Common Blue-tongued Lizard

wildlife.vic.gov.au

Have you ever wondered why a

Common Blue-tongued Lizard has

such a bright blue tongue? Read

on to find out why.

Scientific name

Tiliqua scincoides scincoides

Did you know?

Common Blue-tongued Lizards (“Blue-tongues”) are

named after their bright blue fleshy tongue, which

contrasts with their pink mouths.

They use their tongue as a defence tool to scare off

predators. When Blue-tongues feel threatened they

stick out their tongue to frighten predators. They are

also known to hiss when threatened.

Blue-tongues are not venomous, but may try to bite if

handled.

If you come across one around your home, it’s best to

leave it alone. It won’t harm you or any of your pets.

Description

Blue-tongues can grow up to 60 cm in length.

They have silvery grey to brown smooth scales, with

distinct dark stripes running across their body and tail.

Their underbelly is usually a light grey colour.

Blue-tongues have a broad triangular head that is wider

than the neck.

Their eyes are reddish-brown to grey and there is a

broad black strip that runs from the eye to their neck.

Diet

Blue-tongues search for food during the warmer parts of

the day. They feed on a variety of insects, beetles,

snails, wildflowers, native fruits and berries.

Figure 1. Common Blue-tongue Lizard © A. Houston DSE 2008

Blue-tongues don’t just smell by using their nose. They

also have an organ, called a ‘Jacobson’s Organ’, on the

roof of their mouth, which they use to sense chemicals

that are emitted by their prey (e.g. insects). Blue-

tongues use this to detect their prey.

Blue-tongues have strong teeth and jaw muscles to

crush their food – they can even crush the shell of a

snail.

Habitat

Blue-tongues can be found in virtually all habitats

across Australia. In Victoria, they inhabit a wide variety

of ecosystems from coastal heathland, lowlands and

mountain forests to interior plains.

They are also common in urban areas, and

unfortunately are often injured by people using shovels

to dig in their garden.

Like all lizards, Blue-tongues cannot maintain a

constant body temperature without help from the sun.

This means that they use the sun’s heat to maintain

their body temperature.

Blue-tongues are active during the daytime and shelter

at night under large objects such as logs or leaf litter

and debris. They can often be seen warming

themselves in sunny areas.

During the colder months, Blue-tongues are mostly

inactive, often taking shelter until the warmer weather

arrives.

They may spend many years living in the same area.

Our Wildlife Fact S

heet

Common Blue-

tongued Lizard

Our Wildlife Fact Sheet

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0

International licence. You are free to re-use the work under that

licence,

on the condition that you credit the State of Victoria as author. The licence does not

apply to any images, photographs or branding, including the Victorian Coat of Arms,

the Victorian Government logo and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and

Planning (DELWP) logo. To view a copy of this licence, visit

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Disclaimer

This publication may be of assistance to you but the State of Victoria and its employees

do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate

for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other

consequence which may arise from you relying on any information in this publication.

Accessibility

If you would like to receive this publication in

an alternative format, please telephone the

DELWP Customer Service Centre on 136186,

email customer.service@delwp.vic.gov.au, or

via the National Relay Service on 133 677

www.relayservice.com.au

. This document is

also available on the internet at

www.wildlife.vic.gov.au

Distribution

Common Blue-tongued Lizards are found right across

Victoria.

Figure 2. Recorded occurrences in Victoria

Source: Victorian Biodiversity Atlas (records post 1979), version 15/5/2017

Breeding

Blue-tongues live alone for most of the year, but

between September and November, males leave their

territory in search of a mate.

Males can travel up to 15 city blocks in their search and

may have several families.

Females give birth to as many as 25 live young (but

usually 10) in a litter, which are born between

December and January.

The young are born self-sufficient and disperse a few

days after birth. Blue-tongues are sexually mature when

they are four years old.

What you can do to help!

Blue-tongues are beneficial to your garden, as they

reduce the number of plant eating insects such as

snails and slugs.

To help protect Blue-tongue habitat, you can maintain a

lizard friendly garden by leaving logs and rocks on the

ground to provide shelter.

You can also reduce or eliminate the use of snail bait.

Blue-tongues eat the snails and slugs that are killed by

the bait, which in turn poisons the Blue-tongues.

On warm days, Blue-tongues lie on hot surfaces such

as roads. As they are easily camouflaged and slow to

move, please be alert and careful when driving.

All cats are natural hunters and Blue-tongues are

common prey. If you own a cat keep it indoors at night.

Never dump cats or kittens in the bush. Take them to

an animal shelter or have them humanely put down.

Never try to feed Blue-tongues as they have specific

diets.