Do you want a new pet? If so, have you considered a fire skink? They are becoming increasingly popular pets and for good reason! They are adorable, friendly, and relatively easy to care for. In this blog post, we will discuss the truth about fire skinks – including whether or not they make good pets. We will also provide some tips on how to care for them if you decide to bring one into your home.
Fire skinks are a type of lizard that is native to Australia. They get their name from the bright orange and yellow coloring on their back, which makes them look like they are on fire! These lizards can grow up to 12 inches long, making them one of the larger lizard species.
They are a friendly and social species, and they do well when kept in groups. Fire skinks usually bond with their owner, so they make great pets for people who want a companion animal. They are also relatively easy to care for – they require a diet of insects and a habitat with high humidity levels.
If you are considering adding a fire skink to your family, here are some tips on how to care for them:
– It is important that you provide your pet with an appropriate habitat. They need a tank or other enclosure that is at least 40 gallons in size, and it should have a temperature gradient from 65 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit during the day (with one area being cooler than another). The humidity level inside of the habitat needs to stay between 60% and 80%.
Misting your fire skink’s enclosure daily will help keep up these levels! You can also add some live plants like pothos vines or mosses for pinhead crickets for extra moisture. Make sure there are plenty of hiding places for them too – they love smaller bugs until they grow enough size on their bodies to handle adult-sized bugs comfortably without choking. They need fresh water daily too!
– Fire skinks do not necessarily need UVB light if they cannot reach into burrowing into substrates like coconut fiber or reptile bark chips. Finally, make sure their enclosure has enough room by measuring it against themselves – they should be able to turn around easily without touching any sides or corners of the tank.
– A fire skink’s diet is mostly made up of insects and some fruits (like bananas). You can feed them crickets, mealworms, wax worms, super worms, earthworms (occasionally), king mealies (occasionally), butterworms (rarely), roaches such as Dubai or discoid species that are about half an inch long for adults; younger ones require smaller prey items like pinhead crickets. When feeding, it is important to dust the insects with quality vitamin and mineral supplements like Rep-Cal Herptivite or Zoo Med ReptiVite at least twice a week.
– Fire skinks love to climb, so make sure you have some branches or other items for them to climb on in their enclosure.
How big should the tank be?
Now let’s have a look at how big the enclosure should be for one adult fire skink. The minimum size of the tank which is suitable for this species is 80×50 cm, but I recommend at least 100×60 cm. For larger individuals try to provide an even bigger cage with more spacious retreats. If you keep several skinks in one enclosure there should always be enough space for each of them if their territories are well-defined.
So what about height? It isn’t very important for this kind of lizards because they don’t use it much inside their enclosures anyway. However, if your enclosure has large climbing branches make sure that there is no gap between them and the top part of the tank (if there is a gap you could end up with a lizard stuck between the branches and the top of the tank).
What substrate should I use?
Use sand, peat, or any other soil-like substrate as a base for your skink’s cage. If possible cover some part of it with leaves to simulate its natural environment more precisely. Also provide some hiding spots such as pieces of cork bark or artificial plastic caves (you can buy these at pet shops) in order to provide your skink with shelter where it can feel safe and secure.
Make sure that there are no stones, rocks, or roots on the bottom which could cause cuts on the bottom of your skink’s delicate toes and injure them. You also change all substrates regularly because if their cage is too dirty your skink might refuse to feed.
In Conclusion
If you follow all these tips until now I’m sure you’ll have nothing but success when keeping fire skinks as pets! Just remember that these lizards are very sensitive for their care, therefore try not to keep them with other types of lizards or animals which don’t belong into the same ecosystem as they (by this I mean that stone skinks and brown skinks, which feed on the same prey as fire skinks do, can’t be together with them).
Also, remember that even though they may seem very calm and lazy (and I’m sure you won’t regret buying one) fire skinks are not domesticated lizards. Their wild instincts still remain, however, if your pet trusts you it will show its trust by allowing you to handle it without trying to escape or bite you.
