Water
Water is very important for skinks to drink and bathe.
Skinks drink from water sprayed on leaves and also from water bowls. They should be sprayed or have a drip source avaliable. They lap water up with their tongue similar to a cat. In my enclosure, some come running to get a drink from the hose.
Always keep several shallow containers of water large enough for the largest lizard to soak in.
A plate of vegetables with a purre of pumpkin or squash sprinkled with vitamin and calcium powder supplements the pothos plants.
A plate of vegetarian beans from a Rubios restaurant is a special treat for all the skinks. They end up wearing much of it on their nose and feet, sneezing and sniffing but cleaning the plate.
Vegetables
Two new twins share some squash baby food. Mix some calcium/ vitamin supplement in with the vegetables or vegetable puree.
Pothos Plants
Epipremnum aureum, also known as the Pothos, Money Plant, Golden Pothos, Silver Vine, Centipede tongavine, Devil's Ivy and Solomon Islands' Ivy. Good thing it is a relatively easy to grow and inexpensive house plant.
Vegetables
It is humorus to watch a skink chase a pea around the plate.
Solomon Islands Skinks are vegetarian and enjoy an enclosure with many Pothos planted in hanging and wall planters. A great place for lounging and munching.
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At Night
They start waking up at sundown are very active at night.
As a nocturnal animal it relies heavily on its sense of smell, and uses it to identify its territory and other members of its group. Like snakes, the skink "smells" by flicking its tongue to gather scents and when the tongue is retracted it touches it to the opening of a Jacobson's organ at the roof of its mouth.
I feed them around 7- 8:30 pm in the evening. Sometimes they will eat Pothos during the day especially if there is water dripping on the leaves.
They are nocturnal...
Food
The skink has a strong crushing jaw but the teeth are small and used for eating plant material. Solomon Islands skinks are herbivores, feeding on the leaves, flowers, fruit, and growing shoots of several different species of plants.
Epipremnum aureum, also known as the Pothos, Money Plant, Golden Pothos, Silver Vine, Centipede tongavine, Devil's Ivy and Solomon Islands' Ivy, is an native to southeastern Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia) and New Guinea.
For best results, the Pothos plant requires medium indirect light; bright light is tolerated, but lengthy spells of direct sun will scorch the leaves. This includes the somewhat toxic (due to high concentrations of calcium oxalate) Epipremnum pinnatum (cf.E. aureum) note that it tends to turn their feces reddish in color. Skinks eat eat it without ill-effect. The plant prefers a temperature of between 17 to 30 °C (63 to 86 °F), approximately the temperature that a Skink would be happy in. In the wild, skinks feed on the epiphytes on trees as well as fig trees and various plants.
Solomon Islands Skinks are vegetarians...
The skinks come running to drink from the hose when I am spraying the plants.
Contact me at: linda@lsnye.com
All photos and videos, © 2014-2021 Linda S. Nye