Skinks as Pets: Which Species to Keep and How Their Care Differs

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Skinks as pets cover a wider range than most first time keepers expect. The family Scincidae includes more than 1,275 species worldwide. Only a handful show up regularly in the reptile trade.

Picking the right species matters more with skinks than with many other lizards. Size, temperament, and housing needs vary a lot from one species to the next. A setup built for a fire skink can be the wrong setup entirely for a Schneider’s skink.

The species below are the skinks most commonly kept as pets. It also covers the wild native skinks people sometimes find in the yard. Each section notes size, temperament, humidity, and diet, and a comparison table pulls the numbers together.

Which Skinks Are Kept as Pets

A small group of species accounts for nearly all pet skinks in the hobby. Blue tongue skinks are the most widely kept. They are prized for a calm temperament and a willingness to be handled.

Fire skinks, Schneider’s skinks (also sold as berber skinks), red eyed crocodile skinks, monkey tailed skinks, and pink tongued skinks fill out the rest of the common lineup. Each comes from a different part of the world. That background shapes its care.

A fire skink comes from the humid forest floor of West Africa. A Schneider’s skink comes from the dry scrub of North Africa. A skink pet from one habitat rarely does well in a setup built for the other, and the sections below break down what each species actually needs.

Wild native skinks in North America are a separate category. This group includes the five lined skink, the blue tailed skink, and the western skink. People often find these in the garden and ask whether one can become a pet skink.

Blue Tongue Skinks

Blue tongue skinks, genus Tiliqua, are the closest thing to a starter pet skink. Adults commonly reach 17 to 24 inches long and live 15 to 20 years in captivity. They have a stocky body and short legs that give them a waddling gait.

Plan on a 4 by 2 foot floor at minimum, with a basking surface in the 90s°F and a cool end in the low 70s. Exotic veterinarian Laurie Hess puts the smallest workable tank at 50 gallons, and bigger, such as a REPTI ZOO 120 Gallon PVC Reptile Enclosure (48x24x24), is better for an animal this long.

They are ground dwelling and largely diurnal. They tolerate regular handling better than almost any other skink. That temperament is a big part of why they lead this list.

Humidity in a blue tongue enclosure should sit in a modest 25 to 45 percent range. That is lower than several other pet skink species need. Diet is omnivorous, built around roughly 60 percent plant matter and 40 percent animal protein.

Blue tongue skinks already have deep coverage on this site. Full setup, feeding, and health detail lives on the dedicated blue tongue skink care guide. That page is the better starting point for anyone who has already settled on this species.

Fire Skinks and Schneider’s (Berber) Skinks

Fire skinks, Mochlus fernandi, come from humid forest floor habitat across West and Central Africa. The Reptile Database records them from Sierra Leone and Ghana east to Cameroon, Gabon, and Congo, and notes they lay eggs.

They spend much of their time burrowing through leaf litter and loose substrate. Most keepers describe them as shy and quick to bolt for cover.

No zoo or veterinary source publishes an adult length for this species. Hobby guides put it at 12 to 15 inches, which matches the animals sold in the trade.

A fire skink is not the skink lizard pet to pick if daily handling matters most. A deep, moisture holding substrate that supports burrowing matters more here than it does for several other pet skinks. Cover and hiding spots should be dense.

Schneider’s skink comes from a very different environment. Home range runs across dry, sandy terrain in North Africa, the Middle East, and parts of Central Asia. It is often sold under the name berber skink, and berber skink care questions describe the same animal.

This is one of the larger skinks in the pet trade. It has a heavy, muscular build suited to burrowing in sand. Berber skink care leans dry, with a sand or sand and soil blend substrate.

The humidity target sits well below what a fire skink needs. Both species are largely insectivorous. Schneider’s skinks will also take some plant matter as adults.

See the full fire skink page and Schneider’s skink page for species specific husbandry. Both cover exact temperature and feeding schedules.

Red Eyed Crocodile Skinks and Monkey Tailed Skinks

Red eyed crocodile skinks are a small, secretive skink lizard pet. They rarely exceed 8 to 10 inches long. A single adult can live in a 10 gallon enclosure.

Keepers housing a small group together generally move up to a 20 gallon tank for 3 to 4 animals. This species is shy and ground dwelling. It tends to do poorly with frequent handling.

Humidity for this species runs high, generally 70 to 90 percent. A water dish and misting a few times a day help hold that level.

Daytime temperatures in the mid to high 70s suit them well. A basking spot near 80 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit rounds out the gradient.

They need genuine UVB exposure on a consistent daily schedule. Diet is strictly insectivorous, built around small roaches, silkworms, mealworms, and crickets. Prey should be sized to roughly half the skink’s head width, and full setup detail is on the red eyed crocodile skink page.

Monkey tailed skinks are almost the opposite animal. They are the largest living skink species, and the Aquarium of the Pacific gives an adult length of about 30 inches, with the tail making up nearly half of that. A fully prehensile tail suits their life in the trees of the Solomon Islands.

Unlike nearly every other species on this list, they are strict herbivores. They feed on leaves and browse rather than insects. They also live in small family groups, a rare trait covered in full on the monkey tailed skink page.

Pink Tongued Skinks

Pink tongued skink care starts from the same broad template as blue tongue care, because the two are close relatives. The Reptile Database places the pink tongued skink in its own genus, Cyclodomorphus gerrardii, after years listed under Tiliqua. The two diverge in some important ways, and pink tongued skinks are smaller and more agile climbers.

They are native to moist forest in eastern Australia, in New South Wales and Queensland. They spend more time off the ground than a blue tongue skink typically does. That climbing habit should shape the enclosure layout.

Diet is the biggest difference in pink tongue skink care. Blue tongue skinks eat a broad omnivorous mix. Pink tongued skinks lean heavily toward snails and slugs in the wild, alongside other invertebrates and some plant matter.

A captive diet needs to reflect that mollusk heavy natural menu. Copying a blue tongue feeding plan directly is a common mistake. Like their blue tongue relatives, pink tongued skinks give birth to live young rather than laying eggs.

Like a blue tongue skink, a startled pink tongued skink gapes and shows its tongue, which in this species is pink. They are less commonly available in the trade than blue tongue skinks. Sourcing a captive bred animal, as detailed on the pink tongued skink page, takes more patience.

Wild Native Skinks: Five Lined, Blue Tailed, and Western

The five lined skink and the blue tailed skink are frequently confused. They describe the same general group of animals at different life stages. The bright blue tail seen on juveniles fades to a duller color in adults.

That color shift is a well known trait shared across several native Plestiodon species in eastern and central North America. Adults typically run about 5 to 8.5 inches long. Wild individuals can live up to roughly 6 years.

The western skink, found across the Pacific states, tells a similar story. It is a small, fast, insect eating lizard rather than a species built for captivity. None of these native skinks have been bred for generations in a controlled setting.

Most states place some limit on collecting native wildlife from the yard or garden. Anyone tempted by a five lined skink pet found outdoors should check state wildlife rules first. In most cases, a captive bred pet skink species is the more practical route than a wild caught native.

Comparing Pet Skink Species

The table below lines up size, temperament, humidity, and diet across the main pet skink species. The differences are easy to scan at a glance this way.

Adult lengths for fire skinks, Schneider’s skinks, and pink tongued skinks come from hobby guides, since no zoo or veterinary source publishes a figure for them. The blue tongue skink, red eyed crocodile skink, and monkey tailed skink figures come from veterinary and public aquarium sources.

Before You Buy a Skink

• Buy captive bred. Australia bans export of its native reptiles, so any legal blue tongue or pink tongued skink outside Australia is captive bred. Captive bred fire and Schneider’s skinks also carry far fewer parasites than imports.
• Quarantine every new skink away from other reptiles. The Merck Veterinary Manual recommends 3 to 6 months for new reptiles, with a fecal exam in that window.
• Find a reptile veterinarian before you need one, and budget for a first exam and a parasite check.
• Match the species to your house. A dry room suits a Schneider’s skink and a blue tongue; a humid basement setup suits a fire or crocodile skink.
• Expect a 15 to 20 year commitment for a blue tongue skink, and a decade or more for most of the others.

General Care Basics for Any Pet Skink

A few care basics apply across nearly every pet skink species. This holds whatever the specific temperature and humidity targets turn out to be.

Skinks are naturally secretive. All of them need secure hides on both the warm and cool ends of the enclosure, or they stress without cover.

Loose, diggable substrate matters most for the ground dwelling and burrowing species. None of the common pet skinks are venomous.

Bites from any of them are rare and minor even when they happen. Full detail on this is covered on the skink bite and venom page.

Enclosure sizing, substrate depth, and hide placement differ a lot between species. One set of numbers would not serve any of them well. The skink enclosure guide breaks this down by species type instead of lumping every skink together.

Feeding schedules and supplement needs also shift with diet type. This spans the strict insectivores, the omnivores, and the one strict herbivore on this list. The skink diet guide covers feeder insects, plant matter, and supplementation for each group.

Anyone planning to breed a pet skink down the line should know that reproduction strategy varies by species. Blue tongue and pink tongued skinks give birth to live young.

Fire skinks, Schneider’s skinks, and the North American natives lay eggs instead. The skink breeding guide covers both strategies in detail.

Choosing the Right Skink for You

A first time keeper who wants to handle their skink regularly is usually best served by a blue tongue skink. The temperament and flexible omnivorous diet make it the easiest species on this list to get right. Its humidity needs are also easier to hold steady than several other pet skinks require.

Keepers who prefer a hands off, observation focused pet skink might lean toward a fire skink, a red eyed crocodile skink, or a Schneider’s skink instead. All three are shy by nature and do fine with minimal handling. Their humidity and substrate needs still differ sharply from each other, so the species pages above are worth reading in full.

Monkey tailed skinks and pink tongued skinks suit a narrower group of keepers. A monkey tailed skink needs real vertical space and a strictly herbivorous diet. Keeping a small group rather than a single animal is also worth planning for, and that is a bigger commitment than most first choices among skinks as pets.

A pink tongued skink is a reasonable step up for someone who already has omnivorous skink experience. It rewards a keeper willing to try a mollusk heavy diet. It is not the easiest starting point, but it is far from the hardest either.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the easiest skink to keep as a pet?

The blue tongue skink is generally considered the easiest pet skink for beginners. It tolerates handling well, eats a flexible omnivorous diet, and needs only 25 to 45 percent humidity. Plan on a 4 by 2 foot enclosure and a 15 to 20 year lifespan.

Are blue skinks and blue tailed skinks the same as blue tongue skinks?

Not usually. People searching blue skink care are often thinking of the blue tailed skink, which is simply the juvenile coloring of native five lined and broadhead skinks. Blue tongue skinks are unrelated, named for a blue tongue display rather than any blue coloring.

Can I keep a five lined skink as a pet?

A five lined skink pet is not a common or recommended choice. These are wild native lizards, and most individuals live only a few years even in the wild. Many states also restrict collecting native reptiles, so a captive bred pet skink species is the more practical option.

Is a Schneider’s or berber skink a good pet?

Berber skink care suits a keeper who wants a large, bold skink and can provide a dry, sand based enclosure. They settle well in captivity and reach a solid size. They do need a lower humidity setup than several other pet skinks on this list.

How does pink tongued skink care differ from blue tongue skink care?

Pink tongue skink care follows the same broad template as blue tongue care, since the two are close relatives with similar builds. The main difference is a more mollusk heavy diet built around snails and slugs. Pink tongued skinks also climb more and are somewhat less common in the pet trade.

Can you keep a western skink as a pet?

A western skink pet is not a typical or advisable choice, since it is a wild native species rather than an animal bred for the pet trade. Rules on collecting native wildlife vary by state, so check local regulations first. A captive bred pet skink species is generally the better route.