Snyder Skinks

Question
We have two Snyder Skinks, the female has recently stopped using her back legs.  She seems a little bigger.  She pulls them away if you hold them, but doesn't seem interested in using them to walk.

Answer
Hi Timothy,
First, the correct spelling of the reptile may help you with your search on information.  The correct spelling is "Schneider's skink".
As to your females problems.... the first thing that comes to mind is not having any uvb. LIGHTING:
There are tubes and bulbs that say ''full spectrum'' but they do not produce any uvb.
Supplying uvb can be done in a few ways. By special lights
that come in fluorescent tubes or special screw in bulbs
(mercury vapor)that are designed to produce uvb and heat.
The tubes do not produce heat. UVB is needed by the reptile
to be able to absorb the calcium in the foods they eat.
With out the uvb, they will develop metabolic bone disease.
With the tubes, they must say that they produce BOTH uvb and
uva. The uvb needs to be 5% or higher. Repti Sun 10.0 and the Repti Glo 8.0's are a great source for uvb. The old "favorites" are the repti sun 5.0 or the Iguana light..which are the same tube, just different package.
These need to be positioned 6-8 inches over the reptile for the 5% and 8% and 8-10 inches for the 10% so that they get the uvb that is needed. The tubes need to be replaced every 6-9
months as that they stop producing UVB long before they stop producing light.
******There has been new studies that have proven that compact uvb lights, both the spiral/coil type and the ones that look like long "U's" laying on their side and a few other brands are causing what basically amounts to snow blindness in reptiles.  To read more on this, you can go to
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/index.htm ********
On the mercury vapor , they also produce heat. They also
produce the uvb and uva. The best on the market now are the
Mega Rays.(http://www.megaray.com) The distance from these are greater
than the uvb tubes and the directions must be followed that
are listed for the light. When using the mercury vapor
lights, you don't need to have one light for uvb and one for
heat. The Mercury vapor lights provide both. Small tanks generally are not suitable for the mercury vapor lights due to distance.
Other possibilities are  egg bound ....In either case, a vet is needed to diagnose and treat either problem.  Actually, both problems can be related as lack of proper uvb leads to no calcium which leads to eggs not forming properly.One other possibility is a blockage due to eating substrate(sand or other loose litter type) or from too large of insects....
If you are not using the proper uvb, its very important to start doing so ASAP. To find a vet able to treat reptiles:
http://www.anapsid.org/vets/
http://www.arav.org/Directory.htm
Also, a very good site on caring for your skinks can be found at:
http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/schneider_skinks/care.html