It can absolutely be done correctly. Funnily enough I've seen some of the best cohabitation done with venomous reptiles due to their specialized diets. Eastern diamondbacks for instance only eat warm blooded prey, so they can be housed with smaller colubrids without issue. Mambas don't seem to fancy snakes either, and I've seen multiple people house them with gaboon vipers and ball pythons. Also gila monsters seem to be really chill with other lizards. I know someone whose cohabbed 4 gilas, 2 desert iguanas, 3 chuckwallas, and 4 collared lizards together for over 10 years without any problems. And I've also seen cohabs with gilas and rattlesnakes. At the end of the day you just need to know the behavior of the animals and provide a large area with adequate space that allows all the animals inside the enclosure to have full access to what they need to thrive.
Cohabitation can be done correctly. However Just because the skink from the wild doesnt Show obvious signs of parasites it does not mean its Parasite free. Most wild animals live with low level permanent infestations that are kept in Check as Long as they dont become stressed for whatever reason (Like being shipped from another Continent). The skink is healthy yes and appears to have adjusted Well , but keep in mind He might be shedding Parasite eggs and such in the enclosure. I personally would have at least brought a fecal sample to a vet. To me it poses a needles health risk to your Monitor. One that captive bred feeders or other CB reptiles dont. Think about it and have a nice day
Curious how that would be different from a constant supply of feeders (which could carry parasites) or those that keep their animals outside who are in constant contact with wild insects, reptiles, bird 💩, dirt, etc
Interesting video. The skink is so small it doesn't effect the monitors space at all and thats probably the biggest enclousre a skink of that size has ever had.
Not a pro reptile keeper, but this experiment leaves a bad taste in my mouth seeing as you knowingly put an animal you consider a pet at risk of death. 11:30 - my opinion on this experiment aside you have to recognize a lizard has more capacity for logic and emotions than a worm and a human has of that more than a lizard. There’s pretty good grounds for that scientifically. That aside, People use specific feeders because it replicates the diet of the creatures natural lifestyle. That’s a fair reason for it. You’re using a wild animal as a potential feeder either for curiosity or spectacle. I guess the law does say they are your animals to do what you want with, but I haven’t seen a really good reason for why to do this, just a lot of reasons for why not.
I understand your viewpoint. While i do agree reptiles have a higher intelligence and emotional capacity than insects, i would argue that if the skink had a hesitation or flight response after almost 3 weeks of being housed with the macraei, he would not have been/be behaving in the way he is (outgoing, positive body language, etc). If at any point the monitor was to eat him, there would be no time for him to process that emotion. There could be many situations where a tree monitor would absolutely eat a skink, but, as I stated, with my individual animal (avalanche), and the demeanor that i have seen from him over a long length of time having him in my care, it is clear that he 1. Has no interest in eating the skink, 2. The skink has no fear, as he routinely will walk up and bask near the monitor. So i would argue, in my particular situation, there is no risk in that area. Many people choose different feeders for convenience, over replication. Many people feed hognose snakes live baby mice, when in the wild they would almost never touch a rodent, as they are frog eaters. A skink could absolutely be classed as a replication of a varanid’s natural diet. How is this any differant than if my tree monitor ONLY ate live lizards, and one happened to survive (and in this case, thrive) ?Nothing i did was for views. If that was my intent i would have chosen something much more controversial.
@@willexotic I struggle to find a reason for this experiment other than curiosity or novelty. One difference I will say is I don’t usually notice people naming and attempting to bond with their feeders. Hope Wemby lives a long life. Will you post the results if he doesn’t?
@@azfk Thank you man, and yes, I absolutely will. I believe in transparency above all else, so on the off chance anything should happen, It will be documented and publicized.
I personally feel like cohabbing is something that can be done, but should only really be done by experienced keepers who know what they’re doing. You’re a great example of someone doing it right: you did your research and have enough experience to know whether it’s going well or not. You’ve provided plenty of space and more than enough places for the animals (mostly the skink) to get away from each other if needed. My issue with cohabbing is stuff like when people cram 3 leopard geckos into a 20 gal and say they’re friends, and then are surprised when they tear each other apart.
Love this bro, sometimes we need to push boundaries for the better of our hobby, and we have to start somewhere. Definitely not as black and white as you should or shouldn’t.. let’s see what happens!
wouldn't recommend any skinks to be housed with a monitor lizard. Monitors can be unpredictable with it comes to prey. he may not feel like eating the skink does not mean this cant change. anything can trigger the predator response to go after the skink, especially skinks and smaller lizards do make a portion of their diet. ill give you an analogy. someone present you with a cake, but you don't feel like eating cakes because you've had enough sweets at the time so you refused. but another week passed and you begin to crave cakes because your sugar level is low. any jerky movement from the skink or smell or any sort of physiological changes like hunger or hormone changes within the monitor can cause trigger a hunting response. if the skink is something you cared about a lot, then its not worth it. if its just something you are like meh, ill give it a try see what happens, then no judgement.
I think if it works for you great 🙌 I personally have no problem with cohabitation as long as all species are thriving and one isn’t being bullied. Keep up the great work bud and 5lined skinks are awesome I’ve kept and bred them few different times over the years. They are very interesting and bold little lizards. Only downfall is they are a short lived species so just heads up on that and wish you the best luck with them and look forward to seeing updates. 🙋♂️✌️
@@willexotic yeah they definitely do the cooling period tells them it’s breeding time but they will breed on and off throughout the summer with multiple clutches. I’ve had 3-5 eggs at a time and 2-3 times in a summer the eggs are tiny and you can incubate them at room temperature 76-78. I gotta see if I still have my notes to see how long the incubation period was.
I’ve always wanted to buy some CB five lined skinks but I’ve never seen any for sale. I have a CB male blue tree from tricity reptiles. If you ever get some skinks to breed I’d try this out too!
It would totally depend on the species you are working with, and it’s attitude. I would highly advise against it unless you are extremely aware of your monitor’s personality and tendencies.
