_{Have you tried inquiring on an actual Reptile forum? someone on Reptile Forums UK might be able to help, I've always managed to get answers to all of my reptile based questions there .u.}

I looked through a lot of reptile forums but they were all 'THIS LIZARD IS NEW I MIGHT GET ONE' comments.

Thank you, like I said I know a bit about general skink care, like fire skinks (which is what I was going to get before I saw these cuties) and I just want to make sure I get their set up perfect.

_{Found this -> http://www.captivebredreptileforums.co.uk/lizards-general/76464-peters-banded-skinks.html
Not sure if you've already seen it, but they've posted a basic info sheet in the comments which might offer atleast an idea of their care}

Alright so since these guys are so new to the hobby, we don't really have any tried and true set-ups that can be slapped together like for Leos and Beardies, but they don't seem too finicky so far? The breeding pair owned by one of the vendors at Nashville Repticon seemed very healthy last I saw them, so I'm gonna go off a lot of the information I heard from them as well as research collected on wild specimens.

Here's the general idea we have so far about what we need to keep them healthy:

Temps: Average of 85 degrees fahrenheit (30 celcius). Hot spot of 90-95 fahrenheit (32-35 celcius, supplied by belly heat through UTH). Cool spot of about 80 F (26 C) degrees, but not much lower unless they begin to brumate, then about 75 F (23 C) degrees.

Viv: A viv about 90 cm long by 60 cm tall by 60 cm wide seems to be adequate for a fully grown Peters Banded Skink while allowing for adequate room to move around and provide enrichment. I'd honestly go up to 121 cm long just because I like to give my babies a lot of room.

Substrate: They need a substrate about 25 cm deep to allow for digging and regulation of humidity. They're not HUGE burrowers from what I hear??? But it's still good to provide the option. A mixture of aspen, coco coir (and maybe organic topsoil) can provide a substrate that gives varying levels of moisture. I'd really suggest to go bioactive with these guys. If you want to know more about bioactive, just ask, I don't know if you're familiar with it or not.

Heat source: UTH, a lamp will suck all the moisture out of the air. A very, very gentle UVA/UVB bulb can be beneficial. Maybe a small Arcadia? You don't want a lot of light to be on these guys.

Behavior: We don't know a lot about their behavior in captivity, but from what we've seen: expect them to be skittish. I'm not sure how well they feed or if they're picky or not. Don't cohab, possibly very cage aggressive toward other cagemates. They're super nocturnal, I wouldn't expect to see them out an about while there's lights on.

Feeding: Everything I've seen says omnivore/insectivore. I haven't found good info on this honestly and I never asked the vendor what they fed their Scincopus. If you want to experiment, try calcium dusted crickets, superworms, Mizuri insectivore pellets as a supplement; and some different Pangea mashes.

Decor: These guys are coming from temperate Africa. "This species has a highly fragmented distribution, but this might in part be due to its nocturnal nature which makes it hard to find in the field. At present, it is known to range from Mauritania through Mali, Algeria, Niger, Tunisia (where it is known from a single location only), Libya, and Chad to Sudan. It might be present in Morocco. This species is not present in Egypt (S. Baha El Din pers. comm. 2008)." So you'll want tall, sparse grasses, maybe some fake cacti (or real succulents). You'll want some damp moss on the cool end to help with humidity regulation. Hides are a must, though they must be connected to the bottom of the viv so if the skink burrows and the burrow collapses, they won't be crushed by their hide (this is if the hide is made of stone or something. Plastic butter tubs probably won't crush a lizard ahaha).


Did I miss anything you wanted to know about? Let me know and I'll call my vet and professors, see if they have any info.
I put this together while at work so please forgive any grammatical errors.

No prob this was really fun to put together! (it gives me a single source to reference now too, aahaha)
Good luck with your new baby and post lots of pictures if you'd like!!! <3

EDIT: I found this Facebook group and they're supposed to be very helpful in regards to questions! https://www.facebook.com/groups/Scincopus/ They could probably fill in any blanks