Feeding a Blue-tongue skink: diet, supplements, food refusals
Blue-tongue skink : An opportunistic omnivore: roughly half protein (insects, snails, some lean meat or quality wet food), half vegetables, with fruit as a treat. Dust meals with calcium and feed adults 2 to 3 times a week.
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In short: 45 to 60 cm as an adult, 15 to 20 years of lifespan, beginner to intermediate level. A large, placid and intelligent ground lizard, it recognises its keeper and handles easily. It is above all a digger: 10 to 15 cm of loose substrate to churn through, rather than height, is its best enrichment.
The Blue-tongue skink diet, precisely
An opportunistic omnivore: about half protein (insects, snails, some lean meat or quality wet food), half vegetables, a little fruit, dusted with calcium, fed 2 to 3 times a week as an adult. Temperature governs digestion: a Blue-tongue skink kept below its 33-35°C basking spot digests poorly and eventually refuses food — faced with a refusing animal, check the thermometer before the menu.
Gut-loading and supplements: the invisible part
A cricket is only worth what it ate: feed your insects for 24-48 h (fresh vegetables, bran) before offering them — that is gut-loading. Add calcium dusting at nearly every juvenile meal, every other one for adults, plus a calcium dish available at all times.
Water and hydration
A stable water dish changed daily, big enough for a soak if the animal wants one — many drink little but bathe before shedding. Dehydration shows in skin folds and sunken eyes: that means the exotics vet, not the mister alone. The full profile is on the full Blue-tongue skink profile.
Frequently asked questions
What does a Blue-tongue skink eat?
An opportunistic omnivore: about half protein (insects, snails, some lean meat or quality wet food), half vegetables, a little fruit, dusted with calcium, fed 2 to 3 times a week as an adult.
Why is my Blue-tongue skink refusing food?
Check temperatures first (basking spot at 33-35°C): too cold means no digestion. Then shedding and settling-in stress — but measured weight loss calls for the exotics vet.
The guides that apply to you
- Feeding a blue-tongue skink: balancing an omnivore
What does a blue-tongue skink eat? Ratios of protein, vegetables and fruit, feeding frequency, calcium, and foods to avoid. The complete feeding guide.
- Does a tokay gecko prefer bigger prey? What a two-choice study found
Small cricket or large one: a study placed tokay geckos in front of a prey-size choice. The result nuances the idea of a predator that always calculates the best meal.
- Feeding a leopard gecko: crickets, worms, calcium and D3 done right
Which insects to feed a leopard gecko, how often, and how to dose calcium and vitamin D3: the feeding guide for insectivorous reptiles.
- Blue-tongued skink: what a study on prey capture changes about how it eats
A study filmed slow-motion capture of mealworms and crickets in the blue-tongued skink: the tongue and jaws are not used the same way depending on the prey, a useful benchmark for varying feeding.