Blue-tongued Skink (Tiliqua scincoides)
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The education department at Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo is host to an Australian native, the Blue-tongued Skink. His name is Irwin but sometimes we call him Winston. The Blue-tongued Skink is a large, docile lizard.
Blue-tongued Skinks are considered to be extremely intelligent with a resilient nature. They are very agile creatures. When threatened the lizard will dart toward its prey, open its mouth and display its blue tongue. The lizard can also hiss and puff up its body to frighten enemies. Like all reptiles, Blue-tongued Skinks rely on the sense of smell by flicking their tongue to collect biochemical particles from the air to detect subtle changes in the environment. The flicking of the tongue can occur as many as 300 times per hour. Like many skinks, they may drop their tail if caught by a predator; the tail will grow back, but not as long as before. |
DESCRIPTION: The Blue-tongued Skink has a sturdy body with an unusually large head.
Blue-tongued Skinks have smooth overlapping scales that form distinct color patterns going from light brown streaks to various tones of brown and silvery grey. The hefty tail of the Blue-tongued Skink is marked with dark cross bands.
They are named for their most prominent feature, which is a large, flat, and notched tongue, that is a vivid blue inside a bright pink mouth.
Adults are 1.5 to 2 feet long but their short legs make it difficult to dig burrows so it will often reside in a burrow dug by another animal or nest in a hollow log. They weigh on average about one pound.
Blue-tongued Skinks have transparent eyelids to block out sun or keep out dirt but like other skinks they move their lower eyelid up rather than the upper eyelid down.
They are ectothermic so they rely on their environment to regulate their body temperature. For example, they will bask in the sun to warm up or seek out shade to cool down.
RANGE: The Blue-tongued Skink is native to Australia.
HABITAT: Blue-tongued Skinks prefer open grasslands with ample sunlight in the midst of leaf litter, rocks and wood logs. They often call the gardens of homeowners home.
DIET: Omnivore – small plants, arthropods, snails, and worms.
FAMILY LIFE: Blue-tongued Skink females do not lay eggs but rather they have a viviparous reproduction meaning that live young are developed in her body and are born rather than hatched from eggs. The female will give birth to a litter of 10 to 25 baby skinks that are fully formed.
The young stay by the mother for a few days and after experiencing their first skin shed they will wander off on their own. They will be adults at 3 years of age.
Other than during mating season they live a solitary life. Although usually docile creatures they are fiercely territorial and will attack any other Blue-tongued Skink that enters its territory.
LIFE SPAN: In the wild: 15 to 18 years; in human care: 20 years
STATUS: IUCN – Not Listed
Blue-tongued Skinks have smooth overlapping scales that form distinct color patterns going from light brown streaks to various tones of brown and silvery grey. The hefty tail of the Blue-tongued Skink is marked with dark cross bands.
They are named for their most prominent feature, which is a large, flat, and notched tongue, that is a vivid blue inside a bright pink mouth.
Adults are 1.5 to 2 feet long but their short legs make it difficult to dig burrows so it will often reside in a burrow dug by another animal or nest in a hollow log. They weigh on average about one pound.
Blue-tongued Skinks have transparent eyelids to block out sun or keep out dirt but like other skinks they move their lower eyelid up rather than the upper eyelid down.
They are ectothermic so they rely on their environment to regulate their body temperature. For example, they will bask in the sun to warm up or seek out shade to cool down.
RANGE: The Blue-tongued Skink is native to Australia.
HABITAT: Blue-tongued Skinks prefer open grasslands with ample sunlight in the midst of leaf litter, rocks and wood logs. They often call the gardens of homeowners home.
DIET: Omnivore – small plants, arthropods, snails, and worms.
FAMILY LIFE: Blue-tongued Skink females do not lay eggs but rather they have a viviparous reproduction meaning that live young are developed in her body and are born rather than hatched from eggs. The female will give birth to a litter of 10 to 25 baby skinks that are fully formed.
The young stay by the mother for a few days and after experiencing their first skin shed they will wander off on their own. They will be adults at 3 years of age.
Other than during mating season they live a solitary life. Although usually docile creatures they are fiercely territorial and will attack any other Blue-tongued Skink that enters its territory.
LIFE SPAN: In the wild: 15 to 18 years; in human care: 20 years
STATUS: IUCN – Not Listed
