Blue Tongue Skink

🗓️ The first week

The numbers a new owner needs in the first week, each taken from the article that explains it.

Day one

A new lizard is quarantined 3 to 6 months away from any reptile you already keep, in a separate room on plain paper towel, with its own tools, and a vet check within two weeks of acquiring it with a fresh fecal sample.Quarantine guide →

Which skink is it

Most Indonesian skinks sold in the US pet trade are wild-caught, and wild-caught animals commonly carry parasite loads picked up before import. Northern skinks are almost universally captive-bred. Knowing which one you have changes almost everything below.Health guide →

Enclosure

Adult minimum is 4x2x2 feet, roughly 8 square feet of floor space, for either type. Bigger is always better. Front-opening PVC enclosures are preferred over glass since they hold humidity more effectively, which matters more for Indonesian skinks specifically.Setup guide →

Basking surface

Northern basking surface: 105 to 115°F. Indonesian basking surface: slightly cooler, 100 to 105°F.Setup guide →

Rest of the gradient

Cool side (both): 70 to 80°F. Nighttime: stays above roughly 70°F for both types. A heat source (halogen or a deep heat projector) is required, mounted with a basking dome fixture and run on a thermostat, which is what holds the surface inside those ranges instead of letting an unregulated bulb climb past them and burn the animal.Setup guide →

Humidity

Northerns need relatively low humidity, around 40%. Indonesians need considerably more, 60 to 80%. Achieve the higher Indonesian range through moisture-retentive substrate, regular misting, and a larger water bowl.Setup guide →

Floor

A naturalistic soil mix works for both, roughly 60% topsoil to 40% play sand for Northerns, with Indonesian setups benefiting from added moisture-retentive elements, leaf litter, sphagnum moss, or a coco-fiber-based product. Keep it 4 to 6 inches deep.Setup guide →

UVB

A T5 HO bulb anywhere from 5 to 12% output, picked against how high above the basking area it will hang, spanning at least half the enclosure on the warm side, replaced every 12 months regardless of whether it still visibly lights up. Keep the skink no closer than about 10 inches from the bulb.Setup guide →

Photoperiod

Run a photoperiod of roughly 11 to 13 hours depending on season for either type.Setup guide →

Diet ratio

Young skinks, under about 12 months and by some guidance up to 24, need a protein-heavy diet, roughly 70 to 80% animal matter. Mature adults shift toward plant-heavy, roughly 40 to 60% animal protein and 45 to 60% leafy greens and vegetables, with about 5 to 10% fruit as treats.Feeding guide →

Feeding schedule

Babies, hatching to 3 to 5 months, are fed daily, sometimes 2 to 3 times a day, plus one designated fasting day a week. Juveniles, roughly 3 to 10 months, 3 to 4 times a week. Subadults and adults eat every 1 to 3 days on veterinary guidance; leaner schedules of once or twice a week circulate widely, and the veterinary interval is the one to follow.Feeding guide →

Portion

One meal roughly the size of the skink's own skull, or about 1 to 2 tablespoons for an adult, is the commonly cited portion.Feeding guide →

Supplements

Dust feeder insects with calcium, low or no phosphorus, frequency ranges from every feeding to a few times a week depending on the product and source. A separate multivitamin is used more sparingly, once or twice a week to once or twice a month.Feeding guide →

Weight checks

Sources converge in the 7 to 10% body-weight-loss range as an urgent threshold, weighing weekly on a gram-accurate scale and keeping a log is the standard way to catch a slow decline before it becomes obvious.Feeding guide →

Handling

Leave a new skink alone for 2 to 3 weeks before attempting to handle it, giving it time to settle into its enclosure and start eating normally. Build trust gradually through food-based interaction, and let handling follow from there.Handling guide →

Session length

Start at 5 minutes a day, adding a minute each time the skink sits still, until it holds still for at least 15 minutes. Start a juvenile or a new wild-caught Indonesian at the 5-minute end. A settled captive-bred Northern can run to the full 15 minutes.Handling guide →

Picking one up

Come in from the side, where it can see you. Slide a hand under the body and support the whole animal along your forearm, tail included. Never lift or hold one by the tail. Wash your hands first, so they do not smell like a food item.Handling guide →

Reading the animal

Short snorts or huffs mean annoyance, tail flicking or wagging means irritation, and long huffs or hisses with the body tilted and puffed up mean the skink has moved on to aggression. What to do is the same at every step: stop, take your hands out, and end the session there.Handling guide →

Enrichment

Scatter food across the substrate. Hide portions under cork and leaf litter. Vary where the food appears from day to day, so the search stays a search. Blue tongues are terrestrial and cover ground, so footprint beats height every time.Enrichment guide →

The skink

Northern (Australian) blue-tongued skinks typically run $150 for babies up to $250 for adults, with high-color or rare morphs reaching $400 to $700. Indonesian skinks are noticeably cheaper, generally $100 to $250.Cost guide →

Budget

Roughly $330 to $635 to set up, and total initial investment with the animal commonly lands between $430 and $1,335. Ongoing, roughly $490 to $830 a year, or about $41 to $69 a month once averaged out.Cost guide →

Vet

A routine exam runs roughly $100 to $150, with annual checkups recommended for any skink. Wild-caught Indonesian skinks frequently need a fecal exam and deworming treatment right after purchase, an added cost that Northern buyers usually skip entirely.Cost guide →

Lifespan

15 to 20 years is the commonly cited average, with well-documented cases living past 30.Cost guide →

Adult size

17-24 inches (43-60 cm).

Shedding

Raise humidity toward the high end during the shed, give rough surfaces to rub on, and never pull loose skin. A 30-minute chin-deep soak at cage temperature loosens retained shed.Shedding guide →

Hygiene

Wash hands with soap and running water immediately after any contact, keep reptiles out of the kitchen entirely, and never clean an enclosure, water dish, or equipment in a kitchen sink or a bathtub people use.Hygiene guide →

Power outage

The normal night low stays above about 70°F. Act below 70°F: add heat, move the animal, or call ahead to a sitter.Emergency plan →

📰 Where to go next

🛒 What to buy

Prices and the reasoning behind each item are in How Much Does a Blue-Tongued Skink Really Cost?.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions