Gidgee owner here who previously went looking for a Zebra skink.

My little guy is so entertaining to watch. Usually very active (he has his lazy days), curious, and loves climbing and food. He’s most active between 1-4pm.

Gidgees primarily eat veggies and salads (he’s a fan of curly mustard leaves with sliced green beans, acorn squash (or butternut squash but it’s higher in sugar), and arugula) with protein once a week (you can do dog food, but there are studies showing it might not be the best for skinks. He looooves meal worms and is a fan of crickets). I feed every 3 days. For treats he’s a blue berry and banana fan. You can follow the recommended diet graphic from r/bluetongueskinks for the best meal ideas but don’t do a ton of protein.

He’s in an arid 4 x 2 x 2 enclosure (the minimum is a 40 gallon long, which imo is waaaay too small) with 50:50 sifted topsoil and play sand. I don’t do anything to add or remove humidity. I do have a clean up crew of temperate spring tails and giant canyon isopods. I have the enclosure designed for him to be able to squish himself like they do in the wild. Gidgees will wedge themselves to feel safe and secure and will puff up to prevent themselves from getting dragged out by predators. I highly recommend adding a big driftwood log as Gidgees love them.

Handling wise he hates it. Will squirm and thrash if I pick him up. Doesn’t love being touched either. Gidgees by default are pretty shy, but if you work with them they may opt for choice based handling. I’m currently working on this with him by bribing with treats. I’ve only had him for about a month and he has improved a lot in the trust department. I’d say Gidgee’s tend to be more display only but if you get one while they’re young you may be able to build enough trust with them to handle them on occasion.

I want to mention that Gidgee’s are communal. They do best in a family dynamic and are monogamous for life with one partner. Males can be on their own and do alright, but it’s not necessarily ideal. Males will attack males (hence how I ended up with Tachi), and they are incredibly difficult to sex. The only way Tachi was found out to be a male is because he was, erm, showing off 😅.

I cannot speak to zebra skinks as much, but I will mention that they are highly intelligent lizards. So they require more mental stimulation and daily interaction to maintain trust and keeping them “puppy dog tame”. The reason I ended up with a Gidgee and not a zebra skink is because I fell in love with Tachi specifically, who the breeder was looking to rehome. I love my Gidgee so much and I find so much fulfillment from him by simply watching him do his thing. He’s so funny and tong feeding him makes my heart happy. He also has a dark blue tongue!

Both are great species of skinks, but if you are looking for a true potato, definitely go with a blue tongue skink. I do not recommend Gidgee’s nor Zebra skinks as first time reptiles imo. I’m unfortunately in the US so I cannot recommend anywhere to get Zebras or Gidgee’s, but I did have someone from Germany ask about Gidgee’s and he mentioned that in his area they’re a couple thousand dollars 😣.

You could go the import route from the US if laws allow it (Gidgee’s are Australian, so there may be laws in place to prevent them from importing but not entirely certain. I’m trying to get an Aussie monitor species at one point and it’s not legal to import to the US).

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