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I Found a Blue Tail Skink: How Do I Take Care of It?

Blue Tail Skinks, also known as Five-Lined Skinks, are a jet black skink with yellow lines, (usually five of them) that run from their head to their bright blue tail. Although the skink only keeps the bright blue tail in its early development, the name "blue-tail" sticks. Some adult Blue Tail Skinks have a reddish or orange color to their heads; others appear silver or a golden brown color. The Blue Tail is a diurnal skink, meaning it is active during the day and sleeps at night.

Instructions

- 1
  Check with the environmental agency in your country. In some countries, the blue tail skink is a protected species, and keeping them in captivity might be illegal. If it is illegal, ask the environmental agency what you can do with it if you don't feel it is safe to release in your area. You might have found someone else's pet skink that has been released or escaped.
- 2
  Layer the container with a clean substrate. Clean potting soil and a mixture of small pebbles will provide places for the skink to dig, hide and tunnel. Ideally the container should allow room for the skink to grow, at minimum a 10-gallon tank. Some people use newspaper for a substrate as it lends itself to easier cleaning. The skink will tunnel underneath the paper as it would in soil.
- 3
  Place a small rock in the tank for the skink to climb on and bask. A UV lamp positioned over the rock will accomplish this purpose. The basking will help enrich the natural coloring of the skink's coat. The basking with the UV lamp will also help keep the skink warm, which is an essential element in a healthy skink. Heating elements made for keeping lizards will also be helpful. Turn off the UV lamp at night, but keep the heating element on.
- 4
  Feed the skink a steady diet of crickets, meal worms or other types of insects. For added nutritional benefits, sprinkle a layer of a Herptivite vitamin and calcium powder on the insects. A skink can get by with being fed every other day. If they are searching their habitat for more, you know they are still hungry. Feed them until they are full.

Animals & Science