Matthew's Blue Tongue Skink Report

The blue tongue skink I have is a Northern. Northerns primarily come from Northern Australia . Most northerns have tanish- brown bands on their back and orange sides with a little bit of black or brown on there back feet.

There are many different things that a blue tongue skink will eat because they are omnivores. They will eat silkworms, meal worms, horn worms, collard greens, squash, green beans, peas, mustard greens, blueberries, dates, mangoes, bananas, the occasional mouse, turkey, chicken, or canned dog food. Their diet is 60% vegetables and 40% protein. Occasionally they can have fruit for a treat. I feed my Blue tongue skink twice a week, babies need to eat more often.

One of the unique facts about my blue tongue skink is he uses his tongue to warn off predators. He will wag it really fast and hiss at the predator threatening it to back off. Thankfully I have never seen mine do this.

Blue tongue skinks are cold blooded so they need to bask every day, under a 60- 100 watt bulb. They also need a UVB light to help them make Vit D, or be taken out in the sun. Another important reason your blue tongue skink needs to bask daily is without that heat on there stomach they cannot digest their food properly.

My blue tongue skink is kept in a 40 gallon tank with aspen wood shavings as bedding. He has two hides one on the basking side of his tank and one on the cooler side. I primarily feed him at 10:30am and leave the food in there for about 3 hours or so then take it out. My blue tongue skink is now 23 months old and is 21” in length, and 600g in weight. A full grown blue tongue skink can get up to two feet long [60cm].

I handle my blue tongue skink regularly. Handling early is important because if you don't your blue tongue skink will be scared of everything. Also be careful when handling near it's tail, blue tongue skinks have specially cracked bones on there tails so there tails can fall off in a defense.

Another unique fact about blue tongue skinks is that they are one of the few reptiles that have live birth, most reptiles lay eggs. I got my blue tongue skink from a breeder, but the breeder lived in Nevada so I had to ship my blue tongue skink from Nevada all the way to New York.