These skinks eat lots of snails, crickets, slugs, beetles, caterpillars, and even small lizards, which are common pests on most gardens. They have also been known to steal dog food right out of the bowl. As long as they can catch it, these skinks will usually eat it.

This skink is by no means an aggressive or ferocious killer. It has to bluff its way out of situations and does so by flattening itself out, hissing loudly, and showing its big blue tongue. These lizards can and will bite when threatened, especially if he has just put on the show described above. However, their bite will most likely leave a large bruise and that’s it.

It takes between 3 to 5 months after mating for skinks to give birth. As soon as the little blue tongued skink is born, it must start searching for food. There can be up to 25 lizards in one litter, each weighing less than an ounce and measuring up to 5 inches long.

Usually with wildlife, many captive animals live longer because they are protected from the various dangers of living in the wild. However, blue-tongued skinks can live around 30 years in the wild and only 20 in captivity.

This slow moving skink is no match for the ambush tactics used by cats. There’s no time for the skink to be able to wag its blue tongue and try its bluff on the cat. Besides cats, blue-tongued skinks lose their lives to dogs, cars, and lawn mowers as well.

Like most lizards, tail dropping is an option for escape that these skinks can use, but it takes them a year to grow the tail back. I hope you’ve found these facts to be ones worth passing on. I had fun gathering them! Have you ever been lucky enough to see a blue-tongued skink in person? What do you think about lizards as pets?

Top Photo Credit: Noah's Ark Zoo Farm