Good evening ME visitors. I’m here to announce some new skink additions to the ME family.
Before I do I’m sure everyone is wondering what’s happening with the 2016 baby season. All I’m going to say right now is that you probably want to be on the ME Mailing List in the next few days… Hint hint.
Anyways, as some may recall, last year around this time I picked up a couple of interesting tiny skinks – Chinese Swamp Skinks. Amazingly, these two adorable critters have managed to do well all year and have just been upgraded to a fancy new tank with a big water feature.
New tank (pre-water):
Tiny skink! They’re so small:
Now this year, at the same expo, I found another new species of skink to take home. This time the skinks are much larger, though again they are basically unknown in the reptile hobby. There’s different common names used, but I’m currently calling them Banded Sheen Skinks.
About the Banded Sheen Skink:
Their scientific name (if I’ve guessed the subspecies correctly) is Eugongylus albofasciolatus. They originate from around the Solomon Islands, and are quite long but very slender. They seem to have no natural fear of humans and have shown a voracious appetite for insects so far. They like to dig tunnels and burrow through the dirt, but I’ve also caught them climbing the branches of the tank a few times.
I picked up two (possible) pairs of these new skink – a smaller juvenile pair and a larger adult pair. Because I do not know how social this species is the pairs have been split up, with the larger pair on one side of a tank, and the smaller pair on the other side.
And of course I come bearing pictures of the new additions.
Split tank with deep substrate and climbing branches (hammocks added after):
One of the juveniles. Check out the rainbow sheen on it’s tail:
The juveniles checking out their new home:
Adult (assumed) female:
They’re very long!
Adult (assumed) male:
They are good climbers, but amazing diggers:
The adults conferring about the crazy lady they now have to deal with:
That’s all for right now. It’s only been two weeks with these guys so far, so we’ll see how it goes. I promised them if they live more than a month (they’re WC – it’s never a sure thing) I’ll give them awesome new names.
I hope you enjoyed this quick update. And again, but sure to join the ME Mailing List if you want to know about the 2016 babies and be the first to find out when they’re available for purchase.
Many thanks,
Melanie
