My Australian Eastern Water Skink lady says hi ....

[kingofnobbys]

This is my adorable water skink , her name is Wriggles and she's about 4 years old.

She's super inquisitive, mega tame, loves crawling all over me and the coffee table, really loves a nice snuggle in my open cupped hand or on my tummy in the crook of my elbow or under my cupped hand, or up under my chin, or on the back of neck.

Some of her fav spots :

in pocket for nap.

my thumb is a perfect pillow.

I thought I'd lost her , wife found her using my short sleeve as a hammock .... loves it there.

some of her fav things

what's going on there ? ....

don't stop the under neck rub.....

She loves her crickets, silkworms, mealworms (lavae, pupae and beetles) and is very food orientated (in that if she hear and smells food being prepared she wants to watch).

She's so tame she'll even allow my 4 year old grandson to stroke her on the back and top of her head.

She's very smart, comes when I call her by name (if she's on my back or back of my shoulder).

Being a water skink she adores a good drink of water and loves splashing about in her water hole (goes nuts in there and obviously has heaps of fun).

She also enjoys doing hand acrobatics (like a little monkey) even uses her tail in prehensile manner.
playtime

She's wonderful to interact with and have a game (on her terms) with.

 

[Lucy1988]

Aww she's cute as a button, love her name too. Is she full grown?
Lucy.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Aww she's cute as a button, love her name too. Is she full grown?
Lucy.

fully grown about 5 yo.

 

[Lucy1988]

What a darling, she's so beautiful. Makes me want to get one too! Think I'll have to wait a while, still trying to acclimatise my partner to my beardie. I've no idea how he isn't as charmed as me, he must be crazy!

 

[kingofnobbys]

Hate to admit it , but she's my favourate . Shhhh..... don't tell Rex and Puff the beardies or George and Mildred my bluetongues (though I suspect they already know).

Her species of skink is very common and native to most of eastern Australia , and commonly live and thrive under people's houses (where the house is not on a concrete slab), in people's gardens and in sheds and garages. My resident wild colony peaked at over 20 of them on my 1/4 acre residential home block most of whom were happy to take mealworms and crickets from my fingers or open hand - I am sometimes mobbed by 6 - 8 skinks when I sit down and open the mealworm tub - a real hoot .... great fun feeding them) .

Despite being wonderful inquisitive very smart and opportunistic and often very cheaky and game once they suss that you are not going to harm them little skinks, very few people here in Australia breed the species in captivity and it can be very hard to find babies, juveniles, adults and breeding pairs for sale. HIGHLY UNDER RATED and most reptile keepers will tell you eastern water skinks are a best just left in their enclosure and watched type of pet .... Wriggles is MUCH MUCH MORE than that.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Got a resident wild water skink living inside with us now.

We've had a wild water skink visiting the inside of the house , is a juvenile and it is really cheaky , and has got all the skinks (the 2 BTs and especially Wriggles) really sturred up, she saw the visitor on the carpet this afternoon while I was nursing her, and got really g-ed up and excited, the little wild skink also saw Wriggles and there was a lot of headnodding going between them for while (until I returned Wriggles to her enclosure because she wanted to get down and go and meet the little skink (both the same species) and I didn't want to risk Wriggles disappearing under the furniture.

Little skink checked out every room , and seemed fascinated by the beardies and bluetongues, especially Rex who was on the floor at the same time at one stage. Rex knicked a mealworm I'd tossed to the skink, let Rex approach within about 12 inches before deciding to give Rex a wide birth and hiding for a little while.
I'm not sure what Rex thought of the little water skink, but she was more interested in the mealworm than the skink.

I'm now starting to leave a shallow water dish (a plastic lid) and some crickets and pupae out for it.
Hopefully it'll become relatively tame and not so skittish with time and some us giving it treats.