YOUR PETS Ariel the skink is so inquisitive and loves his food...

Pet’s Name: Ariel. Age: Unknown. Breed: Berber Skink. Owner: Jaime Marc Watts, 18, Barry. Owner’s Story: Jaime said: “I got Ariel towards the start of the year.

“It was kinda nervous as I wasn’t 100% sure how to look after them as there isn’t much information about.

“He is more chilled out and not as flighty, he’s always been pretty tame but over time we’ve gotten a lot more used to each other and he’ll happily walk out onto my hand.

“I currently have around 70 pets. But Ariel only interacts with the other three Berber Skinks that he lives with.

“He loves his food – this can be in the form of invertebrates such as crickets or morioworms and occasionally some banana or other fruit.

“Being handled roughly would be very stressful for him, also being woken up doesn’t put him in the best of moods.

“I’m just really happy that Ariel and the other Berber Skinks are doing so well and I’ve been able to figure out how to care for them with very limited information.

“I even had eggs from one of Ariel’s tank mates and successfully incubated and hatched all three.

“One of the best thing about him is his inquisitiveness. Ariel loves to explore and will regularly be looking to come out and explore the house for a bit and really seems to enjoy being handled and interacting with people.

“They can’t climb very well so sometimes he’ll climb up my arm and just fall off.

“I’m used to keeping lizards and other reptiles and exotic animals so he hasn’t changed my life that much.

“This species is not very common in the UK and is very rarely available.

“Unfortunately all are caught in the wild but as I’ve successfully bred them in captivity I hope to continue to do so and limit the importation of wild specimens and also make Berber Skinks more available as I have found them to be an amazing species to own.”