New Guinea Blue-Tongued Skink

[Tiliqua gigas]

The New Guinea Blue Tongued Skink is up to 20 inches long, with a bulky body and short, strong legs. Coloration is basically golden to grayish-brown with darker brown crossbands continued onto the tail. The sides are covered with a broad, irregular blackish brown band that extends over the legs, and is occasionally interrupted by weak extensions of the golden-brown back color onto the sides. The belly is pale with many dusky spots at the edges of the scales. There may be a dark stripe behind the eye. Males are a bit heavier and duller-appearing than females, and with somewhat shorter tails. The eyes are reddish-brown to bright red, variable with the season and the mood. The head is large, conical and flattened. The tongue, as the name implies, is blue.

Location: Education Animals



The range of the New Guinea Blue Tongued Skink is Southern New Guinea through the Indonesian Islands to Sumatra.


New Guinea Blue Tongued Skinks inhabit Scrubland.


Gestation last 4 to 5 months.


2 to 23 eggs


As thermophilous (heat-loving) animals,New Guinea Blue Tongued skinks are found predominantly in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the earth. They are decidedly terrestrial, avoiding—with few exceptions—the immediate vicinity of bodies of water. Tiliqua gigas is a diurnal ground-dweller. They are territorial, and if two are kept together in captivity they can be very aggressive. When threatened they exhibit a characteristic defensive posture with the head raised slightly, the mouth open with the dark blue tongue displayed, and a simultaneous hiss.


The male New Guinea blue tongued skink will follow the female sometimes for several hours until he established a firm bite in the neck region, followed by copulation. It was once thought that most skinks were ovoviviparous, but more recent research has revealed that about two-thirds of the species lay eggs. The number of eggs in a clutch varies between 2 and 23. Some species care for their young. They reach maturity in a little over 2 years.

Wild Diet

Fruit, plants

Zoo Diet

Fruit, vegetables, meal worms, snails, meat, marmoset diet