake-like lizard lives on the territory of Asia, it is a very rare reptile, the length of which reaches 50 cm. This skink looks like a snake with legs, it has an amazing shape - the conical head is pointed to the nose, the trunk is cylindrical, everything is covered with scales, the limbs are barely distinguishable by long body. Vision in the animal is also unique - the lower eyelid has a transparent window, thanks to which the lizard sees with closed eyes. Skink leads a terrestrial way of life, prefers rocky places, he is brisk, runs a lot, during movement his body snakes like a serpentine.
Three-fingered skink
A small three-toed skink has a length of 18 cm, is similar to a snake. His back is chocolate, the abdomen is bright yellow, the elongated head smoothly passes into the trunk, ending with the tail. A distinctive feature - barely noticeable paws with three fingers. They lead a nocturnal life, eating insects. Ordinary skink when kept in captivity or in nature multiplies by eggs, and three-toed in excellent habitats produces offspring in different ways. Scientists consider this to be a manifestation of evolution in action. In northern Wales, three-toed viviparous, and in the coastal zone lay eggs.
Skink - content
Exotic skink at home is contained in the terrarium. This unpretentious creature, feels good with optimal heating modes and high humidity. The dwelling is arranged so that the lamps are placed at one end, lizards move between hot and cool areas and so regulate their body temperature. Day mode is maintained in the range of + 25-29 ° C (in the heating zone + 32 ° C). For moisture, water is sprayed daily over the vegetation and ground.
Care of the terrarium is a daily replacement of the liquid in the bathing room, updating the soil once a week. Lizards are fed every other day, they are given vitamin-rich foods:
- insects: cockroaches, locusts, flour worms, zofobas;
- grated vegetables and fruits: carrots, cabbage, apples, pears, bananas, tomatoes, cucumbers;
- greens: foliage of dandelion, Tradescantia, lettuce, carrot tops, turnips;
- the food is sprinkled with calcium once a week.
Terrarium for skink
Setts skink in the home terrarium, its size is selected depending on the type of reptile:
- horizontal size 70x40x30 cm for blue tongue, fire or 50x50x50 cm for a small crocodile;
- Vertical 120x60x120 for the emerald and tench-tailed.
The terrarium is covered with a mesh lid, filled with lush artificial vegetation and pots that serve as shelters. Inside, you need to fix horizontally or vertically thick branches, massive stones, if necessary (depending on the type of reptile) to put a bathing tank into which the lizard can fit completely. For the soil suitable wood sawdust, coconut substrate, fallen leaves. It is necessary to attach an ultraviolet lamp in the terrarium, upon irradiation of which the vitamin D3 is produced from the skinks.