A skinktastrophy!

[Catherine]

This is my Red Eyed Crocodile Skink.

This is his tank.


You can see the water dish. It has a plastic log in it. The skink tipped it over and wedged his head into the hole in the base. He has a triangular head with spines that face back. Once his head was in, it was stuck!

I heard the noise of him panicking and was in time to pull him from the water before he drowned. There was no way I could get his head free. No matter how I tried to turn his head it was stuck. If I broke the log I risked crushing the lizard's head too.

It is amazing what you think of when you have to. I have a small dental tool for cleaning pet teeth. It is made from steel, a hard metal and the point is thin and sharp. I was able to slip it between the spikes in his skull and chip away the plastic a tiny bit at a time. I actually managed to free him and he is fine.

Two questions: What was he thinking about when he jammed his head in the log and what was he thinking about while I was chipping him free. I would love to know.

Sometimes you need nerves of steel to look after pets.

[Tobi]

Oh my goodness me! That is a real drama. I am so glad he is okay and you worked out a safe way to free him. He owes you his life -but he will just say "Where's my dinner then?" LOL

I suppose he was curious about the hole, and his head slipped into it easily....backwards was a different matter of course...

Those are really beautiful photographs by the way. The first one would make a most lovely painting.

[Libby]

Oh wow. Poor baby. good thing it happened while you were home and heard him. He was probably just looking around investigating and things got out of hand.

[Catherine]

I am sure he was just curious and thought it would be a good idea to stick his head inside a tiny dark hole.

He is a cute little lizard and you are right, that is a good picture of him. What an interesting thought, it would be fun to paint the scene. I could at least sketch it.

You are right, it was lucky I was home. Just to make sure this never happens again I used my pliers to open up the base and make the hole wider so if he does it again his head will come out without help.

There are two Crocodile Skinks and I have had them over a year. they are finally getting used to me. Skinks often have a long life span. It would be great if they lived long enough to become tame. My Berber Skink is at least 13 years old and my fire Sink hatched at my place 10 1/2 years ago.