TerralogNEWS101
21
Dasiaolivacea.
All photos:FrankSchäfer
Indonesia for thehobby.Theygrow toa total
of around25cm long,with somewhatmore
thanhalf the total lengthbeing represented
by the tail.
High,higher,highest
Theskinksofthe
Dasia
grouparecommon in
the wild and are very attractive in
appearance.
L. smaragdina
in particular is a
real classicamong terrariumoccupants,as its
brilliant green is unrivalled. The color form
shown here exhibits a particularly brilliant
green.This form, inwhich theposterior third
of the body is brown in color, is usually
assigned to the subspecies
Lamprolepis
smaragdinaphilippinica
. The nominate form
isuniformgreenand likewiseverybeautiful.
But
Dasia olivacea
is also a real eyecatcher,
andas longas it isproperlyacclimatized the
belly isbrilliantgreen-yellow incolor.
Because they are so common and so
attractive,these lizardscanoftenbeobtained
at low prices in the trade. But these lovely
skinkswill give you real pleasureonly if you
can house them in a very tall terrarium.
Experienced keepers of these reptiles are
fond of saying that a
Dasia
terrarium can
never be tall enough! A terrarium up to 2
meters (standard roomheight) is sometimes
recommended.
Now, it doesn’t need to be quite so tall,
especially if the terrarium is suspended so
that its upper rim is flush with the ceiling.
Sucha terrariumwill alsoprovide the skinks
with the sensationof great height that they
require. But if the latter is lacking youwon’t
getmuchpleasurefromyourtreeskinks.They
will remain panicky, rush around the
terrarium“likecrazy”,andhideall the time. In
the worst-case scenario these lizards may
evendiewhenmaintained in a terrariumof
the incorrect dimensions, as their long-term
panic can lead to collapse of the immune
system, with consequent damage to the
kidneysand thedigestivesystem.
On the other hand, if these gorgeous tree
skinksaremaintained inasuitablydecorated
terrarium around 1.2meters high, they will
give their owner a lot of pleasure. They
require a tropical terrarium with a high
humidity (around 70%byday, almost 100%
