While blue-tongue lizards will mostly be docile, if the lizard is scared it may bite, so be sure to protect yourself by wearing gloves when handling it. A: A great way to provide blue-tongue lizards with some shelter away from your pets is to place pieces of PVC pipe around your yard for it to crawl into should it feel it's in danger.
It is also important to note that blue-tongue lizards are not poisonous and do not post any threat to your cats or dogs. They need to be responsible for finding their own food without our help, because they may start relying on you for food and if you stop feeding them they will struggle to survive.
If you feel you absolutely must do something to help the blue-tongue lizard, consider providing clean fresh water from a bowl or dish that it and other wildlife can easily access and not get stuck in. A: If you have a sick or injured blue-tongue lizard in your backyard, you can contact a wildlife rescue organisation, such as Fauna Rescue SA , for help.
They may hide under vegetation, in hollow logs, under debris and even in drain pipes. If, during brumation, the lizard is finding that the spot it has chosen to stay is not suitable — it may be too warm or too cold, or if they feel in danger — they will seek out a new place to stay. A: Blue-tongue lizards are a prey species for some snakes, so it is possible that if you have a blue-tongue lizard in your yard there may also be a snake.
That being said, many people have had blue-tongues — or rats and mice, which are also prey species for snakes — in their garden or shed for years and have never seen a snake. A: Like the French, blue-tongues see snails as a delicacy. If a lizard eats a poisoned snail, the lizard could also die.
Keep branches low to the ground and stable. Your lizard will also need a dark place to retreat to. Use a wooden box, hollow log or pipe. Also include an immovable object with a rough surface, like a rock , for them to rub against when shedding. Visit your local Petbarn to find the right UVB lighting and heating sources.
Provide them with a lot of shelter from the elements and remember to have a clean water bowl in the enclosure at all times.
All Australian lizards are protected species in Australia. This varies from state to state, so find the relevant information on your government website. You can then apply for your licence online or call the provided number.
Blue-tongued lizards are omnivores. Garden snails are their ideal food, but they will also enjoy most varieties of fruits and veggies. For a treat, feed them crickets and mice which you can buy at your local Petbarn store.
Blue-tongues usually eat from late morning through to midday after getting some sun. Baby lizards should be fed five times a week once to twice per day and once a full-grown adult, only two to three times a week.
Investigate how much food you should give your lizard by using a process of trial and error. When handling your blue-tongue, support all their limbs rather than holding their torso. When travelling, wrap them in a towel or blanket and use a hot water bottle. Transport them in a small plastic container, pet carrier or cardboard box, making sure there are openings for air. Get our monthly emails for amazing animals, research insights and museum events. When threatened, blue-tongues turn towards the threat, open their mouth wide and stick out their broad blue tongue that contrasts vividly with the pink mouth.
This display, together with the large size of the head, may frighten off predators. If the threat does not go away, blue-tongues may hiss and flatten out the body, making themselves look bigger. A frightened blue-tongue may bite if it is picked up. If handled roughly by their tail, Eastern Blue-tongues, particularly young ones, may drop the tail. The tail stump rapidly heals and a shorter regenerated tail grows back after a while. Female blue-tongues give birth three to five months after mating, between December and April.
The Eastern Blue-tongue usually gives birth between December and January. The Eastern Blue-tongue is able to breed every year if it has sufficient food but other species of blue-tongue may often skip a year.
The embryos develop in the female's oviduct with the help of a placenta, which is as well-developed as that of many mammals. At birth, the young eat the placental membranes, and within a few days shed their skin for the first time.
The young are ready to look after themselves straight after birth, and disperse within a few days. Of all the blue-tongues, the Eastern Blue-tongue has the largest litters and the smallest young; up to 19 but usually about 10 young are born, each measuring mm in total length and weighing g.
Eastern Blue-tongues probably become adults at about three years of age when they have a total length of about mm. Blue-tongues are long-lived. Several captive animals have lived for 20 years, and they may live much longer. Blue-tongues live alone for most of the year, but between September and November males pursue females and mating occurs. At this time, males may fight aggressively among themselves.
Mating may be rough, with females carrying scrape marks from the male's teeth. Unfortunately, blue-tongues will eat snails and slugs poisoned by snail baits and can be poisoned themselves. Care should be taken in using snail baits and insecticides when blue-tongues are living in a garden. Blue-tongues can squeeze through small holes in and under fences, and garden pests can also cross fences, so chemicals used by neighbours can also affect your blue-tongue.
Look out for blue-tongues when mowing long grass! They will try to escape the lawn mower by hiding in the grass rather than running away. Blue-tongues like to bask on warm surfaces, and black tar roads which warm up quickly in the sun "lure" many to their deaths. Adult blue-tongues adapt well to suburbs where there are large backyards with plenty of shelter. They rapidly become used to human activity, and may live in the same place for many years.
Rockeries, horizontal pipes and the cavities under houses are favourite hiding places; sunny paths and lawns provide basking sites.
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