Care Sheet for SkinksAverage Rating Given To This Care Sheet Is 3.00 (1=lowest, 5=highest) Last Updated: 07/31/2005 |
Main Category: | Lizards |
Sub Category: | Skinks |
Care Sheet Submitted By: | Reptilesrock |
Years Experience: | 3 to 5 Years |
Species: | Gilbert’s skink AKA Western Redtail skink |
Other Species or Phases this Care Sheet May Cover: | Gilbert’s skinks are also known as Western Red tailed skinks. They are the same species |
Sexing and Characteristics: | Not positive on way of sexing, but I believe that the males have brighter orange/red faces than females. Juvenile Gilbert’s skinks can be identified by their stripes and bright red tail. Sub adults will also have stripes, but tail will be a grayish color. Adults are a brownish greenish earth color with red or orange on face and head. Standard size is 4-5 inches long nose to tail tip. |
Mostly Active During: | Day |
Substrate and Water Needs: | Gilbert’s MUST have dirt. They are burrowers, so they need dirt to burrow in. I recommend using regular clean sand that can be bought at gardening stores. Little is know about keeping Gilbert’s as pets, and it is believed that a water dish is not even necessary. The dirt should be kept moist. But I provide a water dish for my lizard just in case |
Lighting and UVB: | No special lighting is required. Although a UVB lamp will help keep the animal healthy and happy. Even better than that is about 30 minutes of pure, unfiltered sunlight every day providing the skink has a cool, shaded place to retreat to. |
Temperatures and Humidity: | Gilbert’s like their dirt moist. Temp should be kept between 75 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit |
Heating and Equipment: | A normal under tank heating pad and a standard heat lamp with red heat bulb. |
Caging Provided: | Mine is kept in a 10 gallon glass aquarium with screen lid |
Diet: | Carnivorous |
Description of Diet: | Crickets is the staple diet of a gilbert’s skink. Mealworms and meal beetles can also be offered. I feed mine 5-6 adult crickets every week. |
Supplements, Nutrition and Usage: | Optional. No supplements necessary. |
Maintenance: | Relatively easy to maintain compared to other lizards. Good for beginners although they are not commonly kept. Mine is a wild caught specimen and has adapted very well to captivity. They are not arboreal, so they aren’t very good climbers or escape artists. |
Some Words on this Species: | Really great lizards to have. Not good for watching though as they are burrowers and will spend the majority of their time buried or hidden under a rock. They are mostly active during the day and will come out to bask, so a UVB lamp is a good thing to have with this species. They can also become tame and handlable if you spend time working with them every day. Just be aware that they can be extremely fast and hard to catch if one escapes your grip. |
How Members Rated
This Care Sheet | Rate This Care Sheet
Please keep all comments constructive to Gilbert’s skink AKA Western Redtail skink husbandry methods and care. Any degrading, sarcastic, or disrespectful comments will be removed. |
Total Members Rating: 2
| 1 |  ( 1 ) |
| 2 |  ( 0 ) |
| 3 | ( 0 ) |
| 4 | ( 0 ) |
| 5 | ( 1 ) |
|
|
