Blue Tongue Skink Care Sheet

Scientific Name: Tiliqua spp.

Description

Blue Tongue Skinks are distinguished, and get their name, from their brightly coloured blue tongues. They have large and solid bodies, with short legs.

Statistics

Distribution Map

Food & Water

Blue Tongue Skinks eat both meat and vegetable/fruits. Feed them a mixture of both, providing leafy greens, peas, carrots, various fruits, crickets, mealworms, baby mice (frozen, then thawed) etc. Give them a sturdy dish with water, cleaned and changed daily.

Lighting, Temperature & Humidity

A basking area needs to be kept around 90 degrees F to 95 degrees F. The average temperature of the habitat needs to be a gradient, ranging from 75 degrees F to 85 degress F. Do not let the night time temperature reach 70 degrees F or lower. Full spectrum UVB lighting is essential to the healthy development of your Blue Tongue Skink. You can use flourescent UVB bulbs for this, while using a ceramic heat emitter or incandescent bulbs for the heat source.

Housing

A full grown adult Blue Tongue Skink needs a fairly large enclosure, with a minimum size of 55 gallons kept in mind. Larger is always better, especially for these Skinks. Wood or mulch type substrate works very well, as does carpet. A few branches should be included, however your skink may very well not climb. Provide a hide box at all times, for privacy.