Skink

[JohnCon]

I found these in the garage, and put them in the scorpion den.If the scorpions eat the lizards I won't miss them too much, but the lizards keeps eating all of the large crickets. Almost the same size as themself. THese are skinks right?

Behind the bark the second lizard pops its head up with a cricket in it's mouth seeing whats going on

 

[Rick]

Gilbert's skink maybe?

 

[PhilinYuma]

Gilbert's skink maybe?

You are obviously a lot more familiar with skinks than I am, Rick, though the Sonoran (known elsewhere as the Great Plains!) are very common in Yuma. It's right for Cal, but I'm used to much darker brown Gilbert's skinks in the Yuma* area. I checked and found this: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...6OaK4LSNe_m3PEB (first of the six adult P. gilberti pix)so I'm betting that you're right, though I guess that it could be a western skink, P. skiltonianus

* Anyone with more expertise on these critters than I have (not very hard) may have read that Gilbert's skink does not occur south of N. E La Paz county to the north of Yuma county in AZ, but it has apparently extended southward along the Colorado riparian valley in recent years and has reached Yuma by the river, at least. Maybe that's why it is so dark; it probably looked up Gloger's rule.

 

[Rick]

I don't really know anything about west coast herps. I do know there are only two species of skinks in Ca. That one looks like the Gilbert's but the pics are not the best.

 

[JohnCon]

I don't really know anything about west coast herps. I do know there are only two species of skinks in Ca. That one looks like the Gilbert's but the pics are not the best.

Here's another pic. Im still interested if any one knows for sure.

btw the stick in the top right has a chinese ooth hanging from it. There are fruit flies living in this 20gal, It's my circle of life terrarium with a long food chain with flies<mantis<lizard<Scorpions with a bunch on the left and um humans on the far right but Ied never eat a scorpion.

 

[PhilinYuma]

Well, I know just enough to know that no one should make a final judgment from pix that do't include a closeup of the dorsal aspect of the head and neck. If you go to the library, you should find a copy of Western Reptiles and Amphibians by the late great Robert Stebbins. Look up the two skinks, (he uses the genus name, Eumeces) and he will tell you the counts for the labial and enlarged nuchal scales. There is a nice diagram on the back cover, which shows you where they are. Perhaps Orin or someone has an easier way, but this works.

 

[yeatzee]

No idea, but we get them here all the time. Infact we had a few get into our kitchen ( :mellow: ) during the summer. They look like a snake a first glance, so my mom freaked and yelled "Tanner! Snake in the Kitchen! Get it out!"

 

[tikki]

I may be wrong, but this looks like an Alligator Lizard to me. That might be a layman's term for a kind of skink, but I had a lizard that looked exactly like that that some kid found in his yard and gave to me. They're pretty fun little lizards, if that's what you've got. I had mine for around three years before he died during hibernation.

 

[Morbo]

They look like alligator lizards to me too (baby ones anyway).

 

[hibiscusmile]

Whatever it is , send a mantis after it and get it out of mamas kitchen pronto!