New Guinean Crocodile Skinks

Captive care and husbandry.

Moderator: Scott Waters

Post Reply
J.Janssen
Posts: 23
Joined: September 16th, 2010, 3:03 am
Location: Netherlands

New Guinean Crocodile Skinks

Post by J.Janssen »

Besides fieldherping I also have another passion and that are New Guinean Crocodile skinks or Tribolonotus spp.
Over the past years I kept both species available in captivity and bred both in quite large numbers (at least for these species)
Most pictures are not that good and between 1 and 4 years old.

Jordi

Tribolonotus gracilis (the most common available of both species)
Adult female
Image

Young male
Image

Tribolonotus novaeguineae

Male with two hatchlings
Image

Adult male
Image
User avatar
Hans Breuer (twoton)
Posts: 3230
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 3:19 am
Location: Kuching, Sarawak (Borneo)
Contact:

Re: New Guinean Crocodile Skinks

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Cute....in an antediluvian way!
User avatar
monklet
Posts: 2648
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 4:44 pm
Location: Ventura, CA
Contact:

Re: New Guinean Crocodile Skinks

Post by monklet »

8-) 8-) 8-) ...are those actually "true" skinks, Scincidae? If so, sure is interesting how they've so far diverged from the general skink physiognomy. Thanks for making us aware of these animals. I'd like to see more.
User avatar
Joseph S.
Posts: 540
Joined: June 11th, 2010, 5:21 pm

Re: New Guinean Crocodile Skinks

Post by Joseph S. »

I've considered keeping a few of these neat creatures if my funds would allow. One thing many sites differ on is whether they supply UVB light to these guys. Do you? Also-what temperature range do you use for gracilis? You seem to be doing quite well with them.

These are scincidae. Definetly an oddity as far as scalation and body form go among skinks-but skinks are arguably one of the most diverse groups of lizards.
Paul White
Posts: 2288
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 9:52 pm
Location: Amarillo, Texas

Re: New Guinean Crocodile Skinks

Post by Paul White »

Are many other people producing them? I've seen ads for supposedly CB adults/subadults but never trusted them, and I remember these as having a reputation of being difficult. Neat lizards though, very dinosaur like IMO..
User avatar
monklet
Posts: 2648
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 4:44 pm
Location: Ventura, CA
Contact:

Re: New Guinean Crocodile Skinks

Post by monklet »

Paul White wrote:Neat lizards though, very dinosaur like
Yeah, reminds me of Tuatara ...which is pretty ancient.
J.Janssen
Posts: 23
Joined: September 16th, 2010, 3:03 am
Location: Netherlands

Re: New Guinean Crocodile Skinks

Post by J.Janssen »

Thanks everyone!

They are for sure a very special genus within the Scincidae. I've seen a lot of very interesting behaviour with these animals (parental care, vocalisation etc.)

Since a few years T.gracilis is bred in captivity in quit large numbers actually. However as far as I know, T.novaeguineae is only bred by a handful of people, but are not that much more difficult to keep and breed than T.gracilis. But be careful, Indonesia is exporting all wildcaught specimens as captive bred but they are definitely not. If you know how, they are not that difficult. I had success with a lot of hiding places but in my eyes the most important thing for success: don't bother them if it is not necessary. They can be very shy and are very sensitive for stress.But it differs also a lot between animals, I have one female T.novaeguineae that is visible 90% of the time and she isn't bothered by anything at all. But on the other side I also have a lot of animals I only see once every three weeks or so. I build enclosures with waterfalls and a lot of real plants in which they seem to do very well. They made complete tunnel systems through the soil. I will try to post some pictures of previous enclosures and some more pictures tomorrow. Actually I am writing an popular-scientific article about this genus and it's husbandry at the moment.

@ Joseph. S.
It depends, not every breeding pair has a UV light here. And to be honest I don't see that much difference (But I use D3 supplements). In the wild they inhabit leaf litter near small streams or coconut husk piles at plantations. They don't like to bask at all so I don't think it is that critical for this species but for sure it won't hurt them.
User avatar
Joseph S.
Posts: 540
Joined: June 11th, 2010, 5:21 pm

Re: New Guinean Crocodile Skinks

Post by Joseph S. »

Interesting. I wonder what was going on in this paper(high mortality of baby T. gracilis attributed to lack of UV)
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... 8/abstract

What do you feed and how/what do you supplement?
User avatar
justinm
Posts: 3423
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 5:26 am
Location: Illinois
Contact:

Re: New Guinean Crocodile Skinks

Post by justinm »

I kept one a long time ago and found it to be one of the most secretive animals I've ever kept. Very cool animals but boring if you don't get to see them.
Post Reply