They are found on Indonesia and Papua New Guinea
They are one of the few skink species that can vocalise. They mostly do this when startled or in distress as a way to scare away whatever is annoying them
They are also known to play dead
“Red-Eyed Crocodile Skink.jpg” by Piranhapirate on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
For anyone experienced with these guys, would 24x18x18 inches be enough for a pair of red-eyed crocodile skinks to live comfortably? I'm going to be setting up a 36x18x18 enclosure for them, but I'm hoping to dedicate the last 12" to a "large" pond. Also, does anyone know if they'll use it with a mild waterfall? I know they'll sometimes soak given the opportunity, but I don't know if they prefer still water for that. I'm planning on a small aquarium filter disguised as a waterfall, but if that's no good, I can change it
So I'm keeping my newly bought crocodile skink in my bedroom, and I'm having a lot of anxieties about keeping it since I've heard a lot of experiences about these guys just suddenly dying without any discernable reason. When I sleep, I can't sleep in total darkness, so I use a night light. So the room is still dark, but there is some light. Plus, my PC is on 24/7 so there is also light emitted from that, though I'm thinking of putting it to sleep now every time I go to bed. The problem is, they are nocturnal creatures which means they hunt at night, and I'm afraid the lack of total darkness would disturb that process somehow. If total darkness, or a darker environment, is recommended, then I'll probably go and move my skink to another room.
I've had my skink for several hours now and he's just staying on his hidey hole. I'm tempted to check him every once in awhile to make sure he's doing fine, but I don't want to stress him out.
So currently im housing my 2 crocodile skink together and they are 2 months old the seller said that they are a pair, idk if skinks play around but i saw them chasing each other just a few mins ago, is it normal for them to fight or are they just playing around? Any info would be helpful thank you! When i bought the skinks btw they were already housed in the same enclosure pic
I’m less interested in actually keeping the lizards than I am in building out a bioactive enclosure, preferably one with a self-filtering water feature (probably a shallow pond fed from a gradual waterway that will keep the plants fed) and enough small fauna to provide more enrichment than just dumping a tub of feeders in the tank daily. I’d like to try for a m/f pair in a 48” x 18” tank, though I don’t really want to breed them - my aspirations for the enclosure just need some space and it seems silly to not populate it as best I can.
In my initial stage research, people keep reporting that this skink is perpetually invisible and very easily stressed, which are my biggest concerns. Questions:
I keep the exotics in my den, which sees a lot of foot traffic and can get awfully chaotic, especially with 2 large puppies and an adult dog. My plan had been to block off the back and at least 50-75% of each side of the enclosure to limit stimulation, but it can still be loud. Is that going to be too much chaos?
I get varying reports about how little anyone sees these guys. I read a lot of things about never seeing them, but also hear that if they have lots of hides and a good amount of enrichment they’ll be visible more frequently. I know they’re not an always-on-display species, but if I have 2 in a tank that stimulates them a bunch, is it unreasonable to hope to see them as much as my poison dart frogs?
If I’m just harboring unrealistic hopes, can someone recommend a small species of lizard that needs a temperate rain forest environment?
Just FYI: I’m not exactly inexperienced keeping exotics - I’ve got ~ 40 tarantulas, a mature corn snake (that I inherited), a bearded dragon in a very successful bioactive biome (as long as you don’t look for plants), and a pair of poison dart frogs in a beautiful bioactive enclosure.
