Blue-Tongued Skink

Reptiles are cold blooded - they must utilize their environment to properly regulate their body temperature. It is critical that captive reptiles are able to both warm up, and escape the heat as they wish.

Establish a lateral thermogradient ranging from approximately 90°F on the warm side to 75°–80°F on the cool side. Maintain both at all times with controlled heat lamps and / or heat pads using dimmers or thermostats.

Keep thermometers on both the hot and cool side of the enclosure at all times. We strongly recommend a min/max thermometer on the cool side so you can monitor how cold overnight temperatures are getting.

If cool-side or evening temperatures drop too low, your skink may start to refuse food and enter brumation.

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Offer water in a shallow bowl and change it daily. Some keepers choose to mist the enclosure lightly once per day to simulate a morning dew. Be sure not to over saturate the cage, it should be fully dry within 4-6 hours of spraying.

Provide a hide on the hot side big enough for the skink to fit under. Once your skink is feeding and settled, add more hides, branches and silk plants.

Enclosure size: Most adult blue-tongued skinks require a floor space of a at least 4ft x 2ft (~40-gallons). Baby skinks are started in smaller enclosures, with size upgrades as they grow.

Blue-tongued skinks can be successfully maintained atop coco coir, coco fiber, loose soils, fine wood chips, cypress mulch, or other commercially available reptile substrates. Tiliqua are semi-fossorial, and will take advantage of substrates which allow them to dig and burrow.

The blue-tongued skink is an endearing, medium-sized lizard hailing from Australia, Indonesia, New Guinea, and Tasmania. There is currently upwards of 8 distinct recognized species. In the United States herpetoculture, the most commonly kept "blueys" are the northern blue tongue skink (Tiliqua scincoides intermedia), Indonesian blue tongue skinks (Tiliqua gigas sp.), and eastern blue tongue skinks (Tiliqua scincoides scincoides).

Feed babies daily; adults may be fed 2-3 times per week. Offer variety: calcium dusted insects, snails, worms and rodents, alternated with a varied vegetable and fruit plate.

Some keepers supplement with commercial diets such as Repashy Bluey Buffet. Keep treats such as dog and cat food to a minimum.

Dust feeder insects with a 50/50 mix of calcium and multivitamins at every feeding. Without them, skinks can develop vitamin or calcium deficiencies.

While not necessary for survival, evidence suggests that UVB lighting is likely beneficial for your skink; we recommend providing 5.0 UVB during the day.