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Blue-tongue Skink
Reptiles · Skinks

Blue-tongue Skink

Tiliqua scincoides

Curious, tame, blue-tongued ground lizardIntermediate

Lifespan
15-20 years
Size
18-24 in
Social needs
Strictly solitary
Time
Medium - daily checks and spot-cleaning; adults fed once or twice a week
Cost
High
Diet
Omnivore - greens, veg, protein

Overview

What is this animal?

  • Blue-tongue skinks are large, robust, ground-dwelling lizards named for the bright blue tongue they flash to startle predators.
  • They are curious and often become tame, learning to recognise their keepers.
  • Several species and subspecies exist, from Australian to Indonesian types, with differing humidity needs.
  • Their interactive nature and manageable size make them rewarding pet lizards, though they need more space and dietary care than many people expect.

Temperament

  • Blue-tongue skinks are among the more personable lizards, often becoming calm, confident, and tolerant of regular handling.
  • Many tolerate exploring outside their enclosure under supervision.
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  • They may huff, flatten, and show their blue tongue when startled, but rarely bite once tame, though their jaws are strong.
  • Patient, consistent handling produces a trusting pet.
  • They must always be housed alone, as they are not social.

A good fit for

  • Keepers wanting an interactive lizard
  • Those who can provide a large enclosure
  • People able to prepare varied fresh diets
  • Intermediate keepers ready for UVB husbandry

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Needs UVB - MBD risk if omitted
  • Obesity from too much protein or fat
  • Must be housed alone, never paired
  • Enclosure size often underestimated

Enclosure

Minimum 27 sq ft of floor · 7 x 4 x 3 ft

Must be housed alone. Strictly solitary

  • An adult needs a floor-based enclosure of at least 7 x 4 x 3 ft, usually custom-built, with larger being better, as these are active terrestrial walkers.
  • Provide a substrate deep enough to burrow into, hides, and sturdy decor.
  • They need a basking gradient with a hot spot of 95-104°F and a cool side of 72-79°F, plus UVB lighting across part of the enclosure for vitamin D3 and calcium metabolism.
  • Humidity needs vary by species, so match it to your specific type.

Check your enclosure

Supplies

Setup

  • Enclosure, 7 x 4 x 3 ft, usually custom-built
  • Heating and thermostat
  • UVB fixture and bulb
  • Thermometers and hygrometer
  • Substrate and decor

Ongoing

  • Live crickets, dubia roaches and earthworms
  • Dark leafy greens and mixed vegetables (for blue-tongues)
  • High-quality wet dog food or plain lean meat (blue-tongues only)
  • Plain calcium powder without D3
  • Vitamin supplement with D3
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  • Feeder gut-load and a ventilated tub
  • Shallow food and water dishes
  • Blunt-tipped feeding tongs

Safe substrate: Topsoil and coco fibre mix · Leaf litter over a soil base · Cypress mulch or orchid bark

Work out the cost

Care routine

Daily

  • Check temperatures and humidity
  • Fresh water bowl
  • Look the animal over
  • Spot-clean waste and uneaten food

Every few days

  • Short handling sessionevery 3 days
  • Feed a measured mixed meal (adults once or twice a week; juveniles about three times a week)every 5 days
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Every few weeks

  • Turn and dampen part of the substrateevery 2 weeks
  • Weigh-inevery 2 weeks

Monthly

  • Check the nails
  • Deep-clean decor, glass and bowls
  • Test thermostats, lamps and guards

Less often

  • Refresh the substrateevery 3 months
  • Check the UVB lamp's age and replace it if due (if one is fitted)every 6 months

Vet: Annual exam and weight review, every 12 months (every 6 months from 12 years old)

Tools

Is your enclosure big enough?Check your measurements against the recommended sizeWhat will it cost?Setup, monthly and over its whole life, itemisedCan it eat that?Search 30 foods, from everyday to never

Care in depth

Diet

Omnivore - greens, veg, protein
  • Blue-tongues are omnivores needing a varied diet of animal protein, greens and vegetables, with fruit kept to no more than a tenth.
  • Sources differ on the balance: ReptiFiles feeds adults roughly 50-60% protein and 40-50% greens and vegetables, while veterinary care sheets put greens and vegetables at 45-60% of an adult's diet, so about half and half sits inside both.
  • Juveniles need far more protein, about 70-80% by ReptiFiles' figures.
  • Offer dark leafy greens, mixed veg, and protein such as insects, lean meat, eggs, or a small amount of high-quality wet dog food, plus occasional fruit.
  • Dust food with calcium and use a vitamin supplement as advised.
  • Avoid high-fat, all-protein diets that cause obesity and organ stress.
  • Babies up to about three months eat daily and juveniles about three times a week; adults eat once or twice a week, adjusted to body condition.

Health

Signs of good health, and the common problems
  • Without correct UVB and calcium, blue-tongues readily develop metabolic bone disease, a common and serious husbandry failure.
  • Obesity from rich diets and too little space is also frequent, and respiratory infections occur in cold or incorrectly humid setups.
  • Provide proper UVB, a thermal gradient, and a balanced diet to prevent these problems.
  • Keep nails trimmed and weight in check, and consult a reptile vet for any limb weakness, swelling, or lethargy.

Is this urgent?

8 warning signs and how fast to act, 5 of them right away

Most reptile emergencies are husbandry emergencies first. Before you panic, check the temperatures, but check them with a thermometer, not a hand.

Go now

Gasping or open-mouth breathing away from the basking spot, or bubbles and mucus at the nose or mouth (a mouth held open while basking is normal cooling behaviour in many lizards)Go now. Raise the warm end to the top of the species range in transit. Respiratory infection in a reptile is usually already established by the time it is visible, and it advances fast at the wrong temperature.
Now
Prolapse: any tissue protruding from the ventGo now. Keep the tissue moist with clean lukewarm water. Do not push it back in. Exposed tissue dries and dies quickly, and the window for a simple repair is short.
Now
Unable to right itself when gently turned overGo now. Loss of the righting reflex signals a neurological or metabolic crisis.
Now
A burn, or a blackened patch on the belly or sideGo now, and unplug the heat source before you leave. Contact burns from an unregulated mat or an unguarded lamp are among the most common injuries in captive reptiles.
Now
Tremors, twitching, jerky limbs, or a rubbery jawGo now. Note your UVB bulb type and when it was last replaced. Almost always a calcium and D3 problem, and almost always a UVB problem underneath that.
Now

Today

Retained shed over the eyes, or a ring of stuck shed on the tail or a toeRaise humidity and offer a damp hide, then call if it is not clear within a day. A constricting ring cuts off circulation and the digit or tail tip is lost.
Today
Sudden weight loss, or a visibly sunken or triangular body shapeCall today, with the weight history. A reptile that has lost condition has usually been unwell for a while.
Today

Soon

Refusing food beyond the species' normal fastCheck what a normal fast looks like for this species before worrying: for several snakes it is weeks, not days. Then log it and book if the fast is unusual for this animal. Feeding anxiety drives more unnecessary vet visits than any other reptile question, and also masks the fasts that genuinely matter.
Check the guide first

Before any non-emergency call, write down the four numbers a vet will ask for: the thermostat probe reading, the warm-end air temperature, the cool-end air temperature, and the hottest accessible surface. Surface temperature can run well above the air above it.

This is general guidance for a healthy adult, not a diagnosis. An exotics vet who knows your animal always overrides it, and the time to find one is before you need one.

Bedding and substrate

5 safe, 3 with a caveat, 4 to avoid

Substrate choice follows the animal's natural humidity, not the look of the vivarium. Get that pairing right and most substrate arguments disappear.

Safe

Topsoil and coco fibre mixThe usual bioactive-ready base for lizards from humid habitats. Plain topsoil with no fertiliser, no perlite and no wetting agents; keep the lower layers slightly damp. Coco fibre on its own also holds humidity, but rinse it and do not let it go bone dry, which makes it dusty.
safe
Leaf litter over a soil baseCover, humidity and invertebrate habitat in one. Sterilised, from a known source.
safe
Cypress mulch or orchid barkLong-lasting, holds humidity and resists compaction. Cypress specifically, not general 'wood mulch'.
safe
Topsoil and play sand mix, for species from dry habitatsPacks firm and holds a burrow. Plain topsoil with no fertiliser, no perlite and no wetting agents.
safe
Paper towel or newspaperNot attractive, but correct for quarantine, for a new arrival, and for any animal being monitored for output.
safe

With a caveat

Reptile carpetSnags claws and traps bacteria in the fibres. If used, it needs replacing rather than washing, often.
with a caveat
Sand alone for desert speciesReal desert is packed substrate, not loose play sand. Mix it with soil so it holds a burrow.
with a caveat
Bioactive setupsExcellent when established, but the clean-up crew needs weeks to establish before the animal goes in.
with a caveat

Never

Calcium sand and 'digestible' sandsMarketed as safe to eat, which encourages eating it. Implicated in impaction.
never
Crushed walnut shellSharp fragments, frequently implicated in impaction, with no advantage over soil.
never
Pine and cedarThe same aromatic oils that make them unsafe in small-mammal bedding. They have hardly been studied in reptiles, so leave them out.
never
Uncovered heat mats and unguarded ceramic emittersNot a substrate, but the most common cause of contact burns. Every heat source needs a thermostat, and every emitter needs a guard.
never

This is our general list for reptiles. We have not built one specific to Skinks yet.

Impaction is far more often a temperature problem than a substrate problem: an animal that cannot reach its digestive temperature will not pass what it swallows, whatever it is standing on.

Top resources for more info

Independent creators and organisations we would send a friend to. We have no affiliation with any of them, and nothing here is sponsored. Links checked 2026-10-22.

YouTubers

Reptiles and ResearchEvidence-led husbandry: enclosure size, UVB, thermal gradients, enrichmentClint's ReptilesWhich reptile suits you, with honest care and handling verdictsGoHerpingBeginner reptile care, setup mistakes and welfare basics

Sites

Keep going

Skinks, side by side

Same axes, same care guides: the honest way to choose between types.

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Is your enclosure big enough?

These are the smallest sizes that give good conditions, not legal minimums. More room is always better.

Minimum 27 sq ft of floor · 7 x 4 x 3 ft

Every figure, and where it comes from

Floor is what counts for this ground-dweller. This figure is set at the Swiss legal minimum for an adult with a head-body length of 12 in, the lower end of the 12-13 in that San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance gives for the species, because good conditions are never less than a law requires; the welfare-led standards below give less. A skink of 13 in head-body length needs 7.5 x 4 x 3 ft.

Minimum floor area27 sq ft of continuous, unbroken floor
As dimensions7 x 4 x 3 ft
CompanyMust be housed alone. Strictly solitary
The recognised standards do not agree on this one
ReptiFiles: At least 12 sq ft of floor and 18 in of height, 24 in with lamps inside. Its minimum, which it calls a compromise below the FBH and DGHT standard. Checked 2026-10-23.
Federation of British Herpetologists (FBH), code of practice on minimum enclosure sizes (2022): 6 x 4 x 3 head-body lengths of width, depth and height for one adult: 6 x 4 x 3 ft at a 12-inch head-body length. Its recommended minimum, and the largest welfare-led figure found; the German herpetological society DGHT asks the same floor. Shorter than the figure used here. Checked 2026-10-23.
German expert group on keeping terrarium animals, minimum requirements for keeping reptiles (1997): 6 x 4 x 3 head-body lengths for a pair. The same proportions, written as a minimum for a pair. Checked 2026-10-23.
Switzerland, Tierschutzverordnung (legal minimum): 7 x 4 head-body lengths of floor and 3 of height for up to two: 7 x 4 x 3 ft at a 12-inch head-body length. A legal minimum. It applies to a single skink as well, so the figure used here is set at it for a typical adult. Checked 2026-10-23.
Austria, 2. Tierhaltungsverordnung (legal minimum): 6.5 sq ft of floor and 24 in of height for one or two adults. A legal minimum, recorded for context. Below the figure used here. Checked 2026-10-23.

What it really costs

Setup, monthly, first year and across a whole life, itemised and with the electricity worked out from the actual wattage. Published figures for the same animal disagree by a factor of four, so the calculator shows ranges rather than picking one.

Can a Blue-tongue Skink eat that?

Blue-tongues are true omnivores: as adults about half protein and half greens and vegetables, with fruit no more than a tenth, and juveniles far more protein. Measure rather than guess, because they gain weight easily.

The full list: 30 foods

Never (15)

AlcoholNo safe amount at any body weight on this site.
never
AvocadoPersin. Toxic to birds and many mammals; it has not been studied in reptiles, so treat it as unsafe.
never
CaffeineCoffee, tea and energy drinks. Cardiac and neurological toxicity at tiny doses for an animal this size.
never
ChocolateTheobromine and caffeine. Small mammals and reptiles cannot clear either.
never
CitrusAcidic enough to upset the gut, and sugary. Not worth the risk.
never
Dry kibbleUse wet pet food rather than kibble, as ReptiFiles advises: kibble is hard, dry and calorie-dense.
never
FirefliesLucibufagins. A single firefly has killed adult lizards. This is the most dangerous item on any reptile list and it is the one keepers do not know about.
never
Fish caught from the wildParasites and pollutants. Separately, thiaminase depends on the fish species, not where it was caught: goldfish, carp, many minnows and smelt carry it even when shop-bought, and cause vitamin B1 deficiency if fed regularly.
never
GarlicSame allium toxicity as onion, and more concentrated by weight.
never
Iceberg lettuceWater with no nutrition. It fills a reptile up in place of food that would have done something.
never
LeekAllium family. Same mechanism as onion and garlic.
never
OnionOrganosulphur compounds damage red blood cells. The whole allium family is out.
never
RhubarbOxalate load high enough to cause acute kidney injury.
never
Salty or seasoned human foodSalt, oil and seasoning. Crisps, chips, seasoned leftovers and processed meat are all out.
never
Wild-caught insectsPesticide residue and parasites, and the identification risk. Captive-bred feeders only.
never

Rare treats (2)

SpinachOxalates bind dietary calcium, which is the last thing a reptile at risk of metabolic bone disease needs. A very small amount, rarely.
rare treat
WaxwormsVery fatty. Useful for an underweight animal or for medicating, addictive otherwise. One or two, rarely.
rare treat

Occasional (7)

Bell pepperSafe, low oxalate, and the colour gets a refuser eating. A few small pieces a few times a week.
occasional
Butternut squashWell tolerated and a useful source of vitamin A precursors. Small cubes a few times a week.
occasional
FruitA small part of the mix, no more than about a tenth of the diet. Never citrus, and take out seeds and pits. Mixed into a meal now and then.
occasional
KaleGood calcium, mild goitrogen. Rotate it. Twice a week.
occasional
Lean meat and cooked eggPlain and unseasoned, as part of the protein share. A small amount, as one part of a meal.
occasional
MealwormsHard chitin shell and a poor calcium ratio. Fine as part of a varied feed, poor as the whole diet. A few, alongside better feeders.
occasional
Wet dog or cat foodAn accepted protein for blue-tongues: high-quality wet food, cat food for juveniles and dog food from about a year old. No fish flavours and no artificial colours or flavours. A small amount as one part of the protein share, mixed with greens and vegetables and dusted with calcium.
occasional

Everyday foods (6)

Black soldier fly larvaeUnusually high in calcium; one of the few feeders that does not need dusting. Several per feed.
everyday food
Collard greensOne of the best staple greens for herbivorous and omnivorous reptiles. Daily.
everyday food
CricketsA standard feeder. Gut-load them for 24 hours before offering, or you are feeding an empty shell. Sized no wider than the space between the animal's eyes.
everyday food
Dandelion greensExcellent calcium-to-phosphorus ratio and readily taken. Pick away from sprayed ground. Daily, for herbivorous species.
everyday food
Dubia roachesBetter calcium ratio and more meat per insect than crickets, and they cannot climb glass. Sized to the animal.
everyday food
Mustard greensGood calcium ratio; rotate with other greens. Several times a week.
everyday food

That food is not on our list. Blue-tongues eat a wide diet, but leave out anything unfamiliar until you have checked the species guide.

Dust feeders and add calcium to wet pet food at every feeding, with a D3 supplement as your UVB set-up requires.