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At birth the young of this species eat their own way out of the placental sack they've been sharing for four months.

Diet: Blue-tongue Skinks are omnivores and feed on invertebrates, snails and slugs, flowers and fruit.

In the wild: Adult females give birth to 4–10 (usually 5) young in late summer. Western Blue-tongue Skinks are ovoviviparous, which means the offspring develop in a jelly-like sack inside the mother’s body before they are born. When threatened, a Blue-tongue Skink will flatten its body, hiss and open its mouth to display the blue tongue to scare the predator away. Skinks are often eaten by central Australian Aborigines and their other predators include snakes, monitors and raptors (birds of prey).

Threats: Land clearing has resulted in habitat loss for this lizard. They are also poached and sold on the illegal pet trade.

Did you Know?

Western Blue-tongue Skinks give birth to live young.

Precinct
Australian Reptile Encounter
Scientific Name
Tiliqua occipitalis
Conservation Status
Least Concern
Body Length
27 cm
Weight
Class
Reptile
Number of Young
4–10
Distribution
Southern Australia
Habitat
Coastal areas
Region
Australia
extraMile by Integranet