I’m less interested in actually keeping the lizards than I am in building out a bioactive enclosure, preferably one with a self-filtering water feature (probably a shallow pond fed from a gradual waterway that will keep the plants fed) and enough small fauna to provide more enrichment than just dumping a tub of feeders in the tank daily. I’d like to try for a m/f pair in a 48” x 18” tank, though I don’t really want to breed them - my aspirations for the enclosure just need some space and it seems silly to not populate it as best I can.
In my initial stage research, people keep reporting that this skink is perpetually invisible and very easily stressed, which are my biggest concerns. Questions:
I keep the exotics in my den, which sees a lot of foot traffic and can get awfully chaotic, especially with 2 large puppies and an adult dog. My plan had been to block off the back and at least 50-75% of each side of the enclosure to limit stimulation, but it can still be loud. Is that going to be too much chaos?
I get varying reports about how little anyone sees these guys. I read a lot of things about never seeing them, but also hear that if they have lots of hides and a good amount of enrichment they’ll be visible more frequently. I know they’re not an always-on-display species, but if I have 2 in a tank that stimulates them a bunch, is it unreasonable to hope to see them as much as my poison dart frogs?
If I’m just harboring unrealistic hopes, can someone recommend a small species of lizard that needs a temperate rain forest environment?
Just FYI: I’m not exactly inexperienced keeping exotics - I’ve got ~ 40 tarantulas, a mature corn snake (that I inherited), a bearded dragon in a very successful bioactive biome (as long as you don’t look for plants), and a pair of poison dart frogs in a beautiful bioactive enclosure.
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