IMPORTANT NOTE:
Citizens of the United States, be aware that it is illegal in states such as New York, to remove most animal species from the wild and keep them as pets.
MATING:
Schneider's skinks usually mate sometime between April and May (www.helsinki.fi). It is natural behavior for the male to almost cling onto the female's neck while in the mating process. Eggs are laid 4-6 weeks after mating with anywhere between 1-5 eggs per clutch (www.helsinki.fi). Schneider's skinks breed once every three years. Here in the United States, if any eggs were to result, they would usually be laid in July.
DEFENSE MECHANISM:
Take out the adult skinks before attempting to uncover or remove the eggs. I made the mistake of uncovering one of the eggs while the female was still in the tank. Within a couple minutes of doing so, the female took the egg away from the nest, popped it and ate it immediately.
EGG REMOVAL:
Make sure that the way the eggs are facing when they are uncovered is the exact same way they are facing when placed into the incubator. Shifting them around could kill them. You may want to lightly mark the top side of the eggs with a pencil (Scales and Tails Pet Shop). Slowly and carefully place the eggs one by one into the incubator.
INCUBATOR:
The incubator I created consisted of a large cooler with lid. I also purchased an aquarium heater, 2 thermometers, and a medium sized Lee’s Kritter Keeper (this should be smaller than the cooler and made of plastic). Fill the cooler about half way with warm water, set up the aquarium heater in the cooler and plug it in. Fill the Kritter Keeper with 3-4 inches of play sand (vermiculite works well too). Place the eggs right side up into a little hole dug in the sand. Place 1-2 inch layer of peat moss, vermiculite, or potting soil on top of the eggs and sand.
Place the lid (it should have air holes) on top of the Kritter Keeper and make sure it’s secure. Place the Keeper into the water; it should float. I suggest placing one thermometer in the water and one that sticks on the inside wall of the Keeper as to be able to monitor air temperature (this allows you to get the mean temperature conditions). Place a lid on top of the cooler but leave it open a crack as to not overheat the animals (Scales and Tails Pet Shop).
Keep the air temperature around 82-86F (use the thermometer in the Keeper to check this) and the water temperature between 88-90F.
HATCHING:
Schneider's skink eggs usually hatch 7-10 weeks after being laid. My skink eggs hatched somewhere around 8 weeks (August 11, 2004 was their hatch date). Dead eggs will be wrinkled and yellow (www.helsinki.fi). The babies should be very healthy looking: energetic, healthy colors, not scrawny looking, eyes clear, noses clear, and no abrasions.
The babies should be relocated into a larger tank and fed pin head sized crickets as soon as possible. Tank set up is the same as adult skinks. Be sure to not place the babies in with the parents or the parents will most likely kill the babies.
NATURAL INSTINCTS:
Skinks are reptiles; they are born knowing the basics of how to survive. One natural instinct that these animals have that is different from most other reptiles is that they burrow into their substrate. These animals can submerge and stay submerged under their substrate for hours and even days at a time.
ADULT SIZE:
Schneider's reach their adult size somewhere between 2 to 3 years of age. This does not necessarily mean they are sexually mature at this point.
Raw Data and Notes:
*4-6 weeks after mating, eggs are laid
*Eggs laid sometime around June 14th - June 16th 2004
*30 Gallon Tank
*Wood shavings for substrate
*Female (mother) ate one egg when realized it had been exposed
*4 original eggs; 3 remaining eggs placed into incubator
*Important to keep eggs facing same way as found
*30 gallon tank had been kept around 88F-90F day temps and 70F-72F night temps
*Optimal temps are about 72F in cool end and about 100F in warm end
*Incubator water temperature kept around 88F-90F and inside container (held eggs) around 86F-89F resulting in what is believed to be, male offspring
*Eggs hatch 7-10 weeks after being laid
*Offspring hatched after approximately 8 weeks on August 11, 2004
*50% of original eggs hatched
*Offspring (babies) discovered on August 15th after returning home from family vacation
*Physical evidence and research indicated a 4 day deduction from the 15th of August leading to the 11th of August to be hatch date
*Date evidence: mounds of dirt formed by offspring in container as well as shed
*Offspring removed from incubator on the 15th of August 2004 and placed into a 10 gallon tank setup
*Offspring cage consisted of: play sand for substrate, heat rock (temporary use only), heat lamp with a 75 watt incondescent bulb, and thermometer
*First feeding took place on August 15th, 2004; fed live "pin head" (small) crickets to skink offspring. Both offspring ate
*Both skink offspring have all basic natural instincts (hunt, drink, burrow, etc.)
*Both offspring burrowed for first time on August 15th, 2004
*Both offspring learned for first time to be cautious around water dish (shallow); both fell in and got out on their own within seconds.
*Offspring tank kept around 86F-90F during the day and approximately 70F-72F at night
