Blue tongues are one of the most popular home owned reptiles. But when making the decision to get a pet, you need to know how many years of enjoyment you can expect when you shoes to own a skink.
They are easy to look after as they feed off a lot of common foodstuffs and their housing requirements are relatively simple. (We break down what’s needed for a Blue Tongue Skinks vivarium here.)
Once you get the housing sorted, with a lot of love and nurture they can live for a decent stretch.
Here’s how long:
How Long Does a Blue Tongue Skink Live?
Depending on the species and how they’ve been cared for, blue-tongued skinks may live anywhere from 10 to 20 years. For example, the Kei Island blue-tongue skink may live for up to 30 years, making it one of the oldest blue-tongue skink species.
The recorded oldest blue-tongue skink known was a species called Tiliqua Rugosa, and survived for approximately 35 years before being exterminated. Stumpy, the English shingleback skink, was his nickname.
With so much love, excellent care and attention, Stumpy survived for quite some time. This is something that experts say wouldn’t have been possible in the wild.
How Long Does a Blue Tongue Skink Live in Wild?
It is estimated that in the wild, non-domesticated blue-tongue skinks live for 15 to 18 years. Due to their natural environment, blue-tongue skinks in the wild have shorter lives than their domesticated counterparts.
It is fairly uncommon for young blue-tongue skinks to fail to develop in the wild, because they live on the ground and not up in plants and trees, they are vulnerable to a wide range of ground-based predators.
They have little chance of dodging a fast-moving predator since they aren’t fast-moving creatures. Predators of baby blue tongue skinks in the wild include raptors, currawongs, kookaburras and snakes.
How to help Your Blue Tongue Skink Live Longer?
Everyone who has a pet wants to spend as much time as possible with their cherish scaly friend. So learning how to prolong the life of your blue-tongue companion is critical. Here’s a simple breakdown of what you can do:
Blue Tongue Skink Environment
Because blue-tongue lizards are cold-blooded, the temperature of their environment is crucial to their survival.
Ensure that your pet reptile is kept in a temperature-controlled setting that mimics its natural habitat. Between 75 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit, they should have a 95-degree basking light to provide them with an artificial “sun.”
They will also want a large water bowl, no more than 3 inches by 9 inches, where your blue-tongue skinks may rehydrate and soak.
Vitamin and Dietary Supplementation
Keep your blue-tongued best friend in good health by implementing a regular vitamin and nutritional supplement regimen. It may be the difference between life and death for your skink to take vitamins and supplements on a regular basis since it is going low in vitamin A in the home and not surrounded by their natural dietary regimen.
Vitamin A deficiency may also occur as a result of the poor digestive system. Vitamin A aids digestion, and a lack of it may make it difficult for your blue tongue skink to handle higher fat meals.
Solution: Add calcium and multivitamin powders as suggested to your lizard’s food to fix this issue! When supplementing your Blue Tongued Skink’s diet, you should use care to avoid overfeeding your lizard. This includes keeping track of the foodstuffs and vitamins you’ve given them throughout the day.
A balanced Skink Diet
A varied diet is crucial for your blue-tongued skink. Around 60% of the Blue-Tongued Skink’s diet comprises fruits and vegetables, whereas 40% of its diet is made up of meat. This is something to keep in mind if you’re preparing food for them.
When you are feeding your baby blue, you don’t want to over feed it. The same holds true for adults, which should always have enough fruits and vegetables to satisfy their nutritional requirements.
Blue Tongued Skinks eat a variety of fruits and vegetables, including melon, carrots, greens, squash, and strawberries. Meaty options for the Blue Tongued Skink’s 40 percent meat/protein diet include crickets, pinkie mice, snails, and mealworms.
Add commercial lizard pellets to your Blue-Tongued Skink’s food to help it get more protein.
Separation of Skink from other Pets
When sharing a home with other pets, it’s worth keeping the skink apart from them. Curious cats and dogs have been known to “attack” blue-tongued lizards. Consider isolating your blue-tongue skink from other pets if you have anxious cats or dogs, especially because of their inability to defend themselves.
Does a Blue Tongue Skunk Diet Have Any Relation to Its Lifespan?
Yes absolutely, your skink’s life depends on a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and meat. Giving a blue-tongue skink the care and nourishment it requires to build strong bones may extend its life expectancy.
The Blue Tongue Skink’s lifespan may be reduced by not varying its diet. Bad diet, including a lack of Vitamin D, and poor cage conditions are the two most common reasons for mortality for blue-tongue skinks.
Providing blue-tongued skinks with a diet that is deficient in vitamin A will wreak havoc on their digestive systems. You should constantly feed your Blue-Tongued Skink the best food you can find in order to significantly increase its lifespan. Supplementing your skink’s food with vitamins may be a smart option if you want to offer it more nourishment than just for foodstuffs.
Conclusion
The typical lifespan of a farmed blue-tongue skink is roughly 20 years or a bit less. If you provide well-balanced food and sufficient care for this wonderful lizard, it will live as long as it deserves. Blue-tongue skinks may live up to 20 years plus with adequate care.
So you can feed them well, keep them safe, and house them comfortably, but give them love, car and attention the right way and they’ll live and flourish with you.
