Blue Tongued Lizard

Blue Tongued Lizard

The Blue Tongued lizard is a well-known Australian native animal. It is brown and black blotched on a cream body with usually a dark band behind the eyes. They are easily recognised by their bright blue tongue which in nature is a warning to predators to stay away.

They have a thick body with small limbs and are slow movers depending mostly on their colours to go unnoticed and if a predator does come along they try to scare them off by opening their mouths, hissing and showing their blue tongue, sometimes even biting at the intruder. However cats, dogs and foxes often kill them because they are quite commonly found in backyards living amongst woodpiles and rock gardens.

They are often mistaken for a snake due to their body shape and small limbs and killed but they feed on slugs and snails so they are great at keeping your gardens free from these pests.

The Blue-Tongued Lizard is in the skink family which means it can lose its tail if a predator is close behind, however it is not as simple as a little garden skink that easily loses and regrows its tail. Sometimes this lizard can die due to massive bleeding and infection with the tail never looking as it did. Sometimes the tail grows much smaller and a different colour to the rest of its body.

Blue Tongues are quite inoffensive and can be kept by children as pets. However it is illegal to take native animals from the wild so they must be obtained through breeders that will help with housing and feeding requirements as these little critters have quite specific needs.