Eastern Blue Tongue Lizard
Published on Nov 18, 2015
No Description
MORE DECKS TO EXPLORE
PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Untitled Slide
The eastern blue Tongue is the largest skink in the skink family,the eastern blue tongue is a reptile the lizard is a cold blooded animal.
Defence
The blue tongue's main defence strategy is bluff:It faces the threat and opens its mouth. The blue tongue inside the pink mouth is an unexpected and vivid sight, designed to frighten off the attacker.The lizard also hisses loudly and flattens its body which makes it look wider and bigger.If you pick the lizard up it will bite you . And it will hurt.
Body temperature
Like all reptiles they do not produce any body heat. Their body temperature depends on the surrounding temperature and they can be found sun basking in the mornings or during cooler days. On cold days they remain inactive in their shelter. (They need a body temperature of 30 to 35°C to be active.)During the day they sun themselves until they are warm enough, and then they forage for food during the warmer parts of the day.
Food
Their diet consists of plant matter and small animals. That can be beetles, caterpillars, crickets, snails and even other small lizards. Anything they can get hold of will do. But they are not very fast, so they usually eat slower critters. They are very partial to slugs and snails. Oh, and they steal dog food.
Babies
Blue tongues are born alive, about three to five month after mating. From the moment they are born they have to look for food themselves (they start by eating the placenta), and they will be off on their own within a few days.
The Common Blue-tongue Lizard has the largest litter (up to 25 young at once) and the smallest young. The baby blue-tongue lizards are 13 to 14 cm long and weigh 10 to 20 g. The Shingleback is at the other end of the scale with only two or three young, about 22 cm in size and weighing 200 g.
Life rick
The main predators that may cut a blue-tongued lizard's life short are lawn mowers, cars, and cats and dogs. Cats are the worst. Dogs are often perplexed enough by the blue tongue and the threatening behaviour of the lizard to keep a distance. But cats are ambush predators and the lizard doesn't get a chance to show its scary tongue...
Baby blue tongues may also end up as dinner for currawongs, kookaburras, raptors or snakes.
Blue tongue lizard in your garden
Blue-tongue lizards are an asset in the garden as they keep the numbers of snails, caterpillars and other pests down.It's not hard to make your garden blue-tongue lizard friendly. All they need is plenty of shelter and food. If you have lots of rocks and logs on the ground, piles of leaves, mulch, ground covers and low shrubs, then you are taking care of both requirements. Because beetles, spiders, snails and other critters will like the many moist and protected hidey-holes too.
Habitat
Blue-tongues occur across most of Australia. They like open country with lots of cover like tall grasses, leaf litter, rocks and logs, low shrubs.
Tail
Blue-tongued lizards can drop their tails if necessary to escape a predator. The stump will heal quickly and a new tail will start to grow. It takes about a year for the new one to fully regenerate. That's if the lizard has a stable food source. All the food and water reserves are stored in the tail. If the tail is lost the skink has nothing to fall back on and needs a steady supply.
Life
Blue-tongue lizards live alone for most of the year. It's only during the mating season between September and November that the male will pursue females (and fight other males). Mating is a rough affair and many females carry scars from the male's teeth...
Female blue tongues stay within a defined home base. The males wander over an area the size of about 15 house blocks and have several females.
A lucky blue-tongued lizard can live for many years. Lizards in captivity have lived for as long as 20 years, and some in the wild may live for up to 30 years.
Breeding
Lizard breeds annually ( yearly), but other species breed only every second year. How often they breed also depends on the amount of food available.
Body
Blue tongues have somewhat unusual body proportions: a big head and long body with very short legs and small feet. Their evenly tapering tail is fat and shorter than the body.
Male lizards have a proportionally larger head than females, but the females are bigger overall.The most noticeable feature of these lizards is the blue tongue inside the bright pink mouth.
Blue-tongue lizards have strong jaw muscles to crush big beetles and snail shells. They may also bite in defence when they feel threatened.
PHOTOS
About blue tongue lizard
Purple dots:from primary literature
Red Area : estimated range
Blue dots:sightings/specimens
Untitled Slide
Untitled Slide
Eastern blue tongue
Central blue-tongued skink
WE ARE FAIMALY
Thank you for whaching
