Fire skinks, also known as Riopa fernandi, are medium-sized terrestrial lizards native to West Africa, specifically from Ghana, Tongo, and Benin. They can grow up to 12-14 inches in length and require regular access to water for hydration and soaking. A shallow bowl of water should be provided in the enclosure, which should be changed daily. Fire skinks also require access to clean water at all times, which should be placed in their enclosure and refreshed daily.
To increase and maintain humidity, mix water into the substrate, mist with a spray bottle, and provide a humid hideout lined with moistened sphagnum moss. The humidity can be achieved with 4-6 inches of proper substrate like Eco Earth, ReptiSoil, or Coco mixed with Moss. Lighting options include basking spots or heat pads.
Relative humidity of 60-70 degrees Fahrenheit is essential for these species, which can be achieved by adding soil to drier substrate such as sand and spraying. Misting the cage often and keeping humidity right is crucial. Leave a water bowl accessible with fresh water, possibly big enough for the skink to walk into and soak.
Additionally, provide a hot and cool end with an ambient daytime temperature of approximately 84 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit. The basking spot should be filled with water every 1-2 days to prevent the tank from getting dry and dusty.
In summary, fire skinks are medium-sized, diurnal terrestrial lizards native to West Central Africa, and their habitat is forests, woodlands, and areas with plenty of plants and water. Proper substrate, lighting, and water access are essential for their well-being.
📹 How to Take Care of a Fire Skink!
Wonder what it takes to take care of one of our BEAUTIFUL fire skinks?It’s easier than you might think! Check out this newest …
Do fire skinks need a heat lamp?
As burrowing reptiles, fire skinks do not require UVB lighting. However, they do necessitate a heated environment within their tank, which can be achieved through the use of a 60-75 Watt basking bulb. Additionally, they require a higher humidity level, between 60 and 70%, in order to thrive in a hot environment.
Do skinks like to soak in water?
Blue tongue skinks require a humidity level that is low to moderate, a substrate that is mossy in nature, and a water source that is shallow. To guarantee adequate hydration, the skinks should be soaked in lukewarm water once a week.
Do skinks need to drink water?
The blue-tongue skink requires a consistent supply of clean, fresh water at all times. This should be provided in a large, shallow dish with a cool end, ensuring the optimal conditions for the skink’s well-being.
How to keep fire skinks?
To ensure the health and well-being of African Fire skinks, it is crucial to create a thermal gradient in the cage or enclosure, ensuring a warm and cool side. This can be achieved using a Zilla Heat Mat and proper lighting. The ideal temperatures range from 80-85°F on the cool side and 90-95°F on the warm, basking side. To ensure the proper heat and UV, use a Low Profile Dual Fixture with a 50W Day Blue Mini Halogen Bulb and a Desert Mini Compact Fluorescent UVB Bulb. Spot clean the enclosure twice per week and periodically replace the substrate, clean, and disinfect the enclosure and its furnishings.
In captivity, feed the skinks an assortment of crickets, mealworms, superworms, roaches, and waxworms every other day. Feeder insects should be fed Zilla Gut Load Cricket and Insect Food and given Zilla Gut Load Cricket Drink. They may eat pinky mice, but should be fed sparingly. When feeding, spray the insects with Zilla Calcium Supplement and Vitamin Supplement Sprays 1-2 times weekly for additional calcium and vitamin D3.
Handling African Fire skinks is essential, as they can become accustomed to regular human interaction and can be handfed. However, care should be taken not to accidentally drop the animals or grab their tail, as this may cause the tail to detach.
How do you give skinks water?
The provision of a large water bowl with submerged rocks can facilitate the hydration of skinks during the summer months, when temperatures are typically elevated. It is recommended that at least one damp hide be provided for sloughing, particularly in arid habitats with a high density of specimens.
How long can skinks go without water?
Skinks engage in brumation, a state of prolonged inactivity characterized by a refusal to eat or drink, the concealment of their bodies, and the maintenance of a sleep-like state for extended periods, which can persist for weeks.
How can you tell if a skink is happy?
A content skink traverses its environment in a leisurely manner, intermittently displaying its tongue and maintaining visual contact with its surroundings. A skink exhibiting nervous behavior moves in short bursts, with periods of extreme stillness. The tiliqua species of blue tongue skink comprises several subspecies, each with specific terrarium requirements. These include the dimensions of the enclosure, the optimal temperature and humidity levels, the choice of substrate, the methods of decoration, the feeding regimen, handling techniques, information on potential diseases, and general health guidance.
What is the lifespan of a true fire skink?
The fire skink, also known as Fernand’s skink, Togo fire skink, or true fire skink, is a large lizard species in the Scincidae family. It is native to tropical forests in West and Central Africa and lives 15 to 20 years. This diurnal lizard burrows and hides, is shy and reclusive, but may become tame in captivity. The specific name, fernandi, refers to the island of Bioko, which has been called Bioko since 1979. The fire skink has been placed in several different genera, including Riopa, with skinks from southeast Asia.
Although they are superficially similar to the African fire skink, they are closer to some other Asian skinks, leading to their move to Mochlus. The fire skink is not closely related to other skinks and belongs to the genus Mochlus. However, a taxonomy review reveals that it consists of three separate species, limiting true M. fernandi to tropical West Africa and westernmost Central Africa, while M. hinkeli and M. striatus are found in Central and East Africa.
Do skinks need UV?
Blue-tongued Skinks are active during daylight hours and benefit from bright white light, daylight spectrum LED, overhead infrared heat, and access to UVB. To ensure the correct strength of UVB, consider distance to the lizard, bulb strength, and potential mesh obstruction. To provide the appropriate UVI level, use a T5 light long enough to span half of the enclosure and placed on the warm side. Use a UVI reader to read between 3. 0-4. 0 around the basking area.
For distances without a UVI meter, use the following measurements: Arcadia T5 HO Forest 6 – 6-9″ / 16-23cm; Zoo Med T5 HO Reptisun 5. 0 – 6-9″ / 16-23cm; Arcadia T5 HO Desert 12 – 12-15″ / 31-38cm; Zoo Med T5 HO Reptisun 10. 0 – 12-15″ / 31-38cm.
How long can skinks go without heat?
Skinks without food in their gut can survive days, weeks, or even months without needing to warm up. However, they need to warm up to digest food, as it can cause food to go bad in the gut. To ensure the skink’s safety during power outages, keep disposable heat pads on hand, even if not directly contact with the animal. For short trips and outings, ensure the skink doesn’t get too cold or too warm, avoiding direct contact with them.
📹 Fire Skink, The Best Pet Lizard?
The Togo Fire Skink (Lepidothyris fernandi) is a beautiful lizard with a fantastic personality; one of the best pet reptiles you can get …
I love you guys. I got myvery own bearded dragon. I named him tofu and he is so awesome. You guys are the absolute best and one day I do plan to hopefully get either a chubby frog or a uromastyx. I always go to your guys’s shop at least two times a week and I just love looking at all the animals you got even though I’ve been there like so many times I always get interested about your guyses animals like how you keep them. And I also love how you guys always try to educate us and it’s just so awesome
I give mine a pinky evey so often, opposed to dusting calcium. Mine also likes fish. I give him a thin slice or two when I catch and fillet crappie. His main staple is Dubia roachs. He gets super worms once in awhile and I buy some crickets now and then. I don’t like using crickets, i have lots of insectivores. I breed roache, and worms. Crickets are such a pain to breed and they stink and die easily. I try to very all of my animals diets as much as possible. I guess they will also eat the San Diego zoo diet too but I’ve never offered it. They will eat crested gecko food as a treat. It’s got lots of good vitamins and probiotics in it. Fire Skink have also been observed eating fruit in the wild, so I think it’s a good addition. They do love to burrow but mine also climbs his tree quite a bit. So I like to offer a big sturdy like log for them to climb.
You know, I imagine you hear this a lot (or, at least I hope you do) but I really appreciate how you steer people away from wild-caught animals. As someone who comes from a place where our endemic reptiles, already declining due to introduced predators, are under pressure from an illegal pet trade it doesn’t go unnoticed and it is appreciated.
this is the article that convinced me to cut my list down to either a crested gecko, or a fire skink. i went to my local reptile pet store and handled each one for the first time and absolutely fell in love with fire skinks. i’ve had mine for about six months now and am planning on upgrading to a new, permanent pretty large bioactive paludarium soon. absolutely love my little guy, pepper. best investment ever
Fire skinks look so fun to hold, like a living smooth sculpture. I think that one of the reasons why I like my blue tongue skink so much is because ever since I was young I always liked to have something in my hands, probably related to my ASD and ADD. I can’t see myself getting another reptile anytime soon, I’m very happy with my bluey, but when fire skinks came onto my radar I have added them to my mental list of reptiles that align in my interests.
Surprised captive bred is so hard to come by. One breeding female can lay 20-40 eggs every season. So long as a pair can be put together they will readily produce many eggs. Mine made so many I didn’t incubate a substantial portion just so I could manage it. Hopefully they become established in captive populations in the near future. I also think it’s important to emphasize that these guys need a few inches of substrate to burrow under and will spend a lot of time underground. People looking for a reptile that they can see often should be considerate of the fact that they are notorious hiders and enjoy spending a considerable amount of time out of view. Giving them lots of cover like hides or plants, though, will encourage them to come out more.
I’ve had a fire skink for a little while now, largely because of this article, and one thing that wasn’t mentioned that I think is another huge plus for them is that they have a very aggressive feeding response. If I put a worm on the top screen of his tank, he’ll zoom up the vines or other hides to the highest point and start lunging at it
So I just watched this one, then clicked the fire skink vs crocodile skink article and I got deja vue and really confused and it took me way longer than it should have to realize you probably filmed them on the same day. Literally spent the last 10 minuets clicking back and forth between the two vids. I need coffee.
Love her name! I really enjoy these articles and learning about animals that I’ve never heard of before. May I make a suggestion? Will you give a ballpark estimate of much the animals cost (starting at $30, starting at $500)? What may be reasonable for one maybe expensive to another. Keep up the amazing work!
Got one of these guys for my first reptile, he’s skittish (he’s wild caught so its understandable) but super awesome to interact with and watch! Don’t see a lot of good info vids or sheets on them due to them not being as popular as blue tongues, so its super cool to see this. Wish more people knew about these cool dudes, I couldn’t imagine life without my Blister boy (skink bb)
My new fire skink doesn’t even squirm when i move him. I try not to pick him up unless it’s necessary (ie. Moved him from the travel deli cup to his new enclosure, moving him out to feed him). No squirms or jumps, just calm. And he was sleeping on the car ride home! I was also told he’s the most docile in his clutch and is able to be hand fed!
One walked right up to me at petco cuz apparently some kid dropped him and no joke he let me put him along my arm and we walked around petco doing my fish shopping together. I had a soft hoodie on so I bet it was a good warm spot in his mind. It took me absolutely every ounce of will power not to impulse buy him right then and there and name him after Godzilla (he looked like the meltdown Godzilla from the OG movies). Unfortunately I won’t have space for one for a while so I had to take him back when I was done 🙁 but his company was so nice while it lasted!
I honestly haven’t been that interested in skinks until this article. These guys look awesome! I was also happy to see that your overall score was similar to bearded dragons, since requirements seem pretty similar (although our juvenile beardy likes to eat like crazy), which makes your scoring system feel consistent 😀
I love your articles and how you dont act like an idiotic fool like some of these other reptile youtube websites! Love the nice clean background for your articles and the calm handling of the animals! Would you do a Nile Monitor article sometime? I know they get a worse rep then they deserve, my BF had a 5 foot one that was the sweetest lap dragon you’d ever meet, he never bit or whipped, he even took naps with our cats (who were raised with him since they were all little). Also I’d LOVE to see a article of Amazon Tree Boas! Keep the articles coming!!
I had a fire skink but it never calmed down and was constantly in fear mode around people. It was pretty much always under the substrate when people were around. I was told the lizard was captive bread but I ordered through a local exotic pet store and am not entirely sure if they were telling the truth, really unfortunate.
I went to a reptile expo and bought what I thought was a fire salamander, but it was hiding in soil and didn’t want to mess with it at the expo. When I got it home, I noticed that the salamander had scales. It was a Fire skink instead. Very different parameters then what I originally was planning, but guess I’ll figure it out.
Fire skinks are absolutely beautiful and amazing animals, however, keep in mind that not all fire skinks will come up to the surface and let you pick them up on their own, many times they will have to be dug up and handled continuously to learn you don’t mean any harm. My fire skink loves food and once I dig her up she loves cuddling up next to my neck, but I still have to dig her up almost every time (which means taking everything out of her bioactive enclosure and moving the soil around). Definitely worth it though if you don’t mind the possibility of maybe never seeing your reptile haha
I got a fire skink about a month ago from a local breeder. I was somewhat disappointed in how shy it was, but I assumed that if I fed it whenever I spotted it above ground that it would come out more often looking for food. I assumed doing this would build trust and he or she wouldn’t feel the need to hide all the time. I never dug it up for fear of losing trust, but I had not gotten a good meal in them in a while, so I gave in and dug him up today to feed it. I got him or her out of the tank and put them in a plastic tub so they couldn’t burrow. Surprisingly, it ate out of my hand and while I was handling it. To pick it up I simply slid my hand under them until they were sitting on my hand without trying to get away. I never grabbed it or tried to scoop it quickly, but it still took a while to get it to calm down. I decided to end it on a good note after a feeding a few dubia roaches. In your opinion, would it be better in the long run to simply wait on it to be more bold and come out more, or to gently force positive interactions until they are calm? I don’t want to cause unnecessary stress unless I need to make sure that its eating.
Love your articles, you have successfully sold me on fire skings and blue tongues, lol. You reference the San Diego Zoo diet, and while googling i’ve been able to find debates about its merits for feeding monitors and tegus i am striking out on the recipe/process itself, do you happen to have a link or guide handy?
I love your articles and I recently found you doing a search for the Emerald Skink. I love skinks as they remind me of my first pet which I found and kept for years which was a Western Ali gator lizard. They seem to have similar personalities and physical qualities. This Fire Skink is another species Ive been looking into and have found a couple online but still searching for domestic bred ones and cant seem to find any yet. Im really torn between the Emerald and the Fire, have you found any breeders in the US that you could recommend? I really want a juvenile, dont know about too young of one, as I know they can be delicate when it comes to feeding. Thank you for all your articles and all your knowledge
I’m so glad you made this article iv been perusal closely! As always you are so helpful and full of good information please keep up the awesome work. Just guessing but my fire skink also would get defensive when I would pick him up off the floor in the open but I think this is because I would scoop from the top while he was trying to run which scared him, I switched to blocking his path with my hand in front of him and then picking up never had a problem after that
i have a fire skink and her name is cinder. She is very nice and loves to eat. My only concern is that shes kinda small(9 inches on the dot). She is about 11 months-1.1 years old i think(the breeder didn’t say). Is this normal? Edit: I read that they are supposed to get to full size at a year or more but idk how much more. They are also supposed to get up to 15 inches but average around 12-14 so that doesn’t quite add up. I have all the proper care like a 40 gallon tank which shes lived in since we got her, diverse diet, gradient heating(hot and cold sides), Misting, a bedding of moss/cypress mulch/ and bark, food dusted with calcium powder(cause uvb lights get expensive if they break often), water dish big enough to bath in, the works. Is my skinks growth stunted or is she just small for her age?
Dear Clint. What insect can we use as a cleanup crew in a bioactive terrarium for fire skinks (since they also have a warm and humid tropical style terrarium)? Springtails? Or isopods? Or larger milipedes? Or will adult fire skinks just decimate isopods and milipedes? Could springtails work? Or trying to add any kind of insect cleanup crew to a fire-skink “lair” is just a bad idea? Can insect cleanup-crews hurt skinks after they have just shedded?
Do fire skinks have a diet similar to leopard geckos? I know they’re insectivores but as far as supplementing goes, is it the same? I own two leopard geckos and I think I have their diet down pretty well lol. Could I feed my leopard geckos the zoo diet? And lastly, is UVB required? Or just recommended? Thank you 🙂
I have a great blue tongue skink. I do feed him insect feeders once everywhile but insectoidphobia made me steer clear of fire skinks. I really want one tho. My next reptile is probably going to be a snake or desert iguanas. I’m thinking bout a jungle carpet python. I don’t intend on getting anything until after college tho.
Hey Clint, or I guess anyone who can answer this. I’ve owned a Beardie for two years, whom I love. In the past I owned a ball python, unfortunately I had to give her up when I moved. And I was thinking of getting something a little larger, preferably a lizard. And i was curious if there were any recommendations!
Hey, just a quick question! Why do you have the scientific name as Lepidothyris Fernandi? I’ve been looking at getting one of these beauties and I’m just unsure as to whether there’s a difference between these and Mochlus Fernandi. I can’t see anything from what i’ve read but I just wanted to be sure! Thank you!
Do they stay this size or will he grow a little more? I love blue tongued skinks sooo much, but sadly I cannot afford a terrarium that is at least 2 m long. Which skink could be kept in a 1,20 × 0,5 × 0,5 m terrarium besides the fireskink? I would love to have one that is slightly bigger but not as big as the blue tongued.
Hey Clint (or anyone with a fire skink) I’ve got my heart set on getting a fire skink or a pair myself, but it seems near impossible to get captive bred ones. I’m a high school science teacher, so I really don’t want to get any pets that are unhandlable. Would it still be worth it to get a wild caught skink and try to work with them on handling? Right now during COVID I don’t have students in the classroom anyway, but that obviously will happen eventually.
I’ve had one for 5 days now, he’s shedding at the moment so all he does is stay burrowed and sleep. There are signs of movement in the enclosure and there are scales scattered around each morning I come in to mist it down but he’s always hidden. The third day we had him he only ate 1 dubia and one was worm, starting to get worried. Is it normal for them not to eat much during shedding? How long do they shed for? How frequently do they shed? Very hard to find this info on most care sheets and when they mention shedding its always vague.