Cohabing a Pink Tongue Skink and Crested Gecko

I’m planning on making Vivarium for a crested Gecko and pink tongue skink. I was wondering if it would be better to buy 2 slightly older ones instead of babies(1-2 years old). I was thinking they would adjust better or something, but that’s just a random guess. Would this be beneficial to them or would it make no difference either way(or maybe even be a bad thing)? And don’t bother telling me to have 2 separate enclosures for them. It’s not happening. I’m cohabing them as part of a project and I have done plenty of research to ensure it is ok for them. I simply want to make the most optimal conditions present for them.

If you are going to attempt it, buying younger/babies would increase your chances of success. Animals raised together almost always do better than adults introduced to each other later in life.

They should also, ideally, be introduced to the vivarium at the same time.

Ok thank you. I’m hoping to find both at an upcoming reptile expo, but I’m not certain I’ll find a pink tongue skink. At worst they will be a couple days off.

I feel as if the pink tongue skink will make a meal of the gecko eventually even though it's not in their standard diet.

Pink tongues are really docile. They would never attack something like a crested Gecko in order to eat it. People have even managed to breed the two species without the adults attacking each other or the babies. I’m not worried about them fighting. My only worry right now is setting up a good enclosure and getting the reptiles simultaneously.

I have one question though. What benefit will the animal get from cohabbing? Cresties require an ambient temp of 75-78. The skink needs a basking area of of low to mid 90s, which will kill or make the gecko very very sick. If you want both, separate them.

The enclosure will be more than big enough to accommodate both of their required temps. Their normal temps and humidity lvls aren’t far off. There is no real benefit to housing them together. I’m doing it for a project.

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Originally Posted by skylord0110

The enclosure will be more than big enough to accommodate both of their required temps. Their normal temps and humidity lvls aren’t far off. There is no real benefit to housing them together. I’m doing it for a project.

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What is the project all about? What are you trying to learn or prove out?

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As it was pointed out in your previous post about the same topic, cohabitating different species for a project that allows you to pick any topic that you want seems pointless. You have yet to answer any question in either post about what you are trying to prove. What you have shown is that you generally have a disregard for the animals well being, especially since you admitted there is no added benefit for housing them together. How many pink tongue skinks have you owned, that allows you to state with such certainty that they are all really docile or that they would never attack something like a gecko? How many geckos have you owned? How big is this cage that you feel you will be able to create the proper temp gradient for both animals? I really don't see how this is going to end well, and I don't see how you can expect to make a whole project about forcing two animals to cohabitate for a year.

I've looked at other topics. This one is by far the most interesting I have found, and it isn't horribly expensive by comparison to the cheaper options. It will run me around $600 a price I am more than willing and able to pay. I do care about the animals of course. I wouldn't base my capstone about reptiles if I didn't care about them. A capstone is a big project, and if I want to make it good I can't just make a vivarium, or anything else with my snake. She is far from breeding age, and buying more ball pythons for breeding purposes would be cheaper, but also significantly harder, and I'm just not as interested in it. The cage will be a little smaller than planned at 36x 18x 24x, but I'm going to have more than enough objects and plants for the crested gecko to hide in if it ever feels threatened. And yes of course for the pink tongue skink too. I haven't ever owned any of these species, but after hours of research I couldn't find one post to suggest they would show aggression to a crested gecko. There have been multiple people that simultaneously breed the species in a cage together without any problem. I cannot find a single person that has actually owned these reptiles in the same cage and had any problems. I know it sounds like a bad idea, but in practice it works well. Either failed attempts aren't posted, or I can't manage to find them. If my tone comes off as aggressive it's not supposed to be. I'm hoping to have every thing ready by the end of November this year, and I'll be making another post(yes for more attention) documenting the process online, and how everything goes. Thank you for your responses because I did take them into consideration with this project. I made sure to do plenty of research before hand. And the learning point of this project is to learn how to keep these reptiles happy and healthy in one cage while also maintaining a vivarium with everything inside of it. I forgot to mention that and a few other things so I'm just adding them at the bottom.Their temps and humidity levels aren't far off from each other. There is a potential problem in the heat lamp, but I'm hoping I can reach that basking temps with uvb bulbs in certain locations while the crested gecko can get far away from it. Worst case scenario is the uvb lights are too hot. I can prop up the uvb bulbs to ensure they keep the plants alive, but without the heat covering the whole cage. And then I will have a single small basking spot for the skink on the opposite end of the gecko's side.

Leaving aside the suitability of cohabbing in general for the moment, what is your essential research question for this project? It seems ill-defined from what you've shared so far.

Is it behavioral? Will you be observing the effects of the other animal's presence on each other's behavior? If so, the lack of a baseline for behavior from the individuals will be a problem.

It sounds like maybe it's related to husbandry? If so, what is the research question that benefits from the presence of both? If it's merely to prove that you can create a habitat that meets the needs of both, that's not exactly a research question and also doesn't essentially benefit from the actual presence of the animals. There's a number of questions related to husbandry that would make more solid research questions.

For example, you could observe the effects of UV light on diurnal snakes such as garter snakes that are not considered to need it but has some arguments over if they benefit. For this, you could have two snakes in two cages cages, smaller than you'd need for cohabbing the lizards, one with the UV light and one without for the first six months, and then switch which one has the UV light and observe behavior in each set-up and behavioral changes with the light swap. This, like the previous proposal, is obviously limited by the small sample size, but has the possibility of suggesting something of interest.

Another possibility would be documenting behavioral effects of various environmental enrichment on snakes or lizards. This could be done either by adding various enrichment for periods of time and observing behavioral changes, or setting up one animal in a planted vivarium and another in a minimalistic tank among many other options. This would provide data on the responsiveness of reptiles to various (positive) stimuli.

You could also investigate the ability of reptiles to learn via food motivated training. It's easier with some lizards, but there is a woma python out there that has learned to open a puzzle box for food, my own garter snakes are mostly target trained although one does a better job, and turtles have been found to do a good job of mazes once they were finally tested with better ambient temperatures. You could get two similar species and compare how well they do, you could track what stimuli one specific individual of one specific species responds better to, you could track what conditions affect how well an individual does, lots of options really.

Basically though - what are you trying to find out and why is this specific set-up the appropriate choice?

Those are all really interesting topics, but I doubt most of them would have any solid results since reptiles all have different personalities. I feel the results would be specific to the individual reptiles I studied. I could get solid results if I had maybe 10 or so, but that isn't an option obviously. This isn't a formal research project where I need to have as solid a topic as you suggested. It's a little hard to explain. For a capstone you need to choose a topic specific to your interests. Some people host something as simple as sports tournaments and make that their capstone. So the topic I choose is more than acceptable. I already spoke to my guidance counselor to ensure I could do it, and she said yes. So you could ask, "Why don't I just make a vivarium then?". I very well could, but I feel I would get better reception with this topic. I wanted to challenge myself a little more, and on top of that I'm not fully confident a vivarium would be anywhere near as good as my current idea. I have a lot of confidence in this cohabbing idea. I am yet to find any people that have a failed cohabbing enclosure for pink tongue skinks. Even when people give them less than the suggested space they seem to live peacefully. So your suggestions are interesting, but they just aren't appealing for this project.

No project would get solid results with only two individuals, correct, as it would be a flawed sample size to begin with, but it at least would have some possibility of results at all. I simply don't get what the results of your proposed project are supposed to be? I guess based on the guidelines of the project, just a vivarium that fits the generally accepted guidelines of care for the two species and has two animals in it. I may simply be failing to see it, but the only proposed benefit of adding the actual animals is for audience appeal. That fails one of the basic questions of ethical animal research, which is "why are animals needed?" You may well never get called out on that, but I'd consider it if I were you. Particularly if you ever might want to discuss the project as support for being accepted to work in an animal research lab in university or beyond.

Yea it’s less a bout a specific question and more about the whole experience. It’s not much more complicated than housing these 2 together. I wouldn’t be using these 2 species if I knew of any better alternatives, or if there were multiple cases of failed cohabing for these 2. It’s just interesting because most people would say it’s wrong, but I hope my efforts can help prove that wrong. I realize you could just say, “well it worked for you but not everyone” which is true, but maybe it will help make people more open to it if they see actual documentation of the entire process. Because this would be very interesting to see this become more popular. But on the most basic level I’m doing it because I want to. I wanted more reptiles, and I found something that I find interesting, feasible, and good enough to make my capstone out of it. A capstone doesn’t have to answer a specific question or get a certain result. It’s more about what you did, why, how, and how it turned out. There are far more intricate as well as more basic capstones than mine, but thankfully mine is good enough. I plan on becoming a zoologist one day so I will definitely bring this up, but not as anything major.

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Originally Posted by skylord0110

Pink tongues are really docile. They would never attack something like a crested Gecko in order to eat it. People have even managed to breed the two species without the adults attacking each other or the babies. I’m not worried about them fighting. My only worry right now is setting up a good enclosure and getting the reptiles simultaneously.

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Have you talked with anyone who owns or breeds pink tongue skinks or crested geckos to confidently make that statement? Ball pythons are very docile animals as well, to but there is always a handful that are aggressive no matter how much you work with them.

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Originally Posted by skylord0110

I've looked at other topics. This one is by far the most interesting I have found, and it isn't horribly expensive by comparison to the cheaper options. It will run me around $600 a price I am more than willing and able to pay. I do care about the animals of course. I wouldn't base my capstone about reptiles if I didn't care about them. A capstone is a big project, and if I want to make it good I can't just make a vivarium, or anything else with my snake. She is far from breeding age, and buying more ball pythons for breeding purposes would be cheaper, but also significantly harder, and I'm just not as interested in it. The cage will be a little smaller than planned at 36x 18x 24x, but I'm going to have more than enough objects and plants for the crested gecko to hide in if it ever feels threatened. And yes of course for the pink tongue skink too(My experience makes it hard for me to believe that you can keep the temp low enough and the humidity high enough to reasonably accommodate both species using an external heat source, maybe if you added the heat lamp inside focusing on one narrow basking spot, but them you would have to worry about the gecko climbing on a hot lamp cage when lights go out.). I haven't ever owned any of these species, but after hours of research I couldn't find one post to suggest they would show aggression to a crested gecko(I would imagine that the people who have done this likely have experience/kept one or both species, how would you know what to look for when you don't know how each species acts alone?.). There have been multiple people that simultaneously breed the species in a cage together without any problem. I cannot find a single person that has actually owned these reptiles in the same cage and had any problems. I know it sounds like a bad idea, but in practice it works well. Either failed attempts aren't posted, or I can't manage to find them(that's a no brainer, trying something that is usually shunned in the hobby and failed at it, I doubt they will be posting the negative results for the world to see.). If my tone comes off as aggressive it's not supposed to be(It is not, it sounds like you are eager to learn, i'm just not sure what it is with this project. Right now it sounds like "lets see if I can keep two animals together from different continents and hope they don't die). I'm hoping to have every thing ready by the end of November this year, and I'll be making another post(yes for more attention) documenting the process online, and how everything goes. Thank you for your responses because I did take them into consideration with this project. I made sure to do plenty of research before hand. And the learning point of this project is to learn how to keep these reptiles happy and healthy in one cage while also maintaining a vivarium with everything inside of it. I forgot to mention that and a few other things so I'm just adding them at the bottom.Their temps and humidity levels aren't far off from each other. There is a potential problem in the heat lamp, but I'm hoping I can reach that basking temps with uvb bulbs in certain locations while the crested gecko can get far away from it. Worst case scenario is the uvb lights are too hot. I can prop up the uvb bulbs to ensure they keep the plants alive, but without the heat covering the whole cage. And then I will have a single small basking spot for the skink on the opposite end of the gecko's side.

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In closing, I think some better(not more) research before hand would be more ideal. try keeping them separate first and note any differences when you put them together. You said you do not want two cages, what happens if you get a "bad apple" for either species and they don't get along, how will you separate them? How will that effect your project? because right now it does not sound like you have prepared for a negative outcome for such an important project. If you are interested in what is best for the animals, you have to know what it is like to keep them alone before you can try to co-habituate and you can not get that by reading a bunch online, at the very least I would actually talk(actual phone call) to someone with experience in doing this. Just my observations, hope all goes according to plan.

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Originally Posted by skylord0110

Yea it’s less a bout a specific question and more about the whole experience. It’s not much more complicated than housing these 2 together. I wouldn’t be using these 2 species if I knew of any better alternatives, or if there were multiple cases of failed cohabing for these 2(you could try this with two species that are from the same region in an attempt to recreate a wild environment on a smaller scale ). It’s just interesting because most people would say it’s wrong, but I hope my efforts can help prove that wrong. I realize you could just say, “well it worked for you but not everyone” which is true, but maybe it will help make people more open to it if they see actual documentation of the entire process. Because this would be very interesting to see this become more popular(If everything went well, it is not very likely to catch on, reptiles are not like fish keeping where you could grab random species from different countries and similar care requirements and then have them crawling around a cage together. But on the most basic level I’m doing it because I want to. I wanted more reptiles, and I found something that I find interesting, feasible, and good enough to make my capstone out of it. A capstone doesn’t have to answer a specific question or get a certain result. It’s more about what you did, why, how, and how it turned out. There are far more intricate as well as more basic capstones than mine, but thankfully mine is good enough. I plan on becoming a zoologist one day so I will definitely bring this up, but not as anything major(Again, for such an important project I just do not see this doing it justice for you. You will likely have the advantage that your teacher and classmates have no idea about anything reptile; so this could impress them, but this would have very little if any scientific relevance and would not help your zoology degree in any way).

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I don't think you can get a 90F basking spot in a 36 inch cage without raising the heat in the entire cage past what is good for a crestie... nor without lowering the humidity to the point that it will be unhealthy for the crestie. Especially not with it only 18 x 24in for the other dimensions. It's too small to get both ends of that co-mingled ranges needed.

I don't think an adult pink-tongue is a good match with an adult crestie and I think you'll end up with injured crestie, which you probably won't ever post about on here... which is why you probably don't read many "failed" cohab projects.

There's nothing really to "learn" in this as a capstone project imo. The animals don't come from anywhere near each other. There's zero "natural" interaction possible. It reads a lot more like someone who wants some pets, doesn't want to make two cages and thinks they can just smush the two into a cage and hey, I'll use my assignment as an excuse to do so.

I'm also unsure why you keep mentioning breeding, since you won't be breeding these.

These animals are not meant to be kept together. Hours of research does not equate to actual experience of owning both of them. Just get both but keep them *SEPERATED*

I'm scratching my head on this one!! You mentioned in one of your replies that you discussed this project with your "guidance counselor"...!!!!! So you are a younger person in school then trying to make a good grade and/or get a blue ribbon reward for seeing if by putting 2 different species together can survive successfully? Hmmmm! I agree with the majority here and advise against this. Now please dont get me wrong, I am all for education, but do you understand that most of us here on this site are all die hard reptile lovers!!!!!! You are introducing this project to all of us here and for the most part are getting negative feedback to where hopefully will make you rethink this.

I applaud you for doing your research but how intense was it and for how long did you research (2 month of research does not even scratch the surface of things)... Did you actually talk to other people who did this successfully or just read other peoples threads?

I am not writing this response to sound rude or cruel, but I am a person who believes in respecting and caring for reptiles with the highest standards. Like most of us here, we are into keeping reptiles as our hobby, some with more passion then others. Its not to see which lizard and or snake will kill each other first while kept in the same enclosure. :O

Just my 0.2 if you're set on a cohab aren't there more feasible options? Something like a crestie/gargoyle gecko seems like it would work much better. There are species like anoles/grass lizards/fence lizards that are kept communally without a problem. If you must co-hab start with the odds in your favor and get animals with the same requirements.

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I keep reptiles because I am passionate about them. My choice to use reptiles in my capstone isn't for an easy A or a ribbon or any of that. I am only using them because I am really passionate about them.I realize that cohabbing is typically bad. In most species it can cause injuries, disease, or death of one or more of the animals. However I truly believe these animals will do great together. I would like to know if any here has owned either of these species. No one has said, "oh well my pink tongue skink is really aggressive" or "my crestie is really aggressive". Everyone is just asking how I can be so confident about it when I have never owned either species. It really seems like everyone is just talking like they know what they are talking about without citing their own experience. If you have found any issues with either species please just tell me. I know that no matter how docile a species is there will always be a few that aren't, but I can talk to the breeders about their temperaments, and see how they behave. Of course there might be a few that lie just to get a sale, but I'm in contact with a reptile keeper with years of experience that has been going to this expo for a long time now. They can tell me who to avoid, and who to trust. And yes I have talked to people that have owned crested geckos. Everyone goes on about how easy they are to keep, and how docile they are. I have brought up breeding multiple times because it shows how compatible they are. If these two species can get along well enough to breed without issue that says something. The adults and babies of both species got along well enough, and if that doesn't make you think about it more openly I don't know what will. Yes they had more space, but I won't have nearly as many in one enclosure. And please don't talk to me like I have no care for their well being. I'm not soulless. I wouldn't even consider doing this if I found any evidence of there being even occasional cases of violence between these 2. Even when in sub par conditions they tend to do just fine. The absolute worst case scenario is they live fine for years, I'm off to college and for whatever reason I can't keep them until I finish. All of the sudden they start fighting. What do I tell the person keeping them for me to do? A wood barrier between the 2 of them until I can send money for 2 individual cages. I'm already starting to save up money for that should it ever happen. I have thought about this. And I'm very confident that the temps will be fine. I have a light for my ball python that gets to 120. And don't worry her basking spot never reaches over 100 degrees it's typically around 90-95. Not even a foot away i have a thermometer that reads 75 degrees. There's no doubt in my mind the crestie will be able to get away from the skink's heat source all day and night. So please don't repeat yourselves because I'm starting to get sick of doing it myself. If you have owned either of these species, and can give me some advice from your own experience I'd love to hear it. But for the rest of you that have not owned one or both of these species please stop replying. The one thing is I haven't been able to contact anyone with experience with a pink tongue, but I've been working on it and I will continue to. Thank you for your criticism. I have taken into consideration, but I am yet to find any hard evidence to change my mind.

People can and will continue to reply on a public forum because we are passionate about the animals. You've got multiple sources, many of whom are adults with many years of reptile experience telling you it's a bad idea. You said "absolute worst case scenario " would be they live fine together for years and eventually have to be seperated???? How about worst case one is dead in a week?!?!??!?!?!?!
You also mentioned your guidance counselor approved the topic. Does you guidance counselor teach science or have experience keeping reptiles? I'm guessing not...
Please show some maturity and rethink this.

Could you explain to me how one would kill the other in only a week without me noticing? These are small babies. Both docile species that could barely even manage to get their jaws around one another. They both have the ability to get away so I see no reason that either would be able to just instantly kill the other reptile without me noticing and violence.

I'm going to be honest here, although you seem very set on doing this specific thing. You are doing both the reptiles and yourself a disservice. Since you'd like only specific experience, I will speak to my specific experience although it's not the type you requested. I have gotten into a Ph.d. program in a similar field, although I could not attend due to circumstances outside of my control (project not funded - unlikely to be funded by current administration - hoping to get back to it in a better political climate for these things).

In both this process and university, I have spent time with a number of professors who study amphibians and reptiles and related fields. I have read their work, I have read others' work, I have spoken to them about their work. I can speak with a large amount of certainty on this - this project WILL hurt you with professors if you want to go into zoology.

It fails multiple tenants of animal ethics in research. It shows insufficient interest in any part of the actual science of zoology or related fields and insufficient concern for animal welfare. Since you lack a background in these specific species' behavior, you have no chance of assessing the animals' behavioral responses to cohabitation. This is a tricky thing to start with for reptiles and nearly impossible with the lack of background. You do not have the resources to assess the endocrine system to determine stress levels and that requires euthanasia anyway. The only possible results are "one animal died", "two animals died", "both animals lived." It is unlikely that anyone in your high school will have the background knowledge to understand any of these issues. A zoology professor will.

It also will not be convincing support for hobbyists. I cohab same-species same-gender garter snakes based on what I feel is sufficiently compelling research on their sociality in the wild. I also support the few expert level community tanks out there, which are basically aspiring to be a piece of the natural environment assembled and maintained by someone with tons of experience and expertise. I am more open to co-habbing than many. The proposed project convinces me that I should be even quieter about my own cohabbing and discourage it even more than I already do. Both animals may live. This is not sufficient for animal welfare. For this co-habbing to be ethical, they need to be equally healthy with similar stress levels to if they were housed separately in a manner consistent with current best practices for the species. Again, assessing stress levels would require either a very strong grounding in animal behavior (again, even with this still somewhat tricky for reptiles), or endocrine testing.

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Originally Posted by skylord0110

Could you explain to me how one would kill the other in only a week without me noticing? These are small babies. Both docile species that could barely even manage to get their jaws around one another. They both have the ability to get away so I see no reason that either would be able to just instantly kill the other reptile without me noticing and violence.

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You are severely underestimating the power in a skinks jaws. I have not owned a Pink Tongue, but I have handled them, they are essentially a smaller more arboreal cousin of the blue tongues. A skink can put the hurt on you. Pink Tongues in the wild generally feed on snails. If they can crush a snail shell without issue they will have no problem ripping through the soft skin of a crested gecko. This has been pointed out time and time again to you in both threads you posted.


The cage size you stated is way too small, there is no way you will get a proper thermal gradient in that cage. Even if you get them both as babies the pink tongue will rapidly grow.

You keep mentioning breeding, have you every seen a skink breed? They are brutal, when I put my female in the cage with my male he grabs her by the back of the neck and clamp down, even with their tough scales there is almost always a little blood.

Let me ask you this, you say you are passionate about the animals and care about them. Would you house a ball python with a boa? I mean they are both snakes right, they should get along and be best friends right?

Even if both lizards survive, they will not thrive, all that you are really doing is causing a lot of undue stress on both animals. If the skink does turn and go after the gecko you aren't going to be able to stop anything unit it is too late, one good bite from an adult will likely do enough damage to kill it, and lets be honest if you are having to "save up" to buy two enclosures years down the road how are you going to afford a vet but should something happen.

Everyone has tried to nicely point out the flaws they see to you, and you continue to ignore it. Using a little common sense will get you far in this world.

**oh and on a side note, if you still think we are all idiots over here, why don't you head over to bluetongueskinks.net and create a login there and post your questions, this is a highly concentrated community of skink keepers and breeders from all over the world (all species). Maybe once you get the same response from them you will listen, or you might lecture them about your two months of research....who knows.

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It really seems like everyone is just talking like they know what they are talking about without citing their own experience.

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However I truly believe these animals will do great together.

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I wouldn't even consider doing this if I found any evidence of there being even occasional cases of violence between these 2

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Seems like you came here to ask a question but did not come here to listen to the answers (well at lest not the ones you don't agree with), what you REALLY want to hear is "it's a great idea, you should do it"

We see people like you all the time asking, and then rejecting any good piece of advice.

Same here https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...bearded-dragon

You can't hope to have a zoo type display with minimum husbandry knowledge, fund, or adequate space.

But do what YOU want to do those will be YOUR animals.

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Originally Posted by skylord0110

I would like to know if any here has owned either of these species. No one has said, "oh well my pink tongue skink is really aggressive" or "my crestie is really aggressive". Everyone is just asking how I can be so confident about it when I have never owned either species. It really seems like everyone is just talking like they know what they are talking about without citing their own experience.

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I've kept both and currently keep a small group of pink tongued skinks. The activity levels on the skinks shift with the seasons. While they're often crepuscular throughout the year, they swap from nocturnal foraging in the hotter months to a more diurnal lifestyle when it's cooler. Though I might see midday basking or nighttime activity on any day of the year, they mainly stick to these crepuscular and seasonal trends. Mine didn't start to show much interest in each other until they were past the yearling stage. That said, unless you plan on the crested gecko living on the ceiling 24/7, they're going to come in contact with each other. I keep my skinks in a 4x2x2 enclosure and they cover every inch of it frequently. Out of the 6 babies I bought in 2015, I have 3 remaining that live more or less harmoniously together. I lost one early one - failure to thrive - and have rehomed a couple in the last year to maintain peace. While I never actually witnessed combat, and many days they would all be out basking together throughout the enclosure, I would occasionally see the largest male chasing one of the others - either a female he wanted to mate or another male he wanted to assert dominance over. Oddly enough, he was the only animal that ever got so much as a scruff. Let me tell you though, even an animal 2/3 his size could tear him up pretty good. I'd just come home from work and he'd be good and bloodied. They're tough critters though and after a few sheds he'd look perfectly fine - minus a bit of tail tip he lost in one encounter. These lizards have sharp claws designed for climbing and jaws strong enough to crunch snail shells. The simple act of crawling over the gecko could cause a harm and, if for whatever reason, the skink decides to chomp the crestie - game over.

I'm losing patience really fast here. You simply won't listen to any of my points. I started this thread by saying don't tell me to not do it because I'm not changing my mind. And what did I get, "stop stop you can't do it". My research says otherwise. I know I need more experience than I do research. You keep saying I'm ignoring your advice, BUT THAT'S WHAT I SAID I WAS GOING TO DO. I realize you all mean well, and are concerned for the reptiles, but has anyone actually looked into to doing this? Have any of you done any direct research into people's successful attempts at this? The cage is a little small yes, but it's not long until Christmas, and I plan on spending everything I get on improving their housing. If I don't get enough I have my birthday, and a summer job which is far off but is still something. I came here for one question. "I was wondering if it would be better to buy 2 slightly older ones instead of babies(1-2 years old)", and I got my answer real fast. That's all I needed. I'm just going to use this thread to upload pictures, and stuff rather than creating a second thread of nothing but criticism. I don't want to hear, "Hey that's a great idea you should do it", or "Hey that's a horrible idea don't do it". I'm going to do it. I don't want you to just tell me no don't do it. Why can't you propose ideas to improve it instead? Ideas that aren't have them separated. I would initially separate them then introduce them in the same cage later, but I've been told on here that that wouldn't be good. And outside of this thread I have found nothing to go against that or go in support of it. I'll probably continue to respond because I get annoyed very easily by this stuff despite my best efforts to be polite again and again and again. So if you have any suggestions for plants, or anything tell me now. Also pink tongues have their teeth towards the back of their jaw from what I've heard. Assuming that's true they'd probably struggle to clamp down on a struggling crestie even if they manage to catch them off guard. That's just a guess, but I'm just throwing that out there from what I have heard.

My question would be why,if your project could be about anything, would you do this after all the people stating its a bad idea? Maybe if there was one or two people saying it but almost everyone(Please note these people have years experience keeping herps) is saying that this would not be a good idea to even attempt as there is the possiblility of the animals getting hurt.

Thank you for posting here. It's nice to have someone on here with real experience. I'd like to know how many hides should I have for both? I was kinda hoping I could provide enough for the crestie to just live off ground to try and discourage it going to the ground. I know it's almost impossible to prevent it from going down, but I figured it would help. Also where do you get food for the pink tongue, and what do you use? I know they eat snails, but I've found conflicting stuff on what they eat some saying just snails, and others saying a mix of things closer to a blue tongue's diet. I was planning on asking the person that sold it to me that so don't think I was just going to wing it. If you have any other advice I'd love to hear it.

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Originally Posted by skylord0110

I'm losing patience really fast here. You simply won't listen to any of my points. I started this thread by saying don't tell me to not do it because I'm not changing my mind. And what did I get, "stop stop you can't do it". My research says otherwise. I know I need more experience than I do research. You keep saying I'm ignoring your advice, BUT THAT'S WHAT I SAID I WAS GOING TO DO. I realize you all mean well, and are concerned for the reptiles, but has anyone actually looked into to doing this? Have any of you done any direct research into people's successful attempts at this? The cage is a little small yes, but it's not long until Christmas, and I plan on spending everything I get on improving their housing. If I don't get enough I have my birthday, and a summer job which is far off but is still something. I came here for one question. "I was wondering if it would be better to buy 2 slightly older ones instead of babies(1-2 years old)", and I got my answer real fast. That's all I needed. I'm just going to use this thread to upload pictures, and stuff rather than creating a second thread of nothing but criticism. I don't want to hear, "Hey that's a great idea you should do it", or "Hey that's a horrible idea don't do it". I'm going to do it. I don't want you to just tell me no don't do it. Why can't you propose ideas to improve it instead? Ideas that aren't have them separated. I would initially separate them then introduce them in the same cage later, but I've been told on here that that wouldn't be good. And outside of this thread I have found nothing to go against that or go in support of it. I'll probably continue to respond because I get annoyed very easily by this stuff despite my best efforts to be polite again and again and again. So if you have any suggestions for plants, or anything tell me now. Also pink tongues have their teeth towards the back of their jaw from what I've heard. Assuming that's true they'd probably struggle to clamp down on a struggling crestie even if they manage to catch them off guard. That's just a guess, but I'm just throwing that out there from what I have heard.

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Cresteds are very soft and even if the teeth weren't in the front of the skinks mouth the force alone would be enough to seriously injure it. Not many people have said straight up you can't do it, but that you don't have the experience or the resources from what you've posted to successfully do it. And no, that cage is not "a little small" It's way too small to keep both animals happy. Even in zoos most of the cohabs I see are too small.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

Requiring specific experience with co-habbing these two species is like requiring specific experience for telling someone not to take a shower with their iphone 6 without a waterproof case. Documentation is limited to non-existent because it's well enough covered by the general rule of don't put your electronics in water that people don't try it just because sometimes it maybe survives. It's an Australian skink and a New Calcedonian gecko. They would not overlap in the wild at any point. They can carry bacterial loads that the other would not have been exposed to. In general, animals can safely and normally carry certain bacteria that other species would be highly susceptible to. What gut bacteria or skin bacteria do these two species carry? Who knows. It's certainly not studied for the skink and probably not for the gecko.

The skink isn't even herbivorous. Even many herbivores are less strict than people think - even deer have been documented eating meat. Pink tongue skinks are said to be fully willing to eat beef, dog food, cat food, and chicken in captivity. They are clearly not that picky about their diet.

Here's another species of skink eating a gecko if that's more compelling for you. I wasn't able to actually watch this at this time, but am putting it out there anyway.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wdgQAwUdfY

Animals explore things with their mouths. A curious skink could kill a crested gecko without trying to eat it at all, just checking it out.

People will generally not propose ideas on how to improve this plan that are not "keep them separated" as it is unethical to facilitate an unethical plan. There are extremely few individuals out there with the expertise to create community tanks properly and every single one of those tanks begins with species that share a range naturally. No research will turn up knowledge that simply doesn't exist, there is no way to gain the expertise to cohab these animals. It MAY be possible to gain the expertise to cohab different species with the same native range, but it would take years and funds.

First hand experience keeping does not an expert make(could be keeping them poorly), nor qualified to give sound advice. From what I've read of the thread, looks like you've been getting some pretty fair feedback, even if it's not what you wanted to hear.

My babies were started out on a mixture of chopped snails and lean ground turkey. Depending on what you want to be your main attraction, you can start cutting back on the snail portion and adding that instead. The main thing is to get them associating a different scent with food and turkey is available in a variety of forms(baby food, cat food, ground fresh, etc). Then you can supplement as needed with variety and calcium/vitamins. You could also start your own gastropod colony and feed a more natural diet but I never had much luck in that department. Mine will eat just about anything I present in a bowl with turkey scent.

You had no purpose in posting here then. You don't want to hear advice, you claim you didn't want to hear "go ahead", you don't listen to either common sense OR advice from experienced keepers.

As far as studying it, that's complete nonsense since you already stated you wouldn't even be there, that someone else would be watching and telling you how things are going. So either you are planning on making up all the information for your "capstone" project, meaning it's all a lie and false... or you don't intend to use it as any sort of project for school and just want to see how long it will take to get a skink to eat a gecko.

My bet is that you'll just make up whatever you need for some junk paper and never admit anywhere that your animals did lousy in the cohab space.

I'm done here. I'm not posting to someone who doesn't care one bit about the animals welfare and just claims "passion" for animals he's blatantly proposing to neglect and harm through poor husbandry out of some sort of malicious curiosity. As far as I'm concerned, you should fail the course if your professor knew anything at all about the animals in question.

So you win guys I'm not doing it. Instead I'm just going to buy 10 of each and house them together. A joke obviously, but I'm not going to house a pink tongue with a crestie anymore. It's now going to be a gargoyle gecko and crested gecko. I don't know if that will make any of you feel any better, nor do I care, but I figured I should say it before I started posting pics. I decided to change just because of how rare the pink tongues are, and the tank size. While I could afford one eventually it would be too late. I'm getting them at a reptile expo on the 26th and the tank I was buying was not only too small, but also had been sold. I switched to a 18x 18x 24x for the both of them. I was recommended this size by the same person that first recommended it to me. Although I think someone posted here about it as an alternative. Gargoyles just seem easier and cheaper. I know I said I wasn't changing my mind, and I'm being hypocritical, but to be fair none of you changed my mind but rather someone I know in real life. They didn't say I couldn't do it they simply said they didn't know. They agreed it would be a bad idea to have a pink tongue and crestie, but said they didn't know enough about pink tongues to form a real opinion about it. I already bought the tank. All I'm missing are plants, and the reptiles.

Gargoyles are from the same region so you'll probably have much more success housing the two species in the same enclosure.

They're also about the same size and definitely built about the same so you won't have a big armored heavy lizard with a small delicate lightweight lizard.

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

Gargoyles are from the same region so you'll probably have much more success housing the two species in the same enclosure.
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Gargoyles are very aggressive and territorial, I would not recommend even housing two females gargoyle together in a cage, while you can do it with crested it need to be avoided with Gargoyles in a confined environment ;)

Now some people have done it and hybrid were produced, but it does not make it right, smart or not risky.

There are many geckos from the same area Crested, Gargoyles, Chahoua, Leachies but they are not confined and the only ones that do well in captivity and communal housing are crested. Other are territorial and aggressive.

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So you win guys I'm not doing it. Instead I'm just going to buy 10 of each and house them together. A joke obviously, but I'm not going to house a pink tongue with a crestie anymore. It's now going to be a gargoyle gecko and crested gecko. I don't know if that will make any of you feel any better, nor do I care, but I figured I should say it before I started posting pics. I decided to change just because of how rare the pink tongues are, and the tank size. While I could afford one eventually it would be too late. I'm getting them at a reptile expo on the 26th and the tank I was buying was not only too small, but also had been sold. I switched to a 18x 18x 24x for the both of them. I was recommended this size by the same person that first recommended it to me. Although I think someone posted here about it as an alternative. Gargoyles just seem easier and cheaper. I know I said I wasn't changing my mind, and I'm being hypocritical, but to be fair none of you changed my mind but rather someone I know in real life. They didn't say I couldn't do it they simply said they didn't know. They agreed it would be a bad idea to have a pink tongue and crestie, but said they didn't know enough about pink tongues to form a real opinion about it. I already bought the tank. All I'm missing are plants, and the reptiles.

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I wonder why you absolutely have to have 2 animals in one cage when you can easily have 2 in two cages near each other.

But then again it's a GREAT idea you should do it because it's really not about the animals its about what YOU want.

You have so much to learn.

If you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes.

Yea so I'm thinking about switching back to a pink tongue and crested gecko. It seems like the better option, although the skink will be harder to care for. So please everyone continue to [trash] post me. Here's a picture of their soon to be cage. And no it's not done yet. I looks pretty bad right now. I need plants, hides on the walls, and just better arrangement. https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/?ui...c519&zw&atsh=1

I guess ignorance is bliss.

Yea this is actually getting pretty funny. I hope you will all calm down. I'm just going to get 2 crested geckos and breed them. I still want to do the whole cohabbing thing, but I agree that I should have more experience first. I'd like to say I was just messing with you guys the entire time, but that would be a lie. I really just change my mind constantly which most people would call being flaky. I just like to change my perspective a lot to see if I can do things differently or better. So it's going to be 2 slightly older crested geckos. One male, one female. They'll be able to reach breeding age long before the end of 2018. This idea hasn't been approved yet, but I figured a clearer goal isn't going to result in me not being able to do it as opposed to my other idea. I really hate that I kinda ended up listening to you guys, but whatever. So I'll be posting about breeding the crested geckos on a new post to try and cover up all the criticism a little. And those that really care about my train of thought can just go back and look here. But I'd rather not have this new idea plagued, and rather have it be a place for me learning how to breed them as well as documenting it for my capstone. Well tell me any final grievances if you have them.

I hope you know that we are showing concern because we care and it has no bearing on you personally. I can speak for myself only, but believe that others truly want to see your project be a success. However, the majority who have shared their thoughts are older and far more experienced than you are, which is something that you have no control over. You can only learn and gain experience with time. I don't have any experience with pink tongues, but am familiar with them. I do have a fire skink as my only hands on basis for comparison and know a little bit about other species of skinks and just don't see how a crestie would stand a chance with a pink tongue.
Anyway, best of luck with your project.

I realize you are all well meaning but it would have felt real good to prove you all wrong. I mean it’s ball-pythons.net this place isn’t exactly known for houseing bad people. I’m still going to do the whole cohabing thing, but not until I finish college and have a stable income. Mainly because I doubt I can get away with having anymore reptiles in college than I already do.

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Originally Posted by skylord0110

Could you explain to me how one would kill the other in only a week without me noticing? These are small babies. Both docile species that could barely even manage to get their jaws around one another. They both have the ability to get away so I see no reason that either would be able to just instantly kill the other reptile without me noticing and violence.

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Awe look!!! So young and naive.... just doesn't have a clue:colbert:.....

Awe look. An idiot that doesn’t even have experience with these animals, but pretends to have superior knowledge of them. Correct me if I’m wrong, and you have 20 years of experience with pink tongues and crested geckos. I’m sure you’re just an expert considering how little you originally added to the subject, and how you displayed your supreme knowledge of the subject. It’s not like you just regurgitated things already said without adding anything outside of, “me too!!”. I realize I’m blowing this out of proportion a lot, but just the way you responded just now makes my blood boil. You aren’t adding anything. You are just posting to be obnoxious, and it’s oh so petty and pathetic. You’re original post here was pointless, but still harmless. However this second one is just annoying. But clearly I’m just too ignorant to even comprehend you’re intellect. My mistake.

Awe, look! This thread got itself put in a timeout. :lockd:

While we have a moment, let's remind everyone of this rule:

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3. No Hate Speak. This includes, but is not limited to: cursing; threats of violence; racial, gender, religious, or sexual slurs; personal attacks; and speech intended to cause or further a "flame war" or personal vendetta. This includes vindictive use of the Reputation System and Private Messages. Ultimately, it will be up to the staff (the mods and ultimately the admins) to determine if any given post or thread has crossed these lines.

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A few of you are flying dangerously close to the personal attacks, "flame wars", and personal vendetta line. This stops now.