Care Sheet - Blue Tongued Skink (Tiliqua scincoides)

General Information
They can be found living in open woodlands, at the margins of forest and semideserts in Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea.
The blue Tongue is a fairly large lizard when mature at about 20 inches including
tail.
They are a long lived lizard with a life span of 10-20 years.
Ground dwellers with a flattened, elongated body
Quite docile and gentle, and quite easily tamed and handled.
Care: A Vivarium of 48x15x15in is required for one adult pair of Blue Tongue
Skinks. You should provide a dry woodland type enclosure with Orchid Bark for
the flooring. Cork Bark and other hides should be provided with some artificial
plants. The use of a 5% UV light should be provided. Although some people say
that these Skinks do not need this, they would benefit from it. Provide a daytime
temperature of 25-35C (77-95F) with a drop down to 18-20C (65-68F) during
the night.
Use a heat mat and a spotlight on one side of the enclosure thermostatically
controlled, and place a shallow water dish at the other side.
Substrate: Aspen wood shavings, Beech Chippings, or even newspaper. Make
sure they are not ingesting wood substrates.
Temperature: A gradient from 75-85 F (24-29 C) with a basking spot of 95 F
(35 C). A combination of heat mat and a basking light on one side of the tank
works well. Make sure the appropriate temperature gradient is provided by
measuring temperatures in various spots around the tank. Night temperature can
drop to about 70 F (21 C). The best way to achieve this is to set the hat mat
thermostat to 70 F and the spotlight thermostat to 95F. So that when you turn
the spot light off at night the heat mat will maintain the night time lower

temperature. Any thermostat can be used for the heat mat but the bulb will need
a dimming type thermostat.
Light: in addition to the incandescent basking light, provide a full spectrum
UVA/UVB light for 10-12 hours per day.
Water: provide a large shallow sturdy water dish. Skinks like to bathe in their
water but often defecate there so frequent cleaning is required for the water dish.
Hides: a couple of sturdy hiding spots should be provided for skinks, which like
to burrow and hide. Cork bark, wood, rocks, PVC pipes, or other hides can be
used. Make sure wood pieces or rocks are firmly placed so they will not fall on
the lizard. A humidity hide (e.g. a plastic storage box with moss or cypress mulch
to holds moisture) will help with sheds.
Feeding Skinks are true omnivores, which should be reflected in their diet.
Variety is the key to providing a nutritious diet, and a calcium/vitamin D
supplement should be added to the food.
A recommended balanced diet of about 60% vegetable/fruits and 40% meat is
recommended.
Vegetables/fruits: beans, summer or winter squash, carrots, parsnips, leafy
greens. Can be shredded or pureed and added to meat portion of diet. Fruits can
include strawberries, bananas, melon, etc.
Meats: low fat canned dog food is a good staple in the diet. This should be
supplemented with other items such as Morio worms and pinkie mice (larger for
adults).
A list of some of the Blue Tongue Skinks food:
Snails
Mealworms
Crickets
Locusts
Mouse pinkies ,fluffs
Dog and cat meat (Low Fat)
Boiled eggs
Mango
Bananas
Cherries
Blueberries
Peach
Nectarines
Pear
Strawberries
Carrot
Collard
Water cress
Dandelion
Escarole
John Gamesby