Common Blue Tongue Skink
(Tiliqua scincoides)
Distribution
This species of Blue Tongued Skink occurs in Australia (New South Wales, North Territories, Queensland, South Eastern Australia, Victoria and North West Australia). They also occur in some areas of Indonesia. There are currently three subspecies which are recognized and these are; Eastern Blue Tongued Skink (
Tiliqua scincoides scincoides), Northern Blue Tongued Skink
(Tiliqua scincoides intermedia) and Tanimbar Island Blue Tongued Skink (
Tiliqua scincoides chimaerea).
Size
Blue Tongue Skinks will grow to a maximum length of 50cm (20 inches).
Diet
Their diet consists of insects, snails, pinkie mice, rat pups, mice, fuzzies, raw prawns (with the shells on), freshwater fish, eggs, pieces of chicken and a variety of fruit and vegetables. Require feeding 3 or 4 times a week, dependant on size of feeds. The food should be sprinkled with calcium powder prior to feeding and varied as much as possible. The vegetables should not be cooked prior to being offered a this cooks out the vitamins and minerals that are needed from them. Dog food should never be fed to this or any reptile as it can cause digestive problems later in life.
Requirements
- Heat Source:- This should be a guarded reflector spot bulb (either red, green or blue) or a ceramic or tubular heater. Heat mats may also be used as an additional source of heat. All heat sources should be guarded and thermostatically controlled.
- UV Light Source:- Require a Reptisun 5.0 UVB light. This should be left on for 8 to 12 hours a day and positioned no more than 30cm away from the basking reptile. It should be replaced every 6 months unless otherwise stated by the manufacturer. This will create a day and night time effect as well as give your pet sufficient levels of UV.
- Housing:- This should consist of a dark wooden vivarium with glass frontage and adequate ventilation. A vivarium measuring 36 inches long by 18 inches deep would be sufficient for a pair of Skinks. Hatchlings should be kept in a smaller container which can be housed in their future vivarium.
- Thermostat:- An essential part of any vivarium and is required to regulate the internal temperatures of the vivarium and to prevent your pet from becoming too hot or too cold.
- Wire Mesh Guards:- These should be fitted over all heat sources used in order to prevent thermal burns.
- Thermometers:- One should be placed at each end of the vivarium in order to give an accurate reading of the temperatures within the enclosure. Never go by the temperature on the thermostat as these are often inaccurate.
- Hides:- These are essential to prevent stress and allow your pet to hide away from the outside world. boxes, plant pots, caves etc. all make excellent hides. Plastic plants should be avoided as they can be ingested and kill your skink.
Water
Water should always be available in a shallow bowl to enable the animal to use it when needed. A humid hide should also be available in order to aid ecdysis.
Temperature
A daytime temperature of 25 - 35°C should be provided. The temperature should be allowed to drop by up to 10°C at night.
Substrate
Newspaper or brown paper can be used. Large pieced (dust free and not cedar or pine) bark mulch is a good substrate to use for substrate as it aids in maintaining the humidity and facilitates digging behaviour. Which ever substrate you chose care should be taken when feeding your skink to ensure no substrate is ingested.
NB- Photograph donated by Paul Jobling of Gemini Signs, Wallsend, Tyne & Wear.
Map taken from http://www.kingsnake.com/oz/lizards/skinks/tsscincoid.htm
Recommended Reading/Useful Contacts
Stuart Dodsworth –
stuartandlynette@dodsworth2005.wanadoo.co.uk
The International Herpetological Society –
www.international-herp-society.co.uk
The British Herpetological Society –
www.thebhs.org
Taxonomy Information –
http://srs.embl-heidelberg.de:8000/srs5bin/cgi-bin/wgetz?-e+[REPTILIA-Species:'Tiliqua_SP_scincoides']
www.reptilekeeper.co.uk
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