Found Cheakie.
He's now living under the house ( inside the old Décor selfwatering plastic pots and planter troughs that are now empty of soil and in storage under NE corner of my house .
Here he is basking on the old concrete slab :
pretty sure this is Cheakie, I've a few good close ups of that side of his chest and neck and the "spots and markings" are the same
compare :
and
a few day's before his escape.
from what I can see when I zoom in electronically and compare.
He let my grandson approach within about 6 inches of him before retreating to cover …. tame behavior , and was very happy to take a heaping helping of mealworm lavae tossed to him one at a time.
So he's fine and hasn't encountered the resident alpha male or he drove the older resident alpha male away and took over his harem , Cheakie has become a very impressive and large adult water skink under my care ).
Was hoping he'd stay inside the house and eventually show up while foraging about on the floor for crumbs and rogue crickets or wild roaches or spiders, or on the top of the lounge to warm up / bask.
Now we know where he is I'll be leaving dead crickets and mealworms and maybe some mixed softened VetaFarm lizard pellets mixed with softened Repcal Juvenile Bearded Dragon pellets out for him and the female ( and her babies ) every few days as well as offering mealworms and crickets to them to make sure they stick around.
I think the outside skinks and geckos will be very thirsty ( unless they've discovered the little puddle created by the aircon condensate drain ( under my front patio ).
So I converted a n old mealworm lavae ( rectangular clear plastic tub ) to a watering spot for them .
Simply used a sharp pointed pair a scissors to make a 1" x 1" hole about 1" up from the bottom to allow the skinks to get in easily , and replaced it's lid ventilated on top.
I've used this system before to feed wild frogs , skinks and geckos , same deal only I placed thawed frozen mealworms and crickets and freshly dead crickets inside it with a little softened lizard and juvenile bearded dragon pellets inside on a bit of easily cleaned hard clear packaging plastic or spare Chinese food round sauce tub lid.
There is the option to capture the lizard inside the tub by placing the hand over the hole in the side and too, I've done this too in the past when I wanted to check an injured lizard without actually grabbing it by hand.
Wife reports the female that was heavily pregnant is keeping company with him and is no longer VERY FAT. She's shyer and prefers to hang out under the Hotwater service slab and under the rim of the outside sump that's under the back tap. Only poked her head out when my grandson was there.
aside : fire desasters and record heat.
from
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-monster-a-short-history-of-australia-s-biggest-forest-fire-20191218-p53l4y.html
Only animals that survive this kind of thing are those that can fly away , or take refuge in deep crack and fissures in the ground or in rocky outcrops under boulders or in deep crevasses or inside termite mounds or inside large deep ant nests or in any creeks and ponds that still have deep water.
It likely not the kind of fire even a fast 4 footed animal can outrun especially when driven by gale force winds (like reported yesterday) at the fire fronts.
After the scorcher yesterday ( hit 45 degC a few km inland from here , and in large areas of Sydney creating a perfect scenario for a bush fire storm especially near Cessnock , Gosford , SW Sydney and the Blue Mountains , many homes were burnt down and people burnt while defending homes.
There were reports of walls of fire 60m high ! and the fires created their own wind storm. Emergency services and RVBFB and professional RFF crews gave up trying to safe homes and properties and were focused on rescuing people.
Hit a max of 43 degC here at my place (outside , very glad I replaced the the old gas leaky worn out split aircon a month ago , did a great job at keeping the air inside clean and the inside temperature at 26 degC ( the thermostat setting I use during the day ) .
More of the same effecting large areas of Victoria and SA , and Adelaide heat records tumbled again. Reports of 50 degC in some places.
The heat is forcast to be back here tomorrow , looking like this Xmas will be one of the hottest in living memory.
Monsoon ( wet season ) up north hasn't arrived yet. This makes it 2 months late.
