Monkey Tailed Skinks- anyone?

ColleenT

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I saw a show on tv and they featured the Monkey tailed skinks. or is it Monkey tail skinks? Either way, they are pretty cool. I then looked at prices. Wow. About $1000 on average. Do any of you have any? I'd love to see pics of yours.
 

Tom

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I had a couple back in the old days when they were $35 imports. I liked them, but I had to get rid of them because I kept them in my room and they are nocturnal. They made a lot of noise every night, in contrast to all the diurnal lizards that quietly slept when I did.
 

wccmog10

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A friend of mind has two of them. One he got when they were $35 like Tom mentioned. The other he purchased more recently. Very cool lizards. We also had a group of them at the zoo, if I remember correctly it was a group of 1.2.2. They had a cool exhibit and they would climb all over, they would also get under the leaves on the floor, so you had to watch your step when you went in for cleaning/feeding.
 

ColleenT

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How are they so cheap? The ones i priced are at $850 and up to $1700. I know their care is very specific, and i would probably not be able to give them the size enclosure they need, so it would not happen for me. Just wondering how people are finding them so cheap.
 

Cheryl Hills

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How are they so cheap? The ones i priced are at $850 and up to $1700. I know their care is very specific, and i would probably not be able to give them the size enclosure they need, so it would not happen for me. Just wondering how people are finding them so cheap.
I think that was years ago. Prices now are way more expensive.
 

NorCal tortoise guy

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How are they so cheap? The ones i priced are at $850 and up to $1700. I know their care is very specific, and i would probably not be able to give them the size enclosure they need, so it would not happen for me. Just wondering how people are finding them so cheap.
They were only that cheep as wild imports and now they are not imported so any available should be captive breed
 

wccmog10

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Correct. That cheap price is from over 20 years ago. They are not very prolific breeders, so the prices sky rocketed after importation stopped.
 

ColleenT

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I got to hold one at the reptile show today. So cool. I wish i had the space to make an enclosure for one, but they need too much space.
 

Longhorns1187

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I've read that the Solomon Islands has recently opened up its borders for exporting Corucia zebrata under 13 inches in length. So, there has been an influx of young monkey tails entering the US. I've seen them go for as low as $750 each.

Here's a couple of photos of our nearly year old girl, Penelope. She comes out of her enclosure, pretty much every night, for a couple of hours to climb around and explore her surroundings. About the only time she doesn't want to come out is when she's in the process of shedding. We've got her forever enclosure on order right now. It will be a 4' W x 2' D x 6' H Animal Plastics enclosure. 20181207_201629.jpegVideoCapture_20181201-174355.jpeg
 

Longhorns1187

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Thanks for sharing, she is lovely.
Thank you. She really is a great reptile to own and interact with, but it's not always the case with monkey tailed skinks. Some of them can be a little more aggressive, particularly inside their enclosure, and can deliver a pretty painful bite.

20180824_203756.jpeg
 

ColleenT

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I have heard they can bite. The ones i got to hold at the reptile show were babies but calm enough to let us hold them. we tried to hold them in a way that was not restrictive. They are really cool. i don't have enough space to ever have one, but i can live vicariously thru others!
 
D

Daniela2000

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I saw a show on tv and they featured the Monkey tailed skinks. or is it Monkey tail skinks? Either way, they are pretty cool. I then looked at prices. Wow. About $1000 on average. Do any of you have any? I'd love to see pics of yours.
Yes man i do how
 

TortoiseRacket

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I know www.undergroundreptiles.com sells some cheap ones. I think $850 for a CB baby. I heard they keep their animals really dry. I’m visiting their store when I go to Florida in February. I heard monkey tailed skinks are very social animals. The babies hang on their mother’s back and eats her fecal pellets. They are one of the few reptiles that stay as a family. Live young, too. The reptile store near me does not carry them, but does special orders. They say the monkey tails are the best pet reptile. I have no experience with them so I can not say. They have been open for 40 years, so I trust what they say. Everyone who has monkey tails, do you agree with my reptile shop?
-Mickey
 
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