Eumeces schneideri (Schneiders skink)

Origin: North Africa and Central Asia
Length: up to 35 centimeters
Weight: 100-250 grams
Age: up to 20 years
The Schneiders skink is a type of skink that occurs naturally in North Africa and Central Asia. The Schneiders skink has a white belly and a red-gray back with orange and black spots, the scales are smooth and shiny. It is a fairly large type of skink. The body length is up to about 35 centimeters including tail. During the mating season, males have a red head color, by which they recognize each other.

Grooming
Experience: Novice lizard keeper
Food: Vegetables and insects
Feed adult: Several times a week.
Feed young: Feed present at all times
Water bowl: Yes
Change water: daily

Nutrition
Schneider's skinks are omnivores just like us, which means that they eat both plants and meat. Hence, half of their diet consists of insects and invertebrates, including crickets, morio worms, dolas, dubias, silkworms and sometimes even small rodents (young mice). The other half consists of vegetables, which are usually leafy vegetables. A few examples of this are endive, chicory, bok choy, radishes and dandelions. Now the skink has a real appetite in addition to its varied diet. This is because in nature there is not much food, so if it can eat, it must really eat well. For this reason, you need to keep a close eye on the skink's weight and adjust its diet accordingly. Not feeding for a day is also fine.

The diet that we offer humans to skinks does not meet their full mineral and vitamin requirements. For this reason, extra calcium and vitamin supplements will have to be given with the feed. You can find these at most pet and reptile specialty stores.

Water
Despite the fact that the Schneiders skink lives in dry areas, it must have access to water every day. You can offer this in a small water bowl, but change the water daily to prevent bacterial accumulation in the water.

Cleaning
Like the hungry eaters that they are, they also relieve. For this reason, it is wise to remove the faeces from the accommodation every day, and to remove the dirty bedding once a week. In addition, it is wise to thoroughly clean the entire stay a few times a year, this will prevent the accumulation of germs and bacteria.

Handling
The Schneiders skink can be handled quite easily. This is because they are very tame and can easily get used to handling with some time. When handling the skink, pick it up by gently sliding your hands under its body. Support the lower body and lift it off the ground. When handling, keep one thumb on his back so that it cannot run away easily. While handling it is recommended to hold it over your lap or over a table. This prevents the skink from falling from too great a height. Finally, it is advisable to wash your hands before and after handling. Here you prevent the skink and yourself from getting sick.

Housing
Minimum enclosure size for this animal: 100 * 40 * 40
Area: 0.5 m2 per skink
Day temperature: 25-45C
Night temperature: 17-23C
Hours of light: 12 hours
Humidity: 50% or less
Ground cover: Sand or bark / beech chips

Design.
The terrarium should be set up as a desert terrarium. This means that the terrarium should preferably be made of glass and the temperature is 25 to 45 ° C during the day and 17 to 23 ° C at night.
In addition to a spotlight, possibly also place a mild bottom heating to simulate solar heat rising from the sand (this can be created by placing a heat mat). Make sure that solid anchored rocks and tree stumps are present in the terrarium so that the skink can bask on them. You can make shelters from cork bark. To make the terrarium look even more natural, you can also place plants in the terrarium. Especially use plastic plants. Real plants are quickly destroyed.

In addition to furnishing, the Schneiders skink also needs UV light to stay healthy. They need UV radiation to make vitamin D. To get UV radiation into the accommodation, you can use a UV lamp.

Behaviour
Diet: Omnivore
Lifestyle: Day active

Character
The Schneiders skink is hobby and not very aggressive by nature. For this reason, this is a good animal if you start with the reptile hobby.
Points of attention
It is important to apply at least a layer of about 10 cm with sand or bar / beech chips (preferably sand) when decorating. The skink likes to lie underground, but can also often be seen above the ground.

Cost and Purchase
Legislation: There is no legislation on keeping the animal around the Schneiders skink.
One-off costs: This includes the costs for the accommodation, lighting, heating, water bowl and decoration. All together this can cost a few hundred euros to a few thousand euros. The final amount depends on the quality and size of the products.
Fixed costs: Fixed costs include the costs for the feed, this is a few tens of euros per year.
Unexpected costs: Costs have been incurred when your skink happens to get sick or your equipment breaks down.