Home: Animals: Reptiles: : Blue-Tongued Skink

Bio Facts: Blue-Tongued Skink
Common Name: Blue-Tongued Skink Blue-tongued Skink
Scientific Name: Tiliqua scincoides
Family: Scincidae
Order: Squamata
Class: Reptilia
Range: Less arid portions of Northern to Southeastern Australia; there may be an undescribed subspecies from New Guinea and the surrounding islands.
Habitat: Coastal forests, woodlands and heaths, montane forests, woodlands and grasslands of less arid portions of the interior of Australia; sometimes found in agricultural areas.
Description: The body of the blue-tongued skink can reach a length of more than 20 inches and weigh up to 2 pounds. They have a heavily built body set on relatively small legs with delicate toes and a thick, short tail. Their triangular head is broad and blunt, with scales that are usually smooth and contain small plates of bone. Their deep, berry blue tongue vividly offsets against the deep pink interior of their mouth.
Life Expectancy: Up to 20 years
Sexual Maturity: Blue-tongued skinks will breed at about 2 years old provided they have a good amount of fat stored in their tail.
Diet: In the wild, they eat insects, snails, carrion, wildflowers, fruits and berries. In the Zoo, they are fed an omnivore diet of meat, insects, flowers, fruits and berries.
Status: Not threatened
Behaviors: The blue-tongued skink is a diurnal, ground-dwelling lizard with smooth, overlapping scales that help to keep out dirt, sand, and other debris. The smaller of the two Australian subspecies, the Eastern blue-tongued skink is pale silvery-gray to brown on top, with a series of irregular, dark brown cross bands on the upper surface of the body and tail. The cross bands frequently have small, white, dark-edged spots. The larger Australian subspecies, the Northern blue-tongued skink, is darker brown on top, usually with pale cross band markings on its back and distinct alternating bands of rusty orange and black on the sides of the body.

The blue-tongued skink spends the majority of its day searching the ground for food and basking in the sun. At night it seeks shelter in logs, leaf litter or other ground debris. Blue-tongued skinks are usually solitary animals, living secretive lives until mating season. They are only active during the warmer months, and mating occurs in November or December. Females only reproduce every second year and give birth to live young. One female produces on average between 5 to 12 babies each litter - the larger the adult, the larger the litter size. The largest females may produce up to 25 young.

The males often become aggressive during mating and fights can break out if another skink enters its territory.

Blue-tongued skinks are generally very docile, curious lizards. They adapt well to a captive lifestyle. Wriggling human fingers, however, look similar to small wriggling mice, and a skink may try to eat one if hungry.

Blue-tongued skinks have blunted, conical teeth used for crushing. They are capable of a powerful bite as they often feed on large snails. When they bite defensively, they have a habit of not letting go, exerting considerable pain on the victim.
Adaptations: Unlike most other lizards, the blue-tongued skink is viviparous, that is, it gives birth to live young. Many live bearing reptiles simply retain the eggs. In blue-tongued skinks, developing embryos are nourished from the body of the mother across a primitive placenta.

Normally shy and docile, when threatened, blue-tongued skinks will stand their ground, expand their ribcage and turn to the side in order to appear larger and more intimidating to the threat. At the same time, they open their mouth wide and hiss, displaying the startling blue tongue and pink mouth.

A blue-tongued skink can make a hasty retreat, and if grabbed from behind by a predator, its tail can detach for protection, though this is very rare. Once broken off, the tail wiggles violently for some time, diverting attention from its former owner. The lost portion of the tail will eventually grow back. It takes a few months for a new tail to grow, but the missing part does eventually grow back to the original length. It will never look the same as the rest of the tail.

Multiple tails can occasionally be seen in skinks as a result of a partial break in the tail.

In general, skinks have rather heavy tails and short limbs, adaptations that enhance their ground-dwelling and burrowing lifestyle. During times of abundant food availability, the blue-tongued skink can store fat in its tail for use during times of food scarcity.
Special Interest: The blue-tongued skink is one of the best-known skinks and is popular in the exotic pet industry.

The name, blue-tongued skink, refers to the light or deep blue tongue that is slowly yet constantly flicked in and out whenever the animal is alert or on the move.

There are over 800 different species of skinks found all over the warmer parts of the world; skinks form the largest family of lizards.

All species of blue-tongued skinks are found in Australia except for Tiliqua gigas, which is found from New Guinea west to Sumatra. An undescribed group of blue-tongued skinks found in New Guinea and the surrounding islands appear to be Tiliqua scincoides.
Folklore: n/a
Conservation: Wild populations of blue-tongued skinks remain stable, however, many other wild reptile species are endangered or declining rapidly.
Jacksonville Zoo History: Tiliqua gigas (New Guinea Blue-tongued Skink) appears in the collection in February 1989. This is the first time the Jacksonville Zoological Gardens has exhibited this species (November 2001).
Revised: March 2002