Prehensile Tailed Skink

(Corucia zebra)

This baby Prehensile tailed skink (Corucia zebra) was born at Fauna on Saturday, March 15, 2014. These skinks originate in the Solomon Islands, but are threatened in the wild. We are very excited to announce the birth of our newest Prehensile tailed skink after several years of waiting! Yes, we said birth. These large skinks give birth to live young after a gestation of about eight months. The babies are completely dependent on their parents, who protect and take care of them for up to a year. They normally have just one offspring, but can also have twins. The young skinks need to consume the feces of the parents to obtain the necessary micro fauna for food digestion. These arboreal, vegetarian skinks are the largest in the skink family.

Our baby skink made its television debut with Daniel Kopulos on the TODAY Show.

Watch the full interview online.