The giant blue-tongued skink is a large lizard with a smooth body. The owners of terrariums call these beautiful animals “domestic cats”, as they are affectionate, friendly and do not differ in aggressive character, although in some cases you need to be careful with them. But if you think about it, then a cat can also scratch and bite painfully if something annoys her. In nature, there are about eight types of skinks. These amazing creatures got their name because of the bright blue language.
Each of the species was named in accordance with the territory in which it lives. It is quite normal that the blue-language skink lives and develops at home, maintenance and care are very simple. To maintain the number of artificial populations of lizards, selection work is widespread. You can buy this miracle of nature with a blue language in any nursery, but you can read about how to care for it and what it is like in this article.
Blue-language Skink Lizard: Description
The description of this lizard is worth starting with its unusual blue tongue. To date, scientists have not been able to accurately establish the cause of this color. According to one version, it is believed that the contrast of the pink mouth and the blue color of the tongue helps scare away enemies. According to another version - during the mating season, the males, showing each other their language, as if measured by their dignity, proving their superiority.
The adult giant blue-tongued skink grows up to 50 cm in length, some individuals are particularly large in size, their length reaches 70 cm. Paws are short with small thin fingers, each with 5 fingers. The tail is not too large, thickened, its length is about 60% of the length of the body.
The head is wide, triangular in shape, it stands out even against the background of a large body of a lizard. The jaws are powerful, but the teeth are not sharp at all, they can be called blunt, they are more likely to crush food than to chew. Skink also has a secondary sky.
The color of the lizards is gray or gray-brown; dark brown stripes are visible on the back of the body.
Concluding the description of the appearance of the blue-language skink, we recall an ancient legend that says how the lizard's tongue acquired a blue color and why it has such short paws. According to legend, a long time ago, in order to heal his sick master, his faithful skink carried healing ink in his mouth. He ran very fast, ink splashed, paws broke on sharp stones. Since then, all skinks have a bright blue tongue and short paws. Here is such a devoted animal!
Where does skink live in the wild?
The blue-speaking skink lives on the Admiral Islands, on the Bismarck archipelago, in Indonesia, in New Btiren, in New Guinea. Lizards prefer semi-moist and moderately warm areas. Found in semi-deserts and wooded areas.
Lifestyle
The blue-speaking skink spends most of its life on earth, although it is able to climb trees. So this lizard can rightfully be called terrestrial. Due to the flat shape of the body, animals skillfully crawl in the vegetation under the lowest branches. Skinks behave actively in the daytime, but in hot climates they have to be tight, because they do not like heat and prefer to hide from the heat in cool shelters. For this, both a crack in the soil and someone else's hole can be used, unless, of course, the owner has a larger size and is not dangerous.
By their nature, skinks are single-handed, they converge in pairs only during the mating season. Feeling the danger, the animal immediately rises in an awesome pose. To scare the enemy, the skink hisses, inflates the body, opening its mouth wide, showing a blue tongue. The contrast of the tongue and the pink mouth, as mentioned earlier, should scare the enemy. It turns out, of course, not always.
Because of the short legs, blue-speaking creatures move slowly, as if tossing from side to side. Watching their gait, you might think that they are clumsy, but this is not so - when necessary, the lizards become quite agile.
Like all representatives of this genus, skinks periodically molt. In order to tear off dead old skin, they rub against tree trunks or stones. So when keeping at home, you need to make sure that there are some solid objects in the terrarium for this purpose.
Blue-language skink: contents
Lizards of this species can survive to 20-25 years with proper care. The blue-language skink at home does not cause much trouble and difficulties in maintenance to its owner. But some rules must be followed.
The very first thing is to make sure that the animal is kept in a suitable "house" for it. The blue-tongued skink terrarium should be at least 140 liters in volume. It is recommended to use newsprint or artificial peat for the substrate. It is forbidden to use cedar, shavings of pine and aspen for such purposes.
In order for the lizard to hide, it is necessary to place several boxes in the terrarium. Plants are desirable, but not in large quantities. A cover with ventilation holes is required above. To maintain a low level of humidity, wet moss can be placed in one of the boxes. Fresh fresh water is also needed, it must be changed every day, washing thoroughly with this saucer.
Breeding
The mating season in lizards begins in the fall, and before mating, a courtship ritual is required. The female ostentatiously walks in front of the chosen one, showing him all her beauty. The male, ready for sexual intercourse, grabs the female by the neck, only in this way fertilization will pass normally.
Pregnancy lasts about four months, the number of newborn babies can be from 5 to 20. Blue-tongued skink - viviparous lizard. During gestation, the female forms a yolk placenta, when the embryos reach maturity, they are born with the placenta, which is immediately eaten.
Skinks are born large and become independent almost from the first minutes of life. After only a couple of days, they molt for the first time, after which they feed themselves, without the help of their mother. Within six months, the teeth of young lizards change, they become completely adults.
