*Note: These skinks are commonly called Berber skinks in Europe. In the U.S. the name Berber skink refers to an entirely different skink, Eumeces algeriensis.

My male and female Schneiders Skinks snuggling on their temporary substrate.

Length and Longevity: These Egyptian desert native skinks will grow to be 12-18". About half of that length is their long skinny tail. If will taken care of they can live up to twenty years in captivity. 

Cage Requirements: A twenty gallon long vivarium will house a pair of Schneider skinks. They would, however, take advantage of the extra space if house in a larger cage, such as a 30 or 40 gallon vivarium. (Two females are fine together, but males are territorial and will fight if kept together.) Whichever size you choose needs to have a solid screen lid. Ventilation is important to these dessert dwelling skink. A solid top would create too much humidity. 
     Schneider skinks are burrowers by nature and require at least four inches of sand as substrate. Ordinary play sand works great and is certainly cheaper than the marketed reptile calcium sands found in pet stores. Your skinks will happily burrow at night and come to the surface to bask, eat, and explore during the day. Make sure the sand is dry and is not clumped together so your skinks can dig around freely.
    Although Schneider skinks burrow in the sand, it's still a good idea to provide a hide for them. We make our own out of cardboard, and replace them when they get soiled. Store bought hides also work well and can be cleaned with soap and water periodically. The best set ups have a hide on both the warm end and cool end of their tank.
    Speaking of which, Schneider skinks need heat provided to their cage. The idea here is to heat one half of the cage to provide a temperature gradient across the cage. Your skink will bask at the warm end when it needs to and move to the cool end to cool off when it sees fit. This is called thermoregulation and is the way cold blooded reptiles control their body heat.
    I recommend using an under the tank heat mat under the warm end of the tank. These are sold at pet stores and on the Internet. (Don't use heat rocks. They will burn your skinks if they burrow under them!) Schneider skinks also require a UV basking light to help their bodies produce vitamin D. These light and lighting fixtures are also available at pet stores. Leave the lights on for 12-16 hours in the summer and 6-8 hours in the winter. This provides them with a natural day cycle. Your cool end should be about 75 F, while your warm under should hit up to 100 F. Temperatures at night can cool to about 68 F. 
    A shallow water bowl should be placed at the cool end of the tank. If it is placed on the warm end, the water will evaporate and create too much humidity. The skinks will regularly get sand in their water, so it's important to give them clean water daily.
    Feel free to decorate your skinks cage. Rocks, pieces of bark, and plastic plants will give them things to explore and play on.. Avoid live plants because your skinks will most likely destroy them.
    Make sure you don't place the vivarium in direct sun light or a draft. Also it is not a good idea to place your skinks in a high traffic area. Put them in a place that they can be enjoyed, but not one that is so busy that they will be disturbed constantly and get stressed.

Feeding: The main diet for your skinks should consist of insects, mainly meal worms and crickets. For an occasional snack offer Schneider skinks high quality canned cat food, fruits such as bananas, kiwi, strawberries, and pineapple, or vegetables, such as carrots. Schneiders eat 3-4 times a week. Once a week, be sure to dust their food with a reptile calcium/vitamin supplement which is available at pet stores. This will get them the extra calcium and vitamins they need that their food may lack. To feed, I usually make sure the skinks are on the surface and I drop a margarine tub lid in the tank filled with their food. Healthy skinks have no problems feeding readily.

Breeding: As I mentioned before, these skinks aren't widely captive bred in to U.S. so there is only limited information on breeding available. As we attempt to breed our skinks we will help fill in the blanks. Here's what we do know: