Kingofnobbys, did you see my post right above dylan.des'? You must not have read it. I shall type out my request again for you, and try to explain it a little bit differently:
If you are answering the comment that is directly above the new comment that you are about to post, do not quote the comment directly above yours... It gets to be a lot of unnecessary scrolling for everybody; especially for those who are reading these forums on their phones.
Dylan.des, as far as entertainment and enrichment; yes, letting them out of their tank, whether indoors or out, as long as you can constantly supervise, is probably the best way to get their brains and bodies going. Some love to roam and check things out, but not all.
Before I started breeding and only had 3-4 skinks, I would put up a gate in front of this little hallway we have and put different things on the floor: a towel, a ball, a dog toy, a baby toy, a rubber ducky, boxes, food containers. Sometimes I would hide snail pieces in or under stuff. Some loved it, some just hid and stayed in one place the entire time.
Some skinks are okay exploring outdoors, but some never quit being terrified; some (even the tamest skink inside) can revert to "wild" defensive behavior outside; people have said it's like they turn into a completely different skink outside.
If you are looking for things to add to his tank to keep him a bit more occupied, I would maybe start with the pinned topic at the very top of this forum, the one called
Enclosure Pictures; some of the photos in there might spark some ideas for you as to what you might want to add to his tank for entertainment, like ramps, second levels, ledges, rocks, branches, plants, hides, platforms, etc.
As far as anything you put in his tank, whether it be a rock or a toy car, as long as the items are big enough that an adult skink could never get his jaws around it (and choke), and hardy enough that it would be impossible for an adult skink to bite or tear a piece off and try to swallow it (like silk plants --or real ones too for that matter). Dog toys and balls tend to be the safer option as far as toys go, because they are made to withstand prolonged, forceful chewing with teeth much bigger than our skinks'.
I have only ever had one skink who was interested enough in toys/objects he could move himself, mostly balls --he would try to bite it, it would roll, skink would follow and bite/roll it; that could go on for a while. I also bought a bunch of brightly colored baby bath toys that he liked to bite on, sometimes shake them. Mostly that was outside of his tank; you put stuff inside his tank and he would go investigate but didn't ever seem curious about them in his tank.
I also had one baby who became obsessed with one of the big Chevron cars (I don't know if these are around anymore...). They all had these big eyes, and this baby became obsessed with crawling up on the car and biting the eyes on it. On occasion he would move a few of them, but always go back to his favorite, crawl on top and bite the eyes.
Some people don't see the value in being concerned about providing entertainment for a reptile, but I say, as long as the toys/decorations/objects are safe, I don't see the harm in finding out if you happen to have a skink to happens to really enjoy it. Why not?
Breeder and keeper of Meraukes from 2010 to 2022.
