Recently, more and more people prefer exotic pets. At home, they contain African snails, various lizards, frogs, newts, mini crocodiles and even lynxes. Some animal lovers give birth to red-eyed crocodile skinks - unusual lizards with bright orange "glasses". The animal surprises not only with its appearance, but also with its behavior.
Crocodile skink - who is it? Description
The second name of the crocodile skink is Tribolonotus (Tribolonotus gracilis). In general, he is known by several names. The origin of most of the names is associated with the unusual appearance of the animal.
Often a lizard is called an orange-eyed crocodile skink, or red-eyed, hard-headed or armored.
The size of the adult reptile, including the size of the tail, can reach 20 cm. The length of the body can be 9 cm. The weight of the adult is relatively small and does not exceed 50 g.
The head of the animal is disproportionate to the body and has a triangular shape. This structural feature makes the crocodile skink look like a small dinosaur.
The skin of the upper part of the body of the crocodile skink is covered with triangular outgrowths, and along the back and tail section in four rows are plates whose ends are pointed.
An adult from a young animal can be distinguished not only by the length of the body, but also by color. The body color of an adult skink is dark brown. The abdomen has a cream color, and the area around the eyes is bright orange.
Young unusual lizards have a creamy head color. However, color may vary. So, the head of a small crocodile skink can be light yellow. In addition, on the head there are small bright orange blotches.
Females are larger. The structure of males is characterized by a larger head size. In addition, they have a corpus callosum in the navel area, which is necessary in the process of mating. In males, the shape of the scales on the two toes of the hind legs is also modified. Thus, it turns out that in females the legs are tender, while in males they are callous.
Habitat
Tribolonotosu genus has eight species, six of them live mainly on the Solomon Islands, and the other two - on New Guinea and nearby islands. It is worth considering that despite the fact that the habitat is extremely diverse in these areas, crocodile skinks are very demanding on its conditions. Tribolonotosi prefer areas with moist soil near clean water sources.
In general, the habitat can be extremely limited and reach 2-3 km.
Lifestyle
Crocodile skinks lead a land-based lifestyle. The place of shelter is fallen leaves. In addition, such secluded places are an ideal ambush for the animal. Often, unusual lizards are called twilight hunters, since they are most active in the dark, and during the day, as a rule, hide under snags, leaves or stones.
Tribolonosas mate in the period of heavy rains.
How to feed them in captivity?
Crocodile skinks are insectivorous animals. In the conditions of their habitual habitat, they use everything they find in leaves, in the backing of the forest, as food. They can be fed with bugs, larvae, all kinds of crickets.
In captivity, it is important to provide crocodile skinks with a variety of diets. The food can be purchased at specialized pet stores or points of sale of goods for fishing. So, as food in captivity, you can use cockroaches, crickets, flour worms, larvae of Zofobas, maggot, worm and bloodworm.
Content Features
When keeping such an exotic pet, it is worth considering the features of feeding. So, a young crocodile skink individual needs more frequent feeding than an adult animal. Young growth must be fed daily. This is due to the fact that a growing tribolonotus organism requires much more vitamin and nutrients and minerals for proper growth and development. It is advisable to feed the animal at the same time.
Feeding an adult needs to be done much less often. Two to three times a week is enough.
Particular attention should be paid to the conditions of the crocodile skink. Poor conditions of detention can lead to various diseases in the animal and the subsequent death of an exotic pet.
It is imperative that the conditions of detention are as close as possible to the conditions of the natural habitat of tribolonotus.
A terrarium shaped like a cube or a rectangle will be enough to contain one individual skink. Size is also important. It should not be less than 50 * 50 * 50 cm. Each subsequent individual needs to increase the size of the terrarium by at least 50%. This factor should be considered if a person is going to contain not one, but two or more crocodile skink specimens at home. However, experts do not recommend placing more than two animals in one terrarium, especially females, since they behave quite aggressively towards each other.
The bottom of the terrarium can be filled with coconut substrate or crushed bark. In order for human living conditions to be as close to natural as possible, it is necessary to periodically add clean soil or sand to the substrate. You can use these two components together. It is imperative that the animal in captivity has a layer of foliage in which to dig.
Care Features
It is important to observe the temperature regime. So, the daily temperature of the coolest area of the terrarium should be within + 23-25 ° . At the same time, the temperature regime of the most warmed-up terrarium should not exceed + 30 ° . The level of twilight temperature should not fall below + 20 ° .
In addition, it is very important to provide crocodile skink with vitamin D3. And for this, the terrarium in which the animal is kept must be equipped with lamps emitting ultraviolet light. It should be borne in mind that the radiation time should not be less than 12 hours, i.e. the duration of the normal daylight hours of the skink. Ideally, the radiation time should be 13-14 hours.
Changing the sources of ultraviolet radiation is necessary after 6-8 months. Since lamps whose shelf life is longer than the specified period, they practically cease to emit UV rays.
As the main source of illumination, fluorescent lamps can be used.
It is very important to carefully monitor the level of humidity that is necessary for the proper maintenance of an exotic pet. The humidity percentage of the artificially created habitat should not be lower than 75. That is why it is necessary to regularly spray the terrarium with clean water during the day. Two to three times is enough.
The moisture level of the substrate lining the bottom also needs to be maintained. To provide a more comfortable content, you can alternate wet and dry substrate. So the crocodile skink will be able to choose the living conditions that are most suitable for it.
Captive breeding
An individual of a crocodile skink reaches puberty by 3-4 years of life. At one time, females of tribolonotosa lay only one egg. In one calendar year, a female crocodile skink can lay up to 6 eggs.
After laying, the female independently instills the egg in the substrate. After that, it begins to guard and preserve the un hatched tribolonotus. The egg size can reach two centimeters, and the weight usually does not exceed 4 g. The incubation period on average lasts 65-70 days. Its duration directly depends on the temperature regime in which the animal is kept.
The size of the hatched crocodile skink usually does not exceed eight centimeters, and the weight is five grams. In the early days of life, the animal usually does not eat.
Disease
When providing insufficiently comfortable living conditions, the animal may experience a number of problems. That is why if a decision was made to purchase a crocodile skink, the maintenance, nutrition, care of it should be constantly monitored.
So, with insufficient moisture in the habitat, tribolonotus will not be able to completely lose old skin, which will lead to problems. It is extremely dangerous that the skin on the fingertips of the animal is not thrown off or not completely thrown off, since this leads to limitation of the blood circulation of the limb. Ultimately, old skin that simply squeezes the fingertips of a crocodile skink can cause the animal’s limb to fall off.
It is extremely important to carefully monitor the level of cleanliness in the terrarium, regularly change the substrate, preventing pathogenic bacteria and organisms from multiplying that can harm the health of tribolonotus.
Finally
Crocodile skink, photos of which are extremely pretty, is an exotic animal that looks like a little dragon. It is extremely interesting to watch this reptile due to the fact that tribolonotuses have characteristic features of behavior that are unique to them.
You should carefully study all the available information, evaluating your capabilities and strengths before purchasing a crocodile skink. Maintenance at home requires compliance with certain conditions. However, with proper care and maintenance, a crocodile skink can become an ideal pet for a fairly long time.