Jerry G. Walls

This 64 page booklet offers basic information about captive care of scincid lizards. Information covered includes captive habitat, feeding, and some of the forms likely to be encountered in the pet trade, as organized by continents. Species from the following nominal genera are considered (as per circa-1990s taxonomy): Eumeces (sensu lato), Scincella, Scincus, Chalcides, Lygosoma, Mabuya (sensu lato), Lamprolepis, Tropidophorus, Corucia, Tiliqua, Egernia, and Trachydosaurus.

Skinks comprise by far the largest and most diverse lizard family, and its >1200 species occupy almost every conceivable terrestrial habitat. This guide misleads the reader by underestimating this diversity, and by presenting information that is superficial and not very informative. We are told: "Skinks are simple lizards. They are simple in structure... simple to keep and feed, and simple to get hooked on." (!) The book divides captive habitats into but three types -- "temperate", "desert,", and "the big guys" (by which the author means Australian Tiliqua). The taxonomy is dated and should be treated with caution, since many of the nominal genera have been split. Fortunately, the book has abundant photographs to assist with identification. The book is not free of errors; for example, Chalcides chalcides is said to be an African desert skink (in fact it is found north of the Mediterranean in Italy). Finally, the information on breeding is so rudimentary as to be of little value. Reptiles are not easy to breed in captivity, and anyone seriously interested in breeding skinks would be much better off searching the extensive hobbyist literature, or papers and guides specific to particular lizards.… (más)