The blue-tongued skink is a very docile and easy to keep lizard and is the second largest skink in the world. Here is some information about the Blue-tongued Stegosaurus:
- Appearance Characteristics:
- Body size: medium body, heavy weight, triangular head, thick and short legs and tail. The average body length of adult Australian blue-tongue gargoyles is around 55cm, and the average body length of adult Indonesian blue-tongue gargoyles is around 60cm, among which the Malaoqi blue-tongue gargoyles can even grow up to 70cm, and their weights are generally between 700g – 1500g.
- Tongue: Its most typical feature is a broad and flat blue tongue, although Indonesian Bluetongues are generally only blue in the first half of the tongue (with the exception of the Tanyinba), while Australasian Bluetongues are generally blue in the entire tongue (with the exception of the Pygmy Bluetongue).
- Colour & Pattern: The body colour is varied, with a wide range of patterns evolving depending on the habitat environment. For example, eastern bluetongue skinks have 7-8 diagonal stripes on their backs, and most have black stripes behind the eyes; western bluetongue skinks have a teal body colour with 4-6 broad stripes covering the body, and black stripes behind the eyes; and spotted bluetongue skinks have a vertically spotted body with horizontal stripes covering the tail.
- Range: It is found in mainland Australia and nearby islands, and also in Indonesia and New Guinea.
- Habits:
- Activity pattern: diurnal lizard, active during the day and resting at night.
- Food habits: omnivorous. In the wild, it generally feeds on a variety of plants, arthropods, insect larvae and snails. In captivity, almost anything can be fed except citrus fruits and spinach, for example, finished food is recommended to be less oil and high calcium dog dry food or wet food, and homemade food can be chosen from chicken, beef, salmon, pumpkin, oatmeal, tomatoes, carrots, purple kale, bananas, blueberries, strawberries, etc., and insects as long as they are not in the wild are also allowed.
- Habitat: Because of its short limbs, it does not climb well, so it needs a large ground space.
- Mode of reproduction: Fetal. The gestation cycle of females is usually 110 – 170 days, with 8 – 15 young born in a litter. The newborn baby bluetongue eats the placenta on its body and sheds its skin within a few days. After birth, it will stay with its mother for a few weeks before leaving her alone.
- Common species:
- Australian blue-tongue skink: includes the subspecies eastern blue-tongue skink, western blue-tongue skink, northern blue-tongue skink, central blue-tongue skink, and spotted blue-tongue skink.
- Indonesian bluetongue skink: i.e., the slanting giant, found in Indonesia and New Guinea, and is the only species of bluetongue skink that is found outside of Australia. Under it, there are also subspecies of Hamahira Bluetongue Stoner, Marauchi Bluetongue Stoner, Tanninba Bluetongue Stoner, and Kay Island Bluetongue Stoner.
- Breeding considerations:
- Breeding environment: a feeding box of 60cm length or larger is required. The substrate can be bark bedding, sterile soil or reptile sand, etc. However, pellet-type bedding should be avoided to prevent accidental feeding by bluetongues.
- Temperature: Maintain the temperature at the basking spot at around 35 degrees during the day, and the temperature can be controlled at around 23 degrees at night, and the feeding environment needs to be heated in winter.
- Lighting: Adequate sunlight or uvb light is needed to help their health and colour development.
- Diet: Food should be varied and supplemented with calcium and other nutrients weekly.
- Water bowl: Place a water bowl to provide drinking water, blue-tongued gargoyles are water-drinking lizards.