Ok this is again about those "European Giant Skinks" that I asked about a couple months or so ago. That shop had them, and last time they were burrowed in substrate, only showing backs. This time, they were out and about, and I could see their whole body. The people were really assinine and didn't allow me to take pictures. And this time, they didn't just TELL me it was "European Giant Skinks", they actually had a label there with capitalized large font saying that. It kind of annoyed me because I know there is no such thing.

I SUSPECT that they are Eumeces kishinouyei (Kishinoue's Giant Skink), since on their company website, this is the only skink they list that has the word "Giant" in it. I am however not sure because i) their photo was a thumbnail that couldn't be enlarged and ii) they do not update their website more than once every few years and iii) These would be from Japan which is a far cry from Europe, although they obviously weren't acurate. I did a websearch on Kishinoue's Giant Skink and there were very different pictures ranging from things with large red heads to ones that had stripes on their back to ones that were plain brown. Then I found a pic that looked like the ones I saw, EXCEPT that the ones I saw were sort of plain patternless mossy green color, kind of like a prehensile tail skink in color, and a little hint of yellowish/orange on the tip of the nose and extremities. NO stripe on the side. However, the SHAPE of the lizard looks pretty much exactly like this:

THE PIC ABOVE IS NOT THE ONE I SAW, BUT THE CLOSEST I CAME TO ON GOOGLE.

The ones I saw were about 10 - 12 inches ln length.

Any idea what they could have been? If they are indeed Kishinoue's Giant Skinks, are there many different color variations or morphs that could be the result?

Also assuming they are Kishinoue's Giant skinks, are there any care sheets out there? I googled "Kishinoue's Giant skinks" with the word Captivity, care and even "pets" and there were 0 results.

That's a fair sized skink. I've seen some big ones looking about that size that was hissy and really mean at a pet store...one girl had to get 17 stitches because of it!

Just anothing case of poor documentation in the skinks, I suspect. Heck, it took me three full years to figure out that my "gold" skinks are actually lined sun skinks, but common names are so passe. Keep on sluggin', let us know!

Edit: Just so you know, skinks can have ALOT of phenotypic variation. For example: My sun skinks, as they are called now, have 4 main morphs naturally occuring and appearing at what I think is random intervals: Red stripe on side, Black flecks on side, Yellow stripe and black throat. That's why I've had so much trouble IDing them...the face would definately give them away as a Mabuya (the same genus) and probably a similar species, but turns out they are like Crested Geckos and come in tons of different patterns and colors! I wouldn't be surprised at all, cause I've seen it, if they change a bit over their life; I have one female that has the body proportions and color of her dad but has had, in the past, the color pattern (flecks) of her mom with a brown stripe. Try broadening your search, I suspect that Eumeces is alot like Mabuya in the phenotypic plasticity way (ie. they can have differing body types and colors).

http://homepage3.nifty.com/japrep/li.../ekisinoue.htm ----> according to that, it's only a few inches long and it's from Japan. But, alas, it's just a backwater website! Keep looking under the suspected scientific name, common names etc.

Hello, I did some random searches off the description and the only one I found that came close as far as color, prehensile tail and size was this little guy.

http://www.hoglezoo.org/animals/view.php?id=80

__________________
Answers are great. But I prefer questions!

Visit me at www.jaysreptiles.com

At the base of the skull was there any definition between head and neck? If so, I suggest it was infact a prehensile tailed skink (Corucia zebrata). If not, you could be very right about it being a Eumeces species...the one in the picture, however, looks suspiciously like a Mabuya species to me, although there is alot of cross-over for looks. There is one large skink out of Australia called "king's giant skink." Maybe that'll help.

Edit: as far as green colors, the only one other than Prehensile tailed skinks that I know is out in the pet trade (off hand, anyways) is the Green Tree Skink.