🍖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.

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

The rest of the Blue-tongue skink’s gear

Food for related breeds and species