Cohabing a Pink Tongue Skink and Crested Gecko

[skylord0110]

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.

[Regius_049]

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.

[skylord0110]

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.

[Jhill001]

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.

[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.

[danielwilu2525]

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.

[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.

[Craiga 01453]

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.

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

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[jclaiborne]

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.

[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. 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.