Do your m'lip
Hey, what's up creatures? It's Em. And I'm back today with another
Creature feature the series where I pick an animal and tell you lots of facts about them today
I'm going to be talking to you about Blue Tongue skink
Blue Tongue skink are a very popular pet at the moment and they're also a fascinating lizard
So I hope you're gonna enjoy this Blue Tongue skink creature feature
If you haven't already remember to hit that subscribe button down below become part of the creature group and also hit that new
Notification bell down by the subscribe button, so you don't miss a single upload to help me today is Blue my Blue Tongue skink house (Blue) Haiii
Blue only came to me a couple of weeks ago after her family couldn't look after her anymore and
Danny my fiance found her in the pet store where she had basically just been brought in and
He felt so terrible for her because her toes are in very bad
Condition due to bad shedding so he bought her home some would call her a lizard. I call her an icon
Blue Tongue skinks are reptiles being a cold-blooded reptile
They rely on the Sun and heat in order to survive if they are too cold
They become sluggish and unable to digest their food or move away from danger (Blue) Mlem
Blue Tongue skink are very diverse and can be found in New Guinea and some of the smaller islands in and around Australasia
Some of these species look slightly different to the Australian Blue Tongue skink
Such as this specimen found on Key Island Blue Tongue skink have excellent eyesight
They also have the ability to hear these are their ear holes
And
Speaking of those eyes. They actually have not one not two but three
Eyes. I know that sounds a little bit strange
but they have their
Regular eyes like we do for seeing and then they also have another very special eye on top of their head
This is called the parietal eye
it's two Blue Tongue skink have three eyes this eye right here is a photoreceptor called the
Parietal eye the parietal eye is quite a unique sort of eye and you can see this actually in a few other lizards
Most notably in the chouet ARA, but you can also see it in your pet bearded dragons
You can also find it on iguanas
And of course other species of Blue Tongue skink that parietal eye is key in helping these lizards to
photoregulate or to measure light and dark over a period of time
The amount of light and darkness a lizard encounters over the year is different with the seasons
So when the light changes the lizard's body is stimulated to produce
More or fewer hormones depending on its needs for that time of year another theory
is that
parietal eye can detect the
Shadows of aerial predators hiding in the glare of the Sun which could explain why sometimes if you have your pet Blue Tongue skink
Or bearded dragon in your hand it will wriggle when you suddenly move from an area of light to an area with more shadows
They also have nostrils for smelling but just like snakes they can actually use their tongues to help them sense their environment
Using their tongue and their Jacobson's organ they can taste the air to find food smell out mates and detect
moisture (multiple Mlems from blue)
Blue Tongue skink have an extremely varied diet
they are omnivorous meaning that they actually eat a very wide variety of foods one of their favorite foods though are snails
oOOoOOoOo
And they're big bulky heads are
Perfect with these wide set jaws in order to crush the shells of snails in the wild. They won't only eats nails being omnivores
Nope, they will also eat lots of different types of vegetation some rotting fruits. Even the rotting flesh of other creatures
Carrion and other deceased creatures that they happen to come across Blue Tongue skink have a tough armored back which is covered in scales
This can protect them from scratches and grazes, but it's not
Impenetrable those tiny little legs mean that the Blue Tongue skink are very slow which limits their ability to flee when confronted with
Danger such as a predator
Instead of running away like many other more agile species of lizard the Blue Tongue skinks
will face their threat open their massive mouths and stick out their famous blue tongue
The contrast of their pink fleshy mouth and their long
Vibrant blue tongue is sometimes enough to confuse and deter predators
some human tribes will even do this and the Maori people will actually gate their mouths and stick their tongues out as a way of
Intimidating foes some but not all Blue Tongue skink species can drop their tails when confronted with danger
This is called caudal autonomy and can be seen in gecko species such as the crested gecko
with Blue Tongue skink
It costs them a great deal more effort to drop their tails
unlike crested geckos who can drop their tails simply because of a loud noise the tail of a Blue Tongue skink will never fully
Regenerate instead it heals over and becomes more of a stump
Let's talk about Blue Tongue skink
Babies you may have heard of the term viviparous meaning to give birth to live young
Dogs humans horses rabbits. These are all viviparous
Creatures you may have also heard of the term oviparous meaning to lay eggs
Crocodiles sea turtles butterflies. These are all animals, which are oviparous now. Have you heard of the term?
ovoviviparous
It's a tricky one this one when an animal is ovoviviaparous
It means that the babies develop inside eggs inside the female instead of laying eggs
Which are at the mercy of the elements?
or to predators where the female has to
Constantly sit and guard or just hope that the eggs make it the female will actually keep the young
inside her body within egg like structures
So the female will actually retain the young until they are fully functional
Ready to be given birth to and to enter our beautiful world of pollution and global warming when the babies are ready to be born
the female will give birth to a
Litter of baby Blue Tongue skink s-- when the Blue Tongue skink are ready for the wild the mother gives birth
There can be anywhere between 12 and 20 Blue Tongue babies in a single litter
it's very difficult to say how long a wild Blue Tongue skink can live for because there are so many factors such as
predators and illness and the natural elements but in captivity
people often say that they have seen them being kept all the way up until their 20s so they are a very
Long-lived species indeed within the Blue Tongue skink family is the shingle back or the stubby tail lizard
Shingle backs are bulkier and more heavily armored than other Blue Tongue skink and are quite a unique
Lizard in that they are monogamous meaning that they path in life
Professor Michael Bull studied the shingle back for 35 years professor Bull found that the shingle backs can perform
Elaborate slow dances with the one that they've chosen to mate with for life
he also discovered that shingle backs will share communal safe spots to sleep at night and whole
Families of shingle backs can be found together sleeping soundly
He also discovered that shingle backs can accurately navigate well outside their usual
Territory and find their way back very slowly like homing pigeons
Which explains how they can find their old breeding grounds and their mates year after year and they've been shown to grieve
Grieve you say how can you possibly tell that a skink is grieving?
sadly many shingle backs get hit by cars on the road because they are such slow-moving creatures and some people have
Documented seeing the mates of deceased shingle backs sit by their lifeless bodies for hours or even days
Waiting for their mate to show signs of life
(ok who's cutting onions) :’(
Many of the shingle backs that Professor Bull studied actually stayed together for decades
So some lizards actually stayed together longer than some human marriages
(Blue) Haii- and that's it for today guys, I hope you enjoyed today's creature feature
if you did remember to leave a comment down below and let me know either your
Favorite fact or if you know something about Blue Tongue skink
Leave a comment down below to let me know your knowledge and share a fact or two for everybody else who might be reading
Thank you guys so much for watching. I will see you in another video soon. Bye!