# Baby Water Skinks



## book (Nov 19, 2008)

These are my first reptile babies  ( since I bought the parents as babies )
Golden / Eastern Water Skink - Eulamprus quoyii
66 days from mating which was sooner than I expected. They are live bearers so the first you know of the birth is a bunch of new lizards running around with the adults. 
I had to finish off an enclosure in a hurry to relocate my other adult to its new home, leaving its smaller tank free for the 5 new additions.


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## frogmancorey56 (Nov 19, 2008)

I love water skinks. i have always wanted 1.
congrats on the bubs
cheers.......frogman


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## LullabyLizard (Nov 19, 2008)

Congrats! Gotta love Water Skinks


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## Clairebear (Nov 19, 2008)

Adorable! Aww now i want water skinks... this is why i should stay off this site


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## zulu (Nov 19, 2008)

*re Baby*

Good work book,great little critters you have there!


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## Sdaji (Nov 19, 2008)

That's so brilliant! Water Skinks are some of the most enjoyable reptiles to have  Very underrated! Congratulations! Well done!


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## Jakee (Nov 19, 2008)

Nice. Are they able to be handled often with out chasing them in the tank or them trying to run out of your hand ?


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## Notorious_Guf (Nov 19, 2008)

Hey they look great, any chance you have some more photos, even of your enclosure? I'd love to get hold of some of those in the near future.

Guf


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## shane14 (Nov 19, 2008)

how big do they get?


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## Brock Lobster (Nov 19, 2008)

Sdaji said:


> That's so brilliant! Water Skinks are some of the most enjoyable reptiles to have  Very underrated! Congratulations! Well done!



Very true! Despite the fact that you cant really handle them, they are defiantly my favorite to watch. I have a few that might be popping out bubs soon. 

Congrats on the offspring!


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## Lonewolf (Nov 19, 2008)

awesome iv always wanted eastern water skinks what are they like to handle


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## Sdaji (Nov 19, 2008)

Brock Lobster said:


> Very true! Despite the fact that you cant really handle them, they are defiantly my favorite to watch. I have a few that might be popping out bubs soon.
> 
> Congrats on the offspring!



Handling is overrated. Water Skinks can be kept in a beautiful enclosure with plants, wood, water, etc, and they're so active and inquisitive. They make a brilliant display  Very entertaining. I haven't kept them for quite a while now, but I miss them and would love some more. Unfortunately they're too high maintenance for my current taste  Maybe again one day


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## Sdaji (Nov 19, 2008)

Lonewolf said:


> awesome iv always wanted eastern water skinks what are they like to handle



If you want something you can handle, get a rat, dog or girlfriend  If you must handle a reptile, get a Beardy or Bluey. Small skinks aren't too different from fish when it comes to handling.


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## book (Nov 19, 2008)

Thanks for all the comments everyone. 
I love watching these lizards and have some fairly elaborate display tanks set up for them. 
Unlike most skinks which keep flat to the ground, they hold their head up and watch everything in the room and communicate with each other with head bobbing.
Repz , Lonewolf -
They are not a good lizard if you want something to handle. Once you catch them they are fairly calm about being held and with a smaller enclosure and more frequent handling they might take to it but with my set ups they have plenty of places to hide so when I need to get them out I generally have to pull every hide out and half the substrate .
Notorious_Guf -
Some of my tanks are in an album in my profile but I will post a few more pics soon. There are a few people in NSW who keep them but they don't seem to be that common in captivity so you don't see them for sale very often.


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## book (Nov 20, 2008)

shane13 said:


> how big do they get?


 
They are the largest of the Water Skinks at 115mm SVL so they are fairly big for most skinks, not counting Blue Tongues, Land Mullets and the like.


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## Viaaf (Nov 20, 2008)

*I agree completely!*



Sdaji said:


> Handling is overrated.


I'll have to use that line -- it's perfect !
I understand the urge to handle some animals, I have cats and parrots that want interaction and like to play. But when hot snakes (vens) are mentioned, or scorpions, I don't get why people question keeping them since you can't handle them. Can't you just watch them and enjoy that? I like grilling steak outside, but I'm not tempted to handle the burning coals!


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## Notorious_Guf (Nov 20, 2008)

book said:


> Thanks for all the comments everyone.
> I love watching these lizards and have some fairly elaborate display tanks set up for them.
> Unlike most skinks which keep flat to the ground, they hold their head up and watch everything in the room and communicate with each other with head bobbing.
> Repz , Lonewolf -
> ...




Thanks Book, I haven't seen anyone advertise these in NSW yet, I'd be curious to know who does have them and who is breeding them here, what a shame you're not in NSW.


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## Ninjaette (Nov 20, 2008)

Congrats Book! those little babies are just gorgeous! You must be stoked 
Just out of curiosity, are most skinks livebearers? Would this include sandswimmers? Excuse my ignorance, I'm fairly new to skinks!!


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## Luke1 (Nov 20, 2008)

awsome stuff! i love water skinks they are so cool! take some pics of your enclosure looks sweet!


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## carpetmuncher (Nov 20, 2008)

my god. eventually someone who says they have bred these actually knows they are live bearers. how many people have i spoken to that have sold their young but have more eggs in the incubator!!!!!!


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## Brock Lobster (Nov 20, 2008)

Ninjaette said:


> Congrats Book! those little babies are just gorgeous! You must be stoked
> Just out of curiosity, are most skinks livebearers? Would this include sandswimmers? Excuse my ignorance, I'm fairly new to skinks!!



Sandswimmers are egg layers


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## book (Nov 20, 2008)

Ninjaette said:


> Congrats Book! those little babies are just gorgeous! You must be stoked
> Just out of curiosity, are most skinks livebearers? Would this include sandswimmers? Excuse my ignorance, I'm fairly new to skinks!!


 
You will generally find skinks adapted to living in cold climates are live bearer as it is harder to hatch eggs in the cold and hot climate skinks will be egg layers. There is a variety of both live bearers and egg layers species in temerate zones.


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## book (Nov 20, 2008)

First photo is the home I have the babies in. I had a single sub adult in this before I moved it to the new tank. I hope to get some more of these lizards from another blood line so he / she can have a mate.
The next photo is of the new tank I moved it to and then the water fall on the left which you can't see in the enclosure shot.
The second last one is the parents together and the last shot is one of them checking out the world in their normal fashion, holding their heads off the ground so they can see more of what is going on.


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## Notorious_Guf (Nov 20, 2008)

book said:


> First photo is the home I have the babies in. I had a single sub adult in this before I moved it to the new tank. I hope to get some more of these lizards from another blood line so he / she can have a mate.
> The next photo is of the new tank I moved it to and then the water fall on the left which you can't see in the enclosure shot.
> The second last one is the parents together and the last shot is one of them checking out the world in their normal fashion, holding their heads off the ground so they can see more of what is going on.




Thanks Book, great looking set up. Do you use a UV light? Do you or anyone know of someone in NSW who has these guys? Such a shame you're not here in NSW.

Guf


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## book (Nov 20, 2008)

Notorious_Guf said:


> Thanks Book, great looking set up. Do you use a UV light? Do you or anyone know of someone in NSW who has these guys? Such a shame you're not here in NSW.
> 
> Guf


 
I use UV light. I don't think it is as critical as with dragons as the tend to live in filtered light areas rather than spend alot of time out in the full sun. 
The small tank has a low output compact UV.
In the larger tanks I use a Sylvania Reptistar tube. They tend to be cheaper than alot of other brands and you can buy them from electrical stores instead of paying the sometimes over inflated pet shop prices. The white light output from them is also bright enough that you don't really need a second white tube just for viewing.
My Fig Tree and Herringbone Ferns grow well under them too. Although it is tough to kill a Herringbone fern so they are perfect for use in a tank. ( I believe they are considerd a weed in NSW )

Shame you don't live in Queensland 

I will let you know if I find the name of someone in NSW who keep water skinks. 
If you are really desperate and want to look into the NSW State Import Permit which I think cost $20 plus my freight costs, PM me and I will see what we can work out. I have never tried freighting reptiles before but it shouldn't be too hard.


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## gonff (Nov 23, 2008)

how much each??? lol


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## Sdaji (Nov 23, 2008)

Notorious_Guf said:


> Thanks Book, great looking set up. Do you use a UV light? Do you or anyone know of someone in NSW who has these guys? Such a shame you're not here in NSW.
> 
> Guf



I've raised and bred these without any UV. I don't think it's needed for skinks.


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## Luke1 (Nov 23, 2008)

they are sweet man! awsome enclosures!


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## cooper123 (Nov 23, 2008)

omg i want one of them so bad if you find any breeders in NSW please tell me.


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