The Solomon Islands skink is completely herbivorous, eating many different fruits and vegetables including the pothos plant.

Consumption for food by indigenous Solomon Islanders and excessive pet trade exports have affected wild populations.

[3] Its specific name zebrata is a Latinized form of the word zebra, in reference to the animal's zebra-like stripes.

[9][10] The common subspecies (C. z. zebrata) is found on the islands of Choiseul, New Georgia, Santa Isabel, Guadalcanal, Nggela, Malaita, Makira, Ugi and Owaraha.

[11] Both subspecies of the Solomon Islands skink are strictly arboreal, usually inhabiting the upper canopy of forested areas throughout its range.

[14] The Solomon Islands skink has a long, slender body, strong, short legs, and a triangular shaped head with small round eyes.

[5] Solomon Islands skinks are herbivores, feeding on the leaves, flowers, fruit, and growing shoots of several different species of plants.

[19][note 2] Juvenile skinks often eat feces from adults in order to acquire the essential microflora to digest their food.

[15] The Solomon Islands skink reproduces by viviparous matrotrophy:[note 3] the female provides a placenta for its young, which are born after a gestation period of six to eight months; this is a rare trait among reptiles.

[5] This reduced size disparity led the former curator of reptiles at the Philadelphia Zoo, Dr. Kevin Wright, to compare it to "a human mother giving birth to a six year–old".

[9] Extensive logging is a serious ongoing threat to the survival of this species, as is consumption for food by native people, and export demand for the pet trade.

[9] Because of the large numbers of lizards that were being exported for the pet trade, the small region to which the skink is native, and its low reproductive rate, in 1992 Corucia zebrata was listed as a CITES Appendix II animal, which allows limits to be placed on the number of animals in commercial trade between countries.

[22][23] Since there is no regulation on the rapid deforestation occurring in the Solomon Islands, limited export to recognized institutions may be needed to aid this species in genetic diversity for its survival via ex situ breeding programs.

According to herpetologists who study the Solomon Islands skink, such as Dr. David Kirkpatrick and Dr. Kevin Wright, captive breeding alone is not practical as a sole method of species survival due to the limited number of offspring and long gestation periods.

[9][22] Biologist Michael Balsai of Temple University has noted a significant number of breedings between skinks from different islands has resulted in non-productive unions.