Blue tongue skink · 3 questions
The questions blue tongue skink keepers actually ask — pulled from real reptile communities and answered the Baskden way: honestly, kindly, and with a clear "here's when to see a vet."
Blue tongue skinks are OMNIVORES — that's the single most important thing to get right. They need a varied diet of both animal protein (insects, snails, eggs, lean cooked meats) AND vegetables/greens, plus a little fruit. A rough serving is about head-sized (1–2 tablespoons); juveniles eat more protein and more often, adults shift toward vegetables. Variety is the key — don't feed just insects, just rodents, or just cat/dog food.
🍽️ Feeding
It depends entirely on your skink's subspecies, which is the spec people most often get wrong. Indonesian types (Merauke, 'Classic', Halmahera, Kei, Tanimbar) want a humid 60–80%; Northern skinks around 40–60%; and Australian types (Centralian, Western, Blotched) a much drier 20–50%. So the first step is identifying which blue tongue you actually have, then matching the humidity to it.
💧 Humidity & shedding🏠 Setup
Yes — they're one of the best beginner lizards: docile, genuinely dog-tame, hardy, and long-lived (15–20+ years), with loads of personality. The two things to learn upfront are the varied omnivore diet (protein + vegetables, not one food) and matching humidity to your subspecies. Give them a big enough enclosure (≥12 sq ft of floor), strong UVB, and a hot basking spot, and they're wonderfully rewarding.
🛒 Getting one🏠 Setup
These apply to every reptile, blue tongue skink included — tap through to the full answer.
Short answers from The Baskden Team — kind, general guidance, not a diagnosis. When in doubt, a reptile vet is never the wrong call. Deeper detail lives in the blue tongue skink care guide.
