A strange ocurrence - Skink playing dead ??!!

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ahockenberry
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A strange ocurrence - Skink playing dead ??!!

Post by ahockenberry »

Hi folks
I was out in a remote area of Eastern Ontario flipping rocks near a marsh and I encountered a number of Five-lined Skinks
One was a quite small female and once the lizard sensed my presence, proceeded to tremble a but and bite its (her) tail and
them turn over on her back and appeared to have a cardiac arrest and die ! I was startled and disturbed.

Then I turned her over and place the rock back with plenty of room for the Skink and with hopes that everything would be okay
and that this was only a defense mechanism. I have heard of this phenomenon among captive bred Skinks. Has anyone seen or
heard of this before?
Thanks
Ashley
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NewYorkHerper16
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Re: A strange ocurrence - Skink playing dead ??!!

Post by NewYorkHerper16 »

I've never seen it in skinks, but have observed it in other species that are not known for that behavior. I had an eastern ribbon snake play dead a few weeks ago, i was handling it very gently (as i do with all herps) and it just opened its mouth and "died." It did not appear to be breathing and it looked completely lifeless. I thought maybe it overheated or something, so i put in on the cool and shady mud along the pond shore and waited with it for a while. To my amazement, about 15 minutes later it seemed to have sprung back to life! It looked perfectly fine and normal!
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Kelly Mc
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Re: A strange ocurrence - Skink playing dead ??!!

Post by Kelly Mc »

Sometimes animals aren't 'playing' when they have induced physiological event. It also may be our perception that its a Defense Mechanism because of familiarity with iconic forms of well known animals that do that, and are learned about.

In humans and dogs and horses etc, we call such events passing out.

I'm not saying its not an adapted strategy but that it s possible that its a physiological event .
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ahockenberry
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Re: A strange ocurrence - Skink playing dead ??!!

Post by ahockenberry »

Wow, interesting...
Thanks guys for your perspective
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chris_mcmartin
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Re: A strange ocurrence - Skink playing dead ??!!

Post by chris_mcmartin »

Not QUITE the same phenomenon you describe, but it reminds me of this: Tonic Immobility
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BillMcGighan
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Re: A strange ocurrence - Skink playing dead ??!!

Post by BillMcGighan »

thanatosis (from the Greek noun θανάτωσις meaning "putting to death") is the process by which an animal feigns death in order to evade unwelcome attention.
My wife and I have used this successfully on neighbor house guests!!!
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