Eastern Blue-tongued Lizard
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| Eastern Blue-tongued Lizard | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Tiliqua scincoides scincoides (White)[1] |
The Eastern Blue-tongued Lizard (Tiliqua scincoides scincoides) is a variety of large skink which is common throughout Eastern Australia, often found in bushland and suburban areas where conditions are suitable. They are known as blue-tongues because their tongue ranges from bright to dark blue, and they have a habit of displaying it prominently and hissing loudly when disturbed.
The Blue-tongued Lizard is a stout and slow lizard that grows up to 300-600mm in length, with brown to grey scales and a barred pattern across the body and tail. The underside is usually pale. Blue-tongued Lizards are popular as pets and can live for up to 30 years in captivity. They give birth to live young, between six to a record twenty per litter. The young consume the egg sac immediately after birth. They resemble the adult form closely. There are several other types of blue-tongued lizard, genus Tiliqua, such as the Northern Blue-tongued Skink and the shingleback or stump-tailed skink.
This subspecies was first described as Lacerta scincoides, by John White, in Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales (1790).[2]
[edit] Captivity & pet care
Things to feed a pet blue-tongued lizard include: raw egg, mince meat, soft cat or dog food, live snails, slugs, worms, insects (like crickets), non-citrus fruit (especially ripe banana), flowers (e.g. dandelions), raw kangaroo meat, and chicken.
[edit] References
- ^ White, J. 1790. Journal of a voyage to new South Wales, with sixty-five plates of non descript animals, birds, lizards, serpents, curious cones of trees and other natural productions. Debrett, London, 229 pp.
- ^ Tiliqua scincoides at the TIGR Reptile Database
