Schneider Skinks?

[ComicBookMama]

Anyone out there have a Schneider or Berber Skink? Just got mine on Saturday and named him Slinky. At first I had him on paper towel to monitor his poops, but he seemed stressed (running all over his tank, trying to climb the walls) so I added substrate before I’d really wanted to. The good news is that he’s no longer so frantic. The not so good news is that I no longer see my skink, as he’s buried. Will he eventually adopt a sometime buried, sometimes out and about schedule?

 

[ChileanTaco]

He's really pretty and so cute
Typically animals that are not strictly nocturnal tend to come out more when they are used to their new home.

 

[ComicBookMama]

He's really pretty and so cute
Typically animals that are not strictly nocturnal tend to come out more when they are used to their new home.

Thank you! I’ll just try to be patient.

 

[ChileanTaco]

I had an injured fence lizard (long time ago): Super shy in the beginning (he was from the wild), but later on I could observe him catching his prey.

I have some Madagascar hissing cockroaches - first weeks constantly hidden in the substrate during day and only coming out late, but now I can just observe them during day.

So if the species is not nocturnal, the animal will be fine after some time
I'd just be patient (just ... ) and do it the same way as with the bearded dragon: in the beginning leaving him alone as far as possible and then just being nearby doing quiet stuff (reading and such) - often works wonders
Having substrate available, despite he's now hiding, will likely make it easier for him: Then he can retreat whenever he can. Usually this makes animals more calm over time and also more tame - as he then knows he could hide if necessary and can dare to come out... and learn nothing bad happens with humans

 

[xp29]

Anyone out there have a Schneider or Berber Skink? Just got mine on Saturday and named him Slinky. At first I had him on paper towel to monitor his poops, but he seemed stressed (running all over his tank, trying to climb the walls) so I added substrate before I’d really wanted to. The good news is that he’s no longer so frantic. The not so good news is that I no longer see my skink, as he’s buried. Will he eventually adopt a sometime buried, sometimes out and about schedule?

Those are beautiful skinks. Maybe reach out to @AHBD or @Claudiusx if anyone here has had them i bet it's those two

 

[ComicBookMama]

Those are beautiful skinks. Maybe reach out to @AHBD or @Claudiusx if anyone here has had them i bet it's those two

Will do! I love my little guy already, and hope to see some of that interactive nature come out once he’s settled!

 

[ComicBookMama]

I had an injured fence lizard (long time ago): Super shy in the beginning (he was from the wild), but later on I could observe him catching his prey.

I have some Madagascar hissing cockroaches - first weeks constantly hidden in the substrate during day and only coming out late, but now I can just observe them during day.

So if the species is not nocturnal, the animal will be fine after some time
I'd just be patient (just ... ) and do it the same way as with the bearded dragon: in the beginning leaving him alone as far as possible and then just being nearby doing quiet stuff (reading and such) - often works wonders
Having substrate available, despite he's now hiding, will likely make it easier for him: Then he can retreat whenever he can. Usually this makes animals more calm over time and also more tame - as he then knows he could hide if necessary and can dare to come out... and learn nothing bad happens with humans

You speak words of wisdom, and I will follow that good advice! I e had my beardie for years now, so I’m out of practice with this new settling in phase!

 

[ChileanTaco]

I e had my beardie for years now, so I’m out of practice with this new settling in phase!

I have my beardie for 9 months now (he's 12 months old now).
Big contrast
I remember him, a slender lizard-like creature, sliding behind its basking branch once I entered the room.
I remember him scratching me up violently and whipping with the tail when I put him into his carrier for the first time.
I remember him freaking out at the sight of me doing normal household chores (that I could not avoid doing in front of him).
And I remember him not daring to take a worm from me. He didn't dare for a long time.
Nowadays he comes towards me when I enter the room or just stays wherever he is in a relaxed manner, he goes into his carrier and doesn't even show stress marks, likes to be pet everywhere on his body, and he loves watching me doing household chores and also things he was very afraid of like the broom, the iron board and clothes on a hanger are absolutely no problem anymore. Such a relaxed, nice beardie

I just always remember how much they have to learn: Learning to trust a human - as an animal that just by the way they live has nothing such as caring parents, or a hunting partner or such, and then it "should" trust another being and one that's so much bigger! For a mammal or bird it's much easier - it might see a human as somebody like a parent, or somebody from their natural social group like their pack, flock...
Then we pick them up, pet them - in nature there is nothing that picks up and touches a reptile with good intention. Whoever does this is a predator, but they learn we do it in a good intention.
In nature nobody would share an insect with him, he would not have parents who feed him or a partner who comes by to share the bounty of the day, and if he would dare taking it away from another lizard, there for sure would be a fight. I'm thinking of: When he eats while being hand-feed, he had learned that it's okay to take away food from me and that "huge strange being" won't be angry!
So for that, I'm really proud of my beardie, and of all those beardies (and other reptiles, other animals) who learn that. They are often not seen as smart, sadly, but learning that requires IMHO a good amount of brain
If they would be just "instinct-driven", they would not be able to do that big adaption.

 

[ComicBookMama]

I have my beardie for 9 months now (he's 12 months old now).
Big contrast
I remember him, a slender lizard-like creature, sliding behind its basking branch once I entered the room.
I remember him scratching me up violently and whipping with the tail when I put him into his carrier for the first time.
I remember him freaking out at the sight of me doing normal household chores (that I could not avoid doing in front of him).
And I remember him not daring to take a worm from me. He didn't dare for a long time.
Nowadays he comes towards me when I enter the room or just stays wherever he is in a relaxed manner, he goes into his carrier and doesn't even show stress marks, likes to be pet everywhere on his body, and he loves watching me doing household chores and also things he was very afraid of like the broom, the iron board and clothes on a hanger are absolutely no problem anymore. Such a relaxed, nice beardie

I just always remember how much they have to learn: Learning to trust a human - as an animal that just by the way they live has nothing such as caring parents, or a hunting partner or such, and then it "should" trust another being and one that's so much bigger! For a mammal or bird it's much easier - it might see a human as somebody like a parent, or somebody from their natural social group like their pack, flock...
Then we pick them up, pet them - in nature there is nothing that picks up and touches a reptile with good intention. Whoever does this is a predator, but they learn we do it in a good intention.
In nature nobody would share an insect with him, he would not have parents who feed him or a partner who comes by to share the bounty of the day, and if he would dare taking it away from another lizard, there for sure would be a fight. I'm thinking of: When he eats while being hand-feed, he had learned that it's okay to take away food from me and that "huge strange being" won't be angry!
So for that, I'm really proud of my beardie, and of all those beardies (and other reptiles, other animals) who learn that. They are often not seen as smart, sadly, but learning that requires IMHO a good amount of brain
If they would be just "instinct-driven", they would not be able to do that big adaption.

You are so right! When my students go, “I want a leopard gecko!” (Our class pet.) I always tell them that having a pet reptile is not like having a pet bird or mammal… they need to learn to THINK REPTILE, because reptiles cannot “think mammal!” We are touch-loving primates; to hug, cuddle, and stroke is hardwired into us. But to our reptiles, being picked up and stroked is completely alien to them. It is, honestly, like an alien abduction would be to us… as nice as the aliens might try to be, chances are we would be confused at best, terrified at worst, if they didn’t “speak” our nonverbal language! It’s our job, with our more complex brains, to understand and appreciate our reptiles, not expect them to love and fit in with our notions of what “pet” is!

 

[xp29]

The common knowledge is that beardies are not social. That is a huge load of kaka. My beardies seek each other out and snuggle together at bed time pretty much every night. I've got videos on my YouTube channel to prove it to.

 

[ChileanTaco]

@xp29

They can be social. But what they do not have for sure is e.g. parents that raise them, and they are not hunting in packs.
Not doing this IMHO makes it more difficult for them - so it takes more "brains" to learn this as a special new thing, much different from e.g. a kitten which might be raised by a human and the kitten sees their human(s) as parent(s), or a dog who might see us as a parent, hunting partner, pack leader. A mammal is also more likely used to being touched: kitten/puppy licked by mom, living in a group, snuggling up together in a den. Young mammal learns eating solid food and hunting when mom/parents share food - likely also makes it easier to understand that we offer food and they aren't taking away our food and a fight will occur.
Same for birds: raised by parents, often living in a flock, preening feathers and nibbling on the beak is used among them for bonding, some birds (especially those found as pets) are forming live-long relationship to a partner and are known to form various kinds of friendships and to recognize their e.g. siblings and parents.
All of that is not true for most reptiles, especially beardies - just starting with no care by a parent.

And that reptiles succeed in adapting well to us, or even learning that resources indeed aren't scarce and they can tolerate another beardie nearby and even enjoy its company (instead of having to protect a territory to find enough food), shows, I think, how adaptive and smart they are.
My dragon e.g. enjoys my company, loves being touched and then he licks my hand, snuggles up to me, knows that I am his "wormgiver" (that's what I call myself for fun) and that neither a broom or a jacket will catch and eat him. He also understands gestures like me pointing at something, and also other people doing that.
Never tested that with my beardie, but there are behavioral experiments that show that bearded dragons can learn from things shown by other bearded dragons or humans. E.g.: They can learn how to open something (that is hard to open, but generally possible to open with a beardie's body) when it is shown by a human how to do so. Those who have watched the human or another beardie doing so are significantly better in performing the task than those who have to figure it out on their own.

Reptiles, IMHO, are often greatly underestimated by many people.

 

[xp29]

@xp29

They can be social. But what they do not have for sure is e.g. parents that raise them, and they are not hunting in packs.
Not doing this IMHO makes it more difficult for them - so it takes more "brains" to learn this as a special new thing, much different from e.g. a kitten which might be raised by a human and the kitten sees their human(s) as parent(s), or a dog who might see us as a parent, hunting partner, pack leader. A mammal is also more likely used to being touched: kitten/puppy licked by mom, living in a group, snuggling up together in a den. Young mammal learns eating solid food and hunting when mom/parents share food - likely also makes it easier to understand that we offer food and they aren't taking away our food and a fight will occur.
Same for birds: raised by parents, often living in a flock, preening feathers and nibbling on the beak is used among them for bonding, some birds (especially those found as pets) are forming live-long relationship to a partner and are known to form various kinds of friendships and to recognize their e.g. siblings and parents.
All of that is not true for most reptiles, especially beardies - just starting with no care by a parent.

And that reptiles succeed in adapting well to us, or even learning that resources indeed aren't scarce and they can tolerate another beardie nearby and even enjoy its company (instead of having to protect a territory to find enough food), shows, I think, how adaptive and smart they are.
My dragon e.g. enjoys my company, loves being touched and then he licks my hand, snuggles up to me, knows that I am his "wormgiver" (that's what I call myself for fun) and that neither a broom or a jacket will catch and eat him. He also understands gestures like me pointing at something, and also other people doing that.
Never tested that with my beardie, but there are behavioral experiments that show that bearded dragons can learn from things shown by other bearded dragons or humans. E.g.: They can learn how to open something (that is hard to open, but generally possible to open with a beardie's body) when it is shown by a human how to do so. Those who have watched the human or another beardie doing so are significantly better in performing the task than those who have to figure it out on their own.

Reptiles, IMHO, are often greatly underestimated by many people.

Oh I wasn't disagreeing with you, just add to
They are considerably smarter than most people would believe.
My new girl Zsa Zsa has already learned which bugs are in which container. She watches me get the dubias or bsfl ready, but she goes nuts when a grab a hornworm container. If that isn't intelligence then I'm stupid to

 

[ChileanTaco]

@xp29

Yep, mine also learned that soon. (Hornworms an BSFL I can't get here, but I have superworms, mealworms and dubias.)
Same: I wasn't able to get a timer in the beginning. So I had to switch on and off the lights manually. Taco learned super fast what it means when I reach behind the enclosure (where the switches are), i.e.: then looked towards me and upwards. Also that when the first light is off, soon but not immediately the other ones will go off too - the first one off, he soon started to go to one of his usual sleeping places.