Land Mullet? [Egernia major]

Hello everyone!
I have a million and a half question to ask about the giant skink called the "land mullet", but before I babble on about that, I need to ask one, all important question.

Do these guys exist AT ALL in the US pet trade?
If not, then any other questions I may have are a waste of time.

I absolutely love the way they look. They're like a sleek, "pocket sized" tegu. Well, pocket sized compared to a tegu anyway.



If these guys are not available in the pet trade, what similar species are there available? I would like something with a similar, sleek, typical skink-like appearance. For some reason I'm just not a fan of blue-tongues. I'm also not a huge fan of the Cunningham's skink.

Something between the size of this big beastie and the Fire Skink.
Does anyone have any recommendations?


Thank you very much for your help!
-T.M.

They are found in a few private collections here in the states. In addition to almost never being listed for sale to the general public, they are EXTREMELY expensive.
Although not technically a Skink, check out the Haitian Galliwasp. Impressive size, very reasonably priced, and pretty easy keepers. Also, Pink Tongue Skinks are a decent size (although they have a slender build), reasonably priced, easy to reproduce, and an overall pleasure to work with.

Originally Posted by Luvthemtorts

They are found in a few private collections here in the states. In addition to almost never being listed for sale to the general public, they are EXTREMELY expensive.
Although not technically a Skink, check out the Haitian Galliwasp. Impressive size, very reasonably priced, and pretty easy keepers. Also, Pink Tongue Skinks are a decent size (although they have a slender build), reasonably priced, easy to reproduce, and an overall pleasure to work with.

Oh, so they are in the states?
At least not all hope is completely lost. I was fearful that they were all in Australia.
Extremely slim chances are better than none I suppose. You think a big reptile show would be my best bet?

And I will take a good look into the Haitian Galliwasp. Thank you for the suggestion!

I... uh... can't figure out how to edit posts.

The one thing further I wanted to ask for now was: These very few private collections in the United States, are they being actively bred? Or is the US population pretty much doomed to dwindle to non-existence?

Thus far, to my knowledge, they have been shown to be relatively difficult to reproduce in captivity (here in the states). You MAY stumble across one at one of the huge reptile shows, but it is quite doubtful at a smaller show. Expect to pay over $2000.00 per animal if you do find them so don't be surprised.
I think you may find the Haitian Galliwasp a pretty neat, and worthwhile project for the reasons listed in my first post, as well as the fact that they are in severe peril within the wild. Producing them in captivity would be quite meaningful.

Another possibility is Egernia Frerei, the Major skink. They are the only species of Egernia found outside Australia. I got three in a trade a while back and they're really quite interesting. Not real flashy, looks like a basic skink, but gets to around 15" total length. Ended up with ten babies in late June. This is a pic of them on the first day -- bad phone pic is all I have. Easier to find than E. major and much easier to afford, so consider them as a possibility.

Oooh, $2,000 you say?
huh... I guess I won't be getting one of those within the next couple of months.

I did see the "Major Skink" on Kingsnake not long ago. At first I ignored them, but I will definitely give them another look.


...actually there are some on Kingsnake right now. $150 for each baby.
That's actually a lot lower than I thought they would be; to the point where I'm almost suspicious of it.

I won't be buying any lizards before December, but it looks like the Major Skink just elevated to the top of my list. Very little different from the Land Mullet except for size and color, though it is still very large by skink standards.

I did look further into the galliwasp. Looked like a great animal, except for 1 extremely small, unimportant detail. It always has a bit of a grimace on its face.
This is just me being nitpicky and being too anthropomorphic, but the galliwasp always looks like its unhappy to me. One of the things I liked about my tegu, and like about the land mullet/major skink is that they all [or most of them] have the same, lazy grin.

That's just me being stupid, but I think I'm going to go for the skink.

Thank you all again!

Okay, I'm having a stupid hard time finding care info for Major skink's. Even less info than Land Mullets.
Here's what I got so far about the land mullet:
Big, surprisingly cold-hardy, and loves to eat mushrooms.
I'm not expecting Major Skinks to be similar on the cold temperature thing, but are they also big on the omnivorous diet?

I also found some info on the "King Skink", but those seem restricted to Australia and, even if not, I don't see much reason to search for one of those in preference over a Major skink.

There are several other Egernias available in the pet trade. Egernia stokesi, E. striolata, and E. depressa. They seem to be all be somewhat rare, though. Good luck in your decision!

Just keep in mind, many Egernia tend to be flighty. Consider if you want a hands on pet or something to set up in a nice naturalistic enclosure.
Why not go for one of the most desirable Skinks currently in the trade? The much beloved Prehensile Tail Skink is big, bold, beautiful, and manageable if handled regularly. The only downside is the price, but considering many Egernia carry a steep price tag, they may be within your budget.