Range: Australia, Indonesia

Habitat: Dense Tropical Forests to arid regions 

Natural Diet: Omnivorous 

Diet at Rain Forest: Small insects, fresh fruits and vegetables

Size: 14-26 inches in total length

RainForest Facts: As the name indicates this skink possess a bright blue tongue that is used to warn off potential predators.  

Blue tongue skinks are a docile lizard from Australia, New Guinea, and many Indonesia islands.  These are medium sized lizards and adults range from 14-26 inches in total length.  Blue tongue skinks come from a wide range of habitats and can be found in arid to tropical environments.  When these lizards feel threatened, they open their mouths and display their large bright blue tongues.  Male and female blue tongue skinks look very similar and sexing is extremely difficult. The female Blue Tongue skink gives birth to live babies. 

An Interesting Twist: This lizard is one of a small percentage of lizards that reproduce by giving birth to live babies.  The vast majority of lizards on earth lay eggs.  By retaining the eggs inside her body the female is capable of protecting them from potential predators that may find the eggs deposited by other species of lizards and consume or otherwise destroy the eggs.  

The flip side of the arrangement is that if the female who deposits her eggs in the soil is killed by a predator after depositing her eggs the viable eggs still have a chance to hatch, if a gravid Blue tongue skink is killed the adult and the off-spring are both lost at the same time! 

Female Blue toungue skinks generally give birth to approximately 4-6 live babies.

Status in Wild: Numbers are stable in most parts of the lizards natural range