This forum doesn't appear to be very active, but I thought I would post here for some help, just in case.
On Saturday we discovered a hatchling in our adult fire skinks' enclosure. We didn't even know we had a male and female (though we did suspect since one is significantly larger than the other now that they are fully grown), much less that they had begun breeding.
Well, we rushed to move the baby into a gladware container with some eco earth and moss in it and searched around for any more hatchlings. We found one other hatchling as well as seven more eggs. The eggs were in two separate bunches. The first had the two shells from the hatchlings and three more unhatched eggs. They all looked to be "older" as they were yellowish-brown. The other clutch was bright white and there were four eggs together.
On Sunday we got a new 18x18x18 enclosure set up for the babies with a Powersun 100 bulb on a stand (to adjust the temps), Zilla Jungle Mix on the bottom, a layer of Eco Earth on top of that, and a layer of moss on top of that. Substrate is about 1.5-2" deep total. We also have a small half-log and a small fake plant as hides. And we have a misting system to keep the humidity up.
We burried the other three eggs from the first clutch in the substrate, but they have not hatched and at this point are looking pretty sad. I do NOT expect them to hatch, but I am leaving them in there until they start to mold or stink.
The other clutch we put unto a container with some soil and placed that container inside the babies' viv. They are still looking good. I candled them and I *think* they are fertile. Checking temps on them constantly to make sure they are hovering around 83 degrees during the day time. Temps fall to about room temperature (72-75) overnight. Humidity seems good, as the container has holes in the lid, but we are still seeing condensation on the sides.
The two hatchlings are eating small crickets and seem to be thriving. I would love some advice on how to care for them, how old they should be before we re-home them, and how to care for the eggs.
Also, I am not sure we are prepared to be fire skink breeders, so any advice on how to slow/stop the adults from breeding beyond separating them? I'd hate to do that, as they have been together forever. But I also don't want to do anything that is going to make them less comfortable.
Here are some pictures of the babies:
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