Fire Skink

The specific name, fernandi, refers to the island formerly known as Fernando Po, which has been called Bioko since 1979. It is known in the Yoruba language, spoken in Western Africa, as Oloronto.

Historically, the fire skink has been placed in several different genera and was until recently placed in Riopa together with several skinks from southeast Asia. While these are superficially similar to the African fire skink, they are closer to some other Asian skinks, resulting in their move to Mochlus. The fire skink is not closely related to other skinks and belongs to the genus Mochlus. However, a review of the taxonomy of the fire skink did reveal that it, as traditionally defined, actually consists of three separate species. This essentially limits true M. fernandi to tropical West Africa and westernmost Central Africa, while population in Central and East Africa are M. hinkeli and M. striatus.

Mochlus fernandi occurs in the humid forest zone of southern West and Central Africa, from Guinea and Sierra Leone to Gabon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Two subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies: *Mochlus fernandi fernandi – western Central Africa and Nigeria *Mochlus fernandi harlani – West Africa Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Mochlus.

The fire skink is oviparous. An adult female will generally lay a clutch of five to nine eggs after mating. Fire skink eggs take forty to fifty days to hatch when incubated at a temperature of .

The fire skink is kept as a pet. Many specimens available for sale are wild-caught, but captive-bred skinks are available. The fire skink requires a larger tank with plenty of horizontal space, as well as some vertical space for its occasional tendency to climb. A aquarium is suitable for one adult. The fire skink is not social and should be kept alone. It also requires a loose substrate for burrowing. The environment should be moist and humid, with plenty of ground cover to create hiding places. One end of the tank should be warmed with a lamp for basking. Live insects are a proper diet, and some keepers provide an occasional pinkie mouse.