How to Feed a Blue-tongued Lizard

Blue-tongued skinks (Tiliqua scincoides) are medium-sized lizards native to Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea. Blue-tongued skinks, also called blue-tongue lizards, have a robust build and short legs with a broad, triangular head; they receive their common name due to the conspicuous blue tongue that they use to confuse predators. When threatened, blue-tongued skinks puff up their body, open their mouth to show their blue tongue and hiss loudly to scare away potential predators. Blue-tongued skinks are docile in captivity and make excellent pets with proper care. Captive specimens are readily available in the pet trade and readily feed on mixed diet of fruits, vegetables and meat.

Things You'll Need

  • Food processor
  • 1/2 cup collard greens
  • 1/2 cup mustard greens
  • 1/2 cup green beans
  • 1 acorn or butternut squash
  • Two small parsnips
  • Ice cube trays
  • Plastic wrap
  • Various fruits
  • Pinkie mice
  • Crickets
  • Mealworms
  • Reptile vitamin supplement
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Instructions

    • 1

      Combine vegetables and leafy greens in a food processor and shred the ingredients together. This creates a fine mixture of healthy greens that should compose 60 percent of a blue-tongued skinks diet.

    • 2

      Place the shredded vegetables into ice cube trays and cover with plastic wrap.

    • 3

      Store the shredded vegetables in the freezer to use at your convenience.

    • 4

      Offer several thawed vegetable cubes to blue-tongued skinks three to four times each week.

    • 5

      Supplement the vegetable foods with fruits once or twice each week. Blue-tongued skinks readily feed on a wide variety of fruits including bananas, cherries, blueberries, nectarines and strawberries. Feed fruits separately from vegetables.

    • 6

      Feed blue-tongued skinks as many mealworms and crickets as they will eat twice each week. Dust the insects with a reptile vitamin supplement to ensure that they receive enough calcium in their diet to prevent bone diseases problems. You can substitute small pinkie mice for crickets every other week, but they should be fed sparingly due to their low nutritious value.