Blue-tongued Skink Giving Birth at Northampton Reptile Centre!
by Gary Rolfe on in Lizards
Blue-tongued skink mothers give birth the live young, this is a different strategy to most reptiles as they as usually egg-layers.
We were lucky enough to catch one of our breeding females giving birth and managed to grab a camera fast. Unfortunately we were caught a little off-guard as we would normally prefer them not to give birth on the woodchip. It wasn’t a huge problem, we just had to be vigilant to ensure the babies did not swallow any as they consumed their placentas (the woodchip can stick to them). One of the last babies to emerge got a helping hand from Sam to break through his amniotic sack and locate his placenta. He’s doing great now!
As you’ll see the babies come straight out as minitures of the adults. Blue-tongued skinks (like most live-bearing animals) invest their energy into producing fewer, but higher quality, babies.
Here’s the video, at the end you can see the 6 babies enjoying their first proper meal together at around 30 minutes old!
Interested in keeping blue-tongued skinks?
Click here to see our care sheet
