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i caught a skink in my backyard a week ago [ i think he is a copperheaded skink] which i am keeping in a small tank with some leaves for cover. I tried feeding him some doggie biscuits but he didnt touch them. What food would u reccomend for him?

Live mealworms and/or crickets...

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Is it legal to catch/obtain/keep any animals where you are?
I am very against catch&keep for many reasons. one of them is that you can buy most of the animals in shops that are captive-bred. Dont suppose it's Lampropholis delicata?
I would advise you put it back where you got it from. He may not eat due to stress, may not shed properly due to incorrect humidity, i would really put this skink back, if you really want to keep them and there are no reptile shops that sell them read up for a few months first and find out about their habitat. Just because you "can see where they live" dosnt mean the ambient air is what they are living in, ie they may live underground during the day/night where it will be much more humid than above grounds.
James
Edit: Noticed you are in australia. please return the skink where you found it as you are currently breaking the law. you need a liscence to keep any reptile in most counties in australia and those MUST be obtained via captive bred stock.
Put it back, mate.

I'll have to second James on this one... If you aren't serious enough about keeping herps to set up a proper habitat for the lizard (heat lamps, live foods, proper substrates, misting the tank, etc.), then please just release it. Keeping reptiles as pets is not as easy as just throwing them in a container and expecting them to live - the proper setups they need often end up being relatively expensive, and the animals require daily care (some moreso than others, depending on the species). Not to mention the legality issues you have on your hands that were brought up.

If you are interested in keeping reptiles as pets, I would recommend a Spotted Python or Children's Python. These are among the easiest Australian pythons to care for (and, in general, most snakes tend to be easier to care for than most lizards as well). These species stay small, around a meter, and are for the most part unaggressive. Still, like any pet, they require a daily, long-term commitment to care for the snake for the entirety of its lifespan, which may very well exceed 25 years.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

I would guess dog biscuits are not good skink food especially for a wild caught one and we don't even have a species of lizard living in this state. I'd never seen lizards until I traveled to the other side of the country but you almost always have to feed wild caught animals live and fresh food(not pellets, biscuits, or other dried foods) and I've rarely heard of anyone feeding a pet lizard anything but live or frozen foods. You'd also definitely need more than a few leaves in the tank to keep it happy long term. Better to let it go especially if you don't want to go all out on it's living conditions and food. One reason I haven't kept reptiles yet is how complicated their living arrangements can be. This is for blue tongue skinks but it gives you a good idea how much you need to research to keep a lizard: http://bluetongueskinks.net/care.htm

Just let it go, theres no guarantee it will acclimate well, even if you do know anything about reptile keeping, which appears not to be the case.Chances are youll kill it. Let it go.

I would guess dog biscuits are not good skink food especially for a wild caught one and we don't even have a species of lizard living in this state.

I'm fairly certain there are at least a few species of skinks in Iowa, possibly including the Great Plains Skink (the largest skink in North America, I believe). Skinks tend to be extremely inconspicuous, however, so unless you've gone out looking for them intentionally, I wouldn't be surprised if you haven't seen any. Even if Iowa doesn't have too many lizards, though, you do have some really cool snakes over there.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

i didnt know it was against the law
*looks over shoulder*
Ill put him back today then

I guess some are located in Iowa. However having found a map they are very very restricted. The great plains skink is only listed in one county clear on the other side of the state. Most of the rest are on the other side of the state as well and most aren't in more than 10 counties out of the around 100. I went looking alot as a kid and caught plenty of various snakes(lucky the poisonous ones are quite uncommon) but have never seen a lizard in Iowa. I did come up to the house dragging a 6' bullsnake once and caused my mom a heart attack since they can mimic the sound of rattlesnakes so well.

They don't do so well in captivity, I used to try as a kid (I'm not quick enough to catch them these days) but they were really fussy about food. I found one type of bug that they'd eat almost every time, but that was about it.


For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

It's not just that, cal, there are people in australia who spend hundreds/thousands of dollars getting the liscence needed to keep reptiles (not even venomous) including the setup etc.

Glad you decided to release it.
Enjoy the glimpses you get of it in your garden - the fact the sighting is so fleeting is part of the joy.

What food would u reccomend for him?

That you asked shows you were not able to care for the creature. You did not do the research. And I doubt you had the correct licence (licence ensures the keeper is willing to put in the hard yards doing research - a good thing).

Dog biscuits?

Shame you didn't get a pic so the os forumites can see it before you turned it loose.

I love reptiles too so I see where you are coming from. Get the correct set up and licence if you are passionate enough. good luck



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~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

As an aside can Superlion and the others who jumped in with feeding recommendations please make sure to check the country of origin of the poster. "desiredusername" is an AUSTRALIAN... we have different laws (justifiably strict) and how many American's have experience meeting the needs of wild-caught Australian reptiles?

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~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

we have different laws (justifiably strict) and how many American's have experience meeting the needs of wild-caught Australian reptiles?

Look at it this way - the vast majority of Americans don't have experience in meeting the needs of wild-caught North American reptiles, let alone exotics. That said, it's almost always a better idea to purchase captive-bred reptiles than to keep wild-caught ones.

Also, at least here in California, you need a license to legally collect any herps and some species are completely off-limits. Even if the OP was lived here it would still be illegal for him to keep such an animal.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Everything is illegal in california. You can't keep quite a few captive bred animals either. Even some that are very commonly kept in the rest of the country.

Well, as I always say, "Who would want a pet weasel anyway?".

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Everything is illegal in california. You can't keep quite a few captive bred animals either. Even some that are very commonly kept in the rest of the country.

- i know a fair few breeders in cali..dunno if they have liscences or what but they publicise some very rare geckos!
James

Almost all herps/invertebrates are legal in California, except for highly-venomous non-native snakes. I lived half an hour away from the East Bay Vivarium, pretty much the largest and most respected reptile store in the United States. Sham was talking about certain mammalian pets that are illegal here, such as ferrets, gerbils, hedgehogs, skunks, etc.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

I know it's slightly off topic, but why are ferrets and gerbils illegal in california?
Skunks i can understand, but gerbils?

Ferrets are illegal because if they escape they could wreak havoc on our fragile ecosystems (I believe California has the highest number of endemic animal species of any US state) and compete with native weasel species. I'm not quite sure about the gerbils, but I think it's because they pose a potential threat to our native Kangaroo Rats (genus Dipodomys), and most of the 20+ species that occur in California are found nowhere else.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.