Mary Allen
The wrap-tailed skink has been around since the time of the dinosaurs. Its name comes from its powerful tail, which allows it to grasp and hold on.
Characteristics
What does a wrap-tail skink look like?
Wrap-tailed skinks are reptiles. They belong to the family of smooth lizards and within this family to the subfamily of giant skinks. The shell-like, smooth coat of scales is typical of all smooth lizards: the head, back, and abdomen are covered with rounded to hexagonal scales.
These scales are arranged in 36 to 38 rows and overlap. Beneath these scales lie small bone plates. The teeth of the wrap-tailed skink are angular and not pointed like those of other reptiles. They have four strong legs, claws, and a prehensile tail that allows them to hold on to branches. The lizards are up to 70 centimeters long; The tail alone accounts for 35 centimeters of this.
The females are slightly larger and stronger than the males. Her head is wide, the snout is blunt. The ear openings, which are almost as large as the eyes, are striking. Wrap-tail skinks have colored greenish-white on the back. Sometimes they have brown bands, sometimes they have dark spots. The head is reddish to brown in color, the belly is white.
Where does the wrap-tailed skink live?
Wrap-tailed skinks live only in the tropical forests of the Solomon Islands. These volcanic islands are located in Southeast Asia east of New Guinea and north of Australia in the South Pacific. Wrap-tailed skinks live in trees in the tropical forests of their homeland. This is very unusual for smooth lizards – most of them live on the ground or even dig underground burrows and burrows.
What Wraptail skin cards are there?
On each of the Solomon Islands there are special kinky skink subspecies: For example, the Isabel Solomon Islands kinky skink lives on the island of Santa Isabel. In many tropical and subtropical areas of the world, there are other skink species related to the wrap-tailed skink. For example, the Cape Verdean giant skink lives on the Cape Verde Islands, the so-called blue tongues are at home in Australia and the various types of sand skinks are found from North Africa across the Arabian Peninsula to India.
How old does a wrap-tailed skink get?
In captivity, wrap-tailed skinks can live up to 20 years.
Behave
How does the wrap-tailed skink live?
Wrap-tailed skinks are the largest of all living skinks. They climb skillfully through the trees of the rainforest and hold on to the branches with their prehensile tail like a fifth hand.
Sometimes they hang upside down in a tree. Their claws provide additional support when climbing. Cocktail skinks are strictly tree dwellers and never walk on the ground. Very little is known about their life: they are adapted to live in a tropical climate and tolerate temperatures of up to 40°C. The animals are rather shy, very calm, and peaceful. When threatened, they open their mouths wide, hiss, and may even scratch and bite.
If kept in captivity, however, they can also get used to their keeper and eventually even accept food from his keeper. Because wrap-tailed skinks are nocturnal, they are rarely seen in the wild, and they also hide cleverly between branches and leaves in the terrarium during the day. Only when it gets twilight and dark do they emerge from their hiding places and climb through the trees.
Friends and foes of the wrap-tailed skink
Only larger reptiles such as monitor lizards can become dangerous to the wrap-tailed skinks. Juveniles are sometimes also preyed on by birds.
How does the wrap-tailed skink breed?
Wrap-tailed skinks do not lay eggs like most other reptiles but give birth to their young alive. A female usually gives birth to one or two young six to eight months after mating. Unlike many other reptiles, wrap-tailed skinks have a real sense of family: they watch out for and protect their young. Even when the little ones are grown, the animals stay together as a family for a while.
How do wrap-tailed skinks communicate?
Wrap-tailed skinks hardly make any sounds; they only let out a snarl when there is danger.
Care
What does the wrap-tailed skink eat?
Unlike other skinks, which feed primarily on insects and other small animals, kinky skinks are predominantly vegetarian: they mainly eat leaves and fruit. Captive animals are fed lettuce and fruit. Her favorite food is the so-called ivy, a tropical plant that we have as a houseplant. However, the wrap-tailed skinks sometimes also eat insects such as grasshoppers.
The stance of the Wraptail Skink
Because wrap-tailed skinks come from the tropics, they need it quite warm if they are kept in our terrarium. They only feel comfortable at temperatures of 26-30° C, at night they still need 24° C. In addition, the air must be very humid: the humidity in the enclosure should be around 75%. Because they grow so large, they also need a large terrarium furnished with many thin climbing branches.