Blue Tongued Skink Care Sheet

Scientific Name

Tiliqua scincoides

Size

45cm (18 inches)

Lifespan

15 years

Natural Distribution

Australia

We believe Reptisun bulbs are the best UVB tubes around. Perfect for keeping your Blue Tongue Skink healthy.

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Blue Tongued Skinks love the occasional locust. Bring out the hunter in them!.


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Always sprinkle Nutrobal on your skink's food to ensure they're getting the right balance of vitamins and minerals.

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Skinks are omnivores and will love these meaty, juicy canned snails. Use them to supplement their daily fresh vegetables.

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We advise using wooden vivariums rather than glass as they retain heat more efficiently keeping your pet nice and warm. As Blue Tongued Skinks can grow to adult size within a year it is advised to buy an adult vivarium from day one. We would recommend a vivarium of 120x60x60cm (48"x24"x24"). This will ensure your Blue Tongued Skink has enough room to explore and run around. It is also difficult to provide an adequate temperature gradient in anything smaller.

Beech woodchip is a good substrate as the Blue Tongued Skinks generally do not swallow it whilst feeding on live insects. Sands, such as calcisands can be ingested easily, building up inside the animal potentially causing health problems and distress to your pet. Blue Tongued Skinks are not shy and will be out basking during the day. Wood, rocks and artificial plants should be used to create a basking area as well as areas to climb and lounge around.

Night time heating is provided by a ceramic bulb< one end of the vivarium controlled by a thermostat, about 80oF is fine. The cermacic bulb should be installed using a ceramic bulb holder and covered with a ceramic heater guard to prevent the Blue Tongued Skinks from getting burnt. During the day two spot bulbs are used to raise the temperature to about 100oF. These should be at the same end of the vivarium as the ceramic heater to create a hot end and a cooler end. The spot bulbs will also provide a day and night cycle. Temperatures should always be checked by a reliable thermometer.

Day light is provided by the spot bulbs used to raise the day temperate. All day time basking lizards require additional UVB lighting. As desert animals, this must be at least 10% UVB. Blue Tongued Skinks required UVB light in order to synthesise vitamin D. Without vitamin D (in particular D3) Blue Tongued Skinks are not able to metabolise calcium properly causing problems with bone growth. This can lead to serious disease problems such as metabolic bone disease, which kills many Blue Tongued Skinks. The UVB light should be turned on and off with the spot bulbs and placed no further than 30cm (12 inches) from the animals. The UVB tube should be replaced every 6 months, as the UVB output is not effective after that time. Ensure you get the right size starter unit for your UV.

Blue Tongued Skinks are omnivorous meaning they eat live food and vegetation. Crickets are particularly nutritious, locusts, mealworms and wax worms can also be used to supplement their diet and add variety. Your pet deserves the best foods possible so look after your live foods. Keep your crickets and locusts fresh, plump and full of vitamins by feeding them with Bug Grub and fresh vegetation. Remember, your Blue Tongued Skink also eats whatever is in your live food's stomach.
Also, don't allow your live food to dehydrate, you don't want to give your animals dried up half dead insects for dinner! Hydrate them with Bug Gel to keep them alive longer and mouth wateringly juicy. Care for your live food in their own enclosure, such as a Cricket Keeper. Live foods should be coated in a vitamin and mineral supplement such as Nutrobal to ensure the Blue Tongued Skink is getting the best nutrition possible.
As youngsters around 80% of their diet should be live foods. As adults it should be 80% vegetation. Good vegetables include dandelion, clover, honeysuckle, leafy salads, watercress, curly kale, brussel tops, spring greens, coriander, parsley, rocket, carrot, parsnip, courgette, peppers and small amounts of non citric fruit. Ones to avoid include cabbage, spinach, onion, tomato, buttercup, citric fruits and iceberg lettuce. Also dust the vegetables with Nutrobal before putting them in a food dish.

Drinking water should always be made available to the Blue Tongued Skink from a water bowl.

Blue Tongued Skinks are a good lizard for handling. They should be treated gently, with love and care allowing it to sit on the hands. Young Blue Tongued Skinks can be quick so keep a loose grip on them. They soon become used to being handled but if you ever notice your Blue Tongued Skink becoming agitated carefully put them back into their vivarium.

Males do not get on with each other as adults and will fight so only keep one per enclosure. Males can be kept with a harem of females providing the vivarium is large enough to accommodate them. Females are ok to be kept as a colony. Unfortunately there is no reliable method to sexing young Blue Tongue Skinks. The only way of telling is either to purchase a proven breeding pair or keep them separated until they are bigger and see what happens when introducing them. Another way that breeders have found out is to keep an eye on the shed skin as the males may shed small clear seminal plugs.

Maintenance

Regular spot cleaning of the vivarium should be performed to keep it hygienic for both the animal and the keeper. Dead live foods and the Blue Tongued Skinks's faeces should be removed when noticed. Change the substrate once a month or as required and clean the vivarium with a reptile disinfectant.

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