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Project Noah Nature School
Plestiodon (Eumeces) fasciatus
Female five-lined skinks display high levels of intensive care. These moms generally lay 15 to 18 eggs in a small cavity cleared beneath a rotting log, stump, board, loose bark, a rock, or an abandoned burrow. In communal nests, females can alternate foraging and guarding the nests, leaving eggs protected at all times.
These particular eggs were spotted under a very decayed log and mom was sitting right on top. She left the eggs once the log was lifted to display her family in the making, but she watched and stayed within sight the whole time.
This picture only shows 4 visible eggs. I'm sure there were several more but I didn't want to dig into the cavity and risk wounding any eggs.
Spotted on Jun 21, 2011
Submitted on Sep 19, 2011
2 Comments
John, once the eggs hatch, the hatchlings are on their own within a day or two (at the most). Mostly all of our native lizards are on their own almost immediately after they hatch, which is why at certain times and in the right places you can find loads of freshly hatched skinks and anoles :)
Thanks 4 extra details, very interesting. R they protective after eggs hatch?