Corucia vocalizations?!?!

[seishin]

I think I read somewhere once about Corucia vocalizing (making sounds) in their native jungles, but I had never heard it myself until last night!

Last Thursday or Friday I noticed that my female C.z.alfredschmidti was a little congested. So I panicked, and immediately started her on twice-daily oral tetracycline. (Experienced my first Corucia bite on Saturday as a result! Guess she was feeling better...) ;-) Last night, while I was trying to restrain her to give her another dose, she *SQUEAKED* loudly! My boyfriend in the next room even heard her through a closed door. I have been keeping these for almost three years now, and that is the first vocalization I have ever heard them make. Has anyone else ever heard them vocalize? Or know of any reports of this in the literature?

-- Celeste

[jrbl]

Celeste,
Corucia are known to vocalize. I am not aware of any literature on the subject, but many Corucia keepers report it. The most common noise, although not really a vocalization, is what I refer to as the Corucia "whistle". I have noticed this occurring during times of excitement. It is a noise made by the skink breathing very loud through its nostrils, making sort of a whistle. Corucia have also been know to "chirp". I have not witnessed this vocalization, but other keepers have reported it. Other keepers have also reported a vocalization described as a "bark". Again, I have not witnessed this. I have also noticed a low "gurgling/squeaking", which occurred at times of discomfort for the skinks. Your Corucia's "squeak" may have been the last noise, which seems to fit your situation.
By the way, make sure and keep up with the antibiotics for 7-10 day at the least. Even if it look like she is feeling better, the last thing you want is miss the last bit of the infection, and possibly help breed a "Super Bug" that is resistant to antibiotics. Josh

[seishin]

Thanks, Josh!

Yes, I kept her on the antibiotics for 7 days (stopped on Thursday), and haven't seen any signs of relapse. So I *think* she's O.K. now (knock on wood).

Are these the only lizards (besides geckos) that vocalize (not counting hisses)?

They are SO smart, too! Every day she would come up with some way to make it more difficult for me to extract her from the cage. And almost every day, she would come up with some new strategy to try to make me let her go once I got her out (first it was clawing and squirming; then it was the "death roll"; then it was defecating; then it was the yelping squeak). I *love* these guys!!!!!

-- C

[seishin]

Follow-up:

In the two+ months since then, I have heard them "vocalize" two more times. Not sure who is doing all the "chirping", or even if it is the same animal each time. Each time it sounds like an EXTREMELY LOUD cricket chirp that reverberates through the whole house. Just a single "chirp". Probably less than half a second in duration. Each time, it was sometime during the night (waking me up in the next room), and since all my skinks are in a separate room (with the door closed), I have no way of telling who was making the noise. But it sure wasn't the cat or the snakes or the giant millipedes! :-)

-- Celeste

[seishin]

Oops -- sorry, that's *one* month+, not two+...