Solomon Island skink
The Solomon Island skink is a species of lizard popular with terrarians. As its name suggests, this lizard is at home on the Solomon Islands of the South Pacific Ocean, to the northeast of the Australian coast.
This chain of volcanic islands is at the same time their only original home. These lizards of the family Scicidae are also called prehensile- or monkey-tailed skinks, because of their powerful and extremely supple prehensile tails that they can use as a fifth hand, hanging head down in their preferred habitat, the treetops.
In addition they have short, but powerful legs with claws that can find adequate hold even among the most difficult branch-work.
They have smooth, overlapping scales, a unique characteristic feature of the skink family.
Their small sharp teeth are square and not pointed.
Solomon Island skinks are calm, peaceful animals. Through their daily dealings with the keepers these shy lizards have become accustomed to the touch of human hands and even take food from them.
In April 2003 a pair of Solomon Island skinks arrived at ZOO-AQUARIUM in Berlin from the Wilhelma Zoological and Botanical Gardens in Stuttgart. After a period of familiarisation behind the scenes they were moved to a terrarium in the reptile department’s show area.
The Solomon Island skink is the largest species of skink. It can reach a length of 76 cm, of which about 35 cm is taken up by the tail.
The female is somewhat larger than the leaner male and is more powerfully built as direct comparisons show.
Solomon Island skinks are nocturnal animals. The inexperienced observer must therefore search very attentively the foliage and branchwork in their spacious terrarium if he is to catch sight of these perfectly motionless animals during the day. Not until dusk do they become active and climb through their reconstructed tropical realm.
When kept and cared for properly these lizards can reach twenty years of age.
The ambient temperatures on the Solomon Islands are 27–30 °C during the day and 23–25 °C at night with an unvaryingly high air humidity. So that the terrarium for the Solomon Island skinks could present a section as naturalistically as possible through their tropical rainforest home it was fitted with an air humidifier.
These animals are exclusively tree dwellers, and never come down to the ground even in the search for food, so their daily nourishment is attached to the branches. Also in the wild you will never see these skinks near the ground.
Solomon Island skinks are predominantly herbivores and at ZOO-AQUARIUM feed mainly on our extensive range of salads and fruit. Their favourite food though is a specific plant, Devil’s ivy (Scindapsus). Several pots of this widespread indoor plant are regularly sacrificed to them. For a small snack of crunchy locusts, though, these insatiable Solomon Island skinks briefly forget their vegetarian diet to take them directly from the keeper’s hand.
The colour of Solomon Island skinks can range from all the green hues to almost black. Black, yellow, and green stripes or nuances mostly adorn the back, tail, and belly of these skinks.
Corucia zebrata give birth to live young, as a rule one, seldom two. Gestation varies between six and eight months. Solomon Island skinks have a pronounced sense of family commitment that only very few lizards possess and they protect their young. Also later they stay together as a family, as they could be observed doing at ZOO-AQUARIUM.