When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commision. Learn More. These lizards enjoy spending their time in warm, dry climates. The biggest difference is that skinks have smaller limbs or sometimes no limbs at all. It is becoming more popular to have lizard-type animals as pets, and the skink is no exception. In the wild, you can find them hanging near human houses because they are close to food sources.
What do skinks eat in the wild, and does their diet change if you have them as a pet? Although skinks are small, they are crucial to healthy environments. These animals not only feed on a lot of the pests around our homes, but they keep other wildlife fed as well.
These lizards are prey to birds, snakes, raccoons, and larger lizards. You can find them in any hot, dry area like Texas in the United States or in the bush of Australia. Skinks are considered both carnivores and insectivores, but there have been a few occasions where they have eaten plant matter.
Here is a look at everything that a skink is known to consume in the wild and as a pet:. Skinks love to eat insects. It is the main source of their diet. They are able to eat a wide variety, including flies, crickets, roaches, beetles, grasshoppers, millipedes, centipedes, worms, slugs, mosquitos, snails, and much more.
Some skinks in captivity have been taught to feed on dead insects, but they prefer to have live food. If you have a pet skink, catch or buy live insects from your local pet store.
There have also been times where food was scarce and skinks have ate their own young. Mice are a very filling treat for larger skinks, but they are one of the most common sources of meat they consume. Skinks can be found all across Australia. Due to their timid nature and quick reflexes you may only ever see them dashing for cover as you approach. Most suburban backyards are home to a variety of skinks, but they look similar at a glance. Females of the Garden Skink lay about five eggs each, sometimes in communal nests which can hold hundreds of eggs.
They create nests in moist soil under objects in the garden. Eggs are just 1cm long look like mini chicken eggs but are soft and rubbery. They become enlarged as they absorb moisture from the surrounding soil. The female Blue-tongued Lizard gives birth to live young three to four months after mating. Blue-tongues have between one and fifteen babies who are able to look after themselves just four days after birth.
But it will take three to four years before they are fully grown. To take a closer look at skinks in your garden, find a comfortable spot on a warm day to sit quietly where you usually see skinks and they should eventually emerge. These pest-controlling hunters can survive easily in your garden. By including logs, sticks and leaf mulch in your garden you can help to protect them.
Pet skinks can sometimes become calcium deficient. If this happens, they can become cannibalistic or they might get ill. Bone meal is a great supplement to offer your skinks to ensure that they get enough nutrients. You can offer bone meal by dusting your insects before offering these to your pet skink.
Skinks also enjoy drinking water. If you are building a skink terrarium then you should include a water pit for your skinks and remember to offer fresh water every day.
Some skinks even enjoy a refreshing swim if they start to feel too warm. Not all skink species are willing to eat meat products like small animals and not all skinks are willing to eat plant matter. But some species have digestive systems that can adapt to these different foods. The biggest diet variation these lizards have is that they sometimes become cannibalistic in harsh conditions.
Before you start feeding your skink, you should properly identify its species so you will know whether it is an insectivore, omnivore or carnivore. Once you have identified the species, you should offer it the right food ratio. Insectivore skinks will only feed on insects but you still need to offer them a variety of food types. In the wild, skinks can only feed on foods they find in their natural habitat. Many skinks like the skinks you see in your garden do however live close to human households because they know all too well that insects are attracted to light.
In the wild, skinks mostly feed on insects like earthworms, crickets, butterflies, flies, grasshoppers, and caterpillars. Some wild skinks might also feed on fruits that they find in the wild or on fruit farms. Skinks have become quite popular as pets these past few years.
Most pet owners prefer to keep omnivore skink species because these tend to be a little bit easier to feed. Insectivore skinks are usually fed on a variety of insect types that are sold in pet stores.
Insects like crickets, grasshoppers, mealworms, and other types of insects. If your skink is taught to eat dead insects then you can buy frozen ones and offer these to your pet skink but in most cases, these lizards prefer their dinner live and running.
The best way to offer vegetables is cooked but you can offer fruits as long as you avoid offering citrus fruits. You can also offer any type of insect so your skink will get lots of nutrients. It is always best to keep a bit of bone meal close by if you have a pet skink.
Dip insects in a bit of bone meal before offering these to your skink so your animal can stay healthy and happy. A baby skink is called a skinklet.
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