African Fire Skink — Fact Sheet

Mochlus fernandi · African Fire Skink · Feuerskink

📋 At a glance

🏠 Enclosure

• One adult: minimum 90 x 45 x 45 cm; 120 cm length improves gradients
• House singly by default; males must not share an enclosure
• 12-15 cm diggable soil: about 40% clean topsoil, 40% coconut fibre, 20% fine sand
• Quarantine on paper only temporarily; always provide opaque and humid hides
• Avoid aromatic wood, fertilizer, pesticide residue, calcium sand, sharp gravel, and waterlogged substrate

🪨 Enclosure furniture

• Warm covered retreat, cool moist retreat, and open basking surface
• Cork flats, half-buried tubes, hollow logs, roots, low plants, and deep leaf litter
• Heavy objects supported on the base; all doors, cable holes, and vents escape-proof
• Small stable water bowl and a clean prey-feeding area

💡 Lighting

• Linear T5 UVB strongly recommended; measured UVI about 1-2.5 on the exposed warm surface
• Deep shade and near-zero UV inside retreats
• Bright white daylight; UVB overlaps the warm side
• Replace lamps by measurements or manufacturer schedule
• Photoperiod: 11-12 h; no coloured light at night

🌡️ Temperature

• Basking spot: 33-36°C

• Warm zone: 25-29°C

• Cool zone: 24-27°C

• Night: 21-24°C

• Provide both warm cover and a cooler humid retreat

• Measure the surface by infrared thermometer and hides by digital probes

• Avoid heat rocks and unregulated mats beneath deep substrate

💧 Humidity & water

• General humidity 60-75%; higher in tunnels and briefly after misting
• Lower soil evenly damp, never saturated; surface may begin to dry between cycles
• Fresh water always available and changed daily or when fouled
• Persistent condensation, sour smell, or mould → excess water or weak ventilation

🪳 Diet

Feed regularly:

• Crickets, suitable roaches, black soldier fly larvae, silkworms, earthworms, cultured small snails, mealworm beetles

In moderation:

• Higher-fat larvae and other safe treats as part of a rotating prey list

Avoid:

• Wild prey from treated areas, fireflies or toxic insects, oversized prey, routine fruit, egg, or rodents

Supplements:

• Gut-load 24-48 h; plain calcium on most juvenile and about alternate adult meals; multivitamin/D3 less often by label and measured UVB

🩺 Health — warning signs

• Dry incomplete shed or sunken eyes → dehydration or dry lower substrate
• Skin sores, stale smell or condensation → dirty, waterlogged, poorly ventilated setup
• Soft jaw, tremors or weakness → calcium-vitamin D-UVB imbalance
• Weight loss, abnormal feces or mites after import → possible parasites or systemic illness
• Repeated digging, straining or persistent swelling in a female → possible retained eggs

Consult a reptile-experienced veterinarian for breathing signs, severe weakness, swelling, wounds, persistent weight loss, or reproductive straining.