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CARE OF BLUE-TONGUED LIZARDS
Please note: All Australian lizards are protected species in Australia. Seek individual state & territory requirementsfor legalities on keeping lizards as pets.
Blue-tongued lizards are extremely popular pets, and are becoming even more increasingly so all the time. They have wonderful temperaments, and even seem to enjoy being handled, the breed fairly easily and they display interesting social behaviour like courtship, threat and recognition. They all have their own different personalities, but they are not as alert as their dragon cousins.
There are many species of Blue-tongued lizards native to Australia. Some of the main species kept in captivity include the Eastern Blue-tongue Tiliqua scincoides, Blotched Blue-tongue Tiliqua nigrolutea, and the Shingleback lizard Tiliqua rugosa. They are gentle and docile creatures. Blue-tongues can grow to around 45-55cn in length (including tail) & live to around 12-15 years.
Although these Australian lizards can be a great choice for beginners, their need for ultra-violet light, regular feeding and cleaning, and a very large vivarium can make them harder to keep than initially may have been thought!
Housing
Blue-tongues can be housed indoors. Suitable enclosures include ventilated plastic tubs or glass timber fronted cabinets at least 1m long x 0.5m wide. Enclosure furniture and set-up depends on the age/size and numbers of lizards kept. Provide them with hides such as logs or caves.
Substrates (enclosure floor covering) are most simply and hygienically provided by means of newspaper or recycled paper kitty litter. There is some debate about the best substrate for every reptile species. Decomposed granite or large grained sand (available as playground sand in hardware stores, as well as in pet stores and nurseries) is often used, though there have been reports of intestinal impaction. Other substrates include gravel and aquarium rock (which are more difficult to clean and disinfect), outdoor carpeting (trim loose threads), butcher paper, unprinted newsprint, paper towels and terry towels all making suitable substrates. Do not use corn or walnut cob, alfalfa pellets, normal kitty litter, or wood shavings.
Enclosures should be disinfected at least once weekly (use household bleach diluted 1:10 with water & rinse well afterwards) & ‘spot’ cleaned as necessary. Blue-tongues can be housed in groups, but beware that fighting can frequently occur.
Heating
Provide blue-tongues with a ‘temperature gradient’ in their enclosure. This means they need a ‘hot’ end & a ‘cool’ end. The temperatures must be monitored with thermometers at both of these ends. The hot/basking area end can be heated with a thermostatically controlled ceramic/reflector globe to create a basking temp of 30-35°C. At the cool end, aim for 24-28°C, but note that different species require different temperatures. Overnight temperatures should not fall below 17-18°C. The use of heat mats or weaker ceramic heat lamps may be required to achieve this ‘night heat’. Do not use heat rocks, as serious burns to the lizard can result.
Light
Blue-tongues need access to a UVB source, either being regularly exposed to direct sunlight, or to UVB-producing fluorescent tube. Incandescent lights, while suitable for use as heat sources, do not provide the full spectrum required by reptiles, including no UVA and never any UVB. Plant lights and many aquarium lights are wide-spectrum rather than full-spectrum lights, and so should not be used other than as supplemental lighting or heating in addition to the full-spectrum lighting. The term "full spectrum" is incorrectly used by incandescent light manufacturers whose lights are suitable only for producing heat and light; they do not produce the UVB required for calcium metabolism.
A UVB-producing tube that also produces white light may also be paired with a fluorescent BL black light to provide additional UVB, the wavelength that essential in the metabolism of vitamin D3. Some herpetoculturists feel that it is beneficial to provide additional UVB to lizards.
Correct lighting may also stimulate natural foraging and feeding behaviours in some species
Blue-tongues rely on UVB light rays to be able to adequately produce Vitamin D3in their skin. Vitamin D3 is essential for proper calcium metabolism in lizards. While UVB light can be provided by artificial ‘UV-lights’, there is NO substitute for natural unfiltered sunlight. If you do use “nature” blue-tongues should be placed in sunlight for 30 minute periods at least twice a week. When doing this ensure the lizard is enclosed safely in an escape/predator proof cage. The sunlight should not pass through any glass or plastic as these will filter out UVB rays. Make certain that the lizard has access to shade& cannot overheat. Most artificial UV sources designed for reptiles need to be placed at a minimum length from the reptile obtaining the light. Furthermore, the effective UVB emission lifespan of these lights is usually in the vicinity of 3-6 months, so they will need to be replaced at least every 6 months.
Make daily lighting easy for you. By plugging the light fixture into an appliance timer, such as those made for table lamps, you can set the light to go on and off automatically. When you use a timer, your lizard won't be left in the dark all day or in the light all night if you work late or have to go out of town for a day.
Never use a white light of any sort at night, for lighting or for heat. This will stress your animal, eventually affecting its ability to thrive through the resultant lack of sleep, loss of appetite, and other stress-related symptoms. If you need to provide supplemental heat at night in addition to the subtank heating, use a ceramic heating element or a nocturnal reptile bulb; the former produces no light, while the latter produces a dim bluish-purple light.
Water
Always provide fresh water for your blue-tongue. It should be in a bowl or dish shallow enough for your lizard to see easily into and drink out of; deeper bowls can be half-sunk into the substrate. Due to the corrosive action of hot water on copper pipes in hard-water systems, use only cool or cold water if using tap water for drinking water. We prefer to use bottled mineral water. When getting a water dish, make sure your blue-tongue can’t drown in it. Shinglebackscome from dry areas & prefer lower humidity. They should only be offered water one day each week.
Food
Blue-tongue lizards are omnivores, with plant foods comprising about half, and animal-based food comprising the remaining half, of their diet. Since these lizards consume a wide variety of invertebrates and small vertebrates in the wild, a variety of protein sources must be offered in captivity. Prey items such as appropriately sized cultured snails, crickets, cockroaches, mealworms, king worms, and wax worms can be fed, along with pink mice. These prey food items can be complemented with boiled egg, and small amounts of canned, weight control dog food. I limit these items to no more than 15% of the total diet by weight.
All these food items can be supplemented with a proprietary calcium/vitamin/mineral powder once a week. Juveniles should be fed once a day & adults 2-3 times a week. Limit pieces to about 1/3 the width of the blue-tongue’s head, and this will prevent stress at ingesting over-large food pieces.
Plant matter includes a variety of shredded or torn vegetables and fruits such as green beans, orange-fleshed squash, carrots, parsley, mustard, dandelion and collard greens, raspberries, mango, rock melon, and the occasional banana. A good mixed salad is the “iguana salad”:
Iguana Salad Basic Recipe
- 1/2 cup shredded raw green beans
- 1/2 cup shreddedraw orange-fleshed squash (such as acorn, banana, kabocha, spaghetti, and pumpkin) - you can occasionally alternate with carrots
- 1/2-3/4 cup alfalfa pellets (rabbit food pellets) or crumbled alfalfa hayoralfalfa leaf teaoralfalfa powder (from health food stores)
- 1 med or 2 smallraw shredded parsnips (in areas where these are seasonally hard to find, you can substitute with asparagus or cooked or canned lima, navy or kidney beans that have been well rinsed and minced or mashed. If you use beans, add extra calcium to offset their high phosphorus)
- 1/4 cup mashed/mincedfruit (strawberries, raspberries, mangos, papaya, figs, rockmelon, cactus pear)
Thoroughly mix all ingredients together. Makes about 3.5-4 cups.
Add in a multivitamin supplement (any multivitamin supplement for birds or reptiles is fine - best, actually, is a crushed Centrum tablet) and a calcium supplement. You do not need to get a calcium supplement that has phosphorous or D3 in it, as the lizard is already getting considerably phosphorous from the plants and multivitamin, and their D3 is best metabolised in their bodies by regular exposure to direct sunlight or special UVB-producing fluorescents.
If you will be freezing any of the food, mix in some Brewer's yeast to replace the thiamine (B1) that will be lost when the green vegetables are thawed.
Serve the salad in the morning. Once the lizard is freely eating the salad, greens (collards, mustards, dandelion, milk thistle, escarole, occasionally some kale and chard) can be served on the side.
Handling
Gently scoop up your bluey with your hand under its belly. They tend to be very trusting and will not necessarily hold on as will other lizards, so always take care to support your lizard. They do not like being firmly held; let them rest in your palm with your fingers gently curled over the back. Most Blue-tongues can become very used to being handled though over-handling though may be stressful.
Veterinary & Health Notes
Always have any new lizard examined by a reptile veterinarian. Parasite checks and general blood screens can be performed. It is essential that you quarantine any newly acquired reptile. Don’t risk introducing disease or parasites. Speak to your reptile vet for details on sound quarantine procedures.
It is highly recommended that you have your reptiles examined by a veterinarian annually.
Always wash your handsafter handling any reptile & between handling of different reptiles
It is a good idea to regularly weigh& record the body weight of your Blue-tongues.
Blue-tongues can be transported individually in tied cotton bags. Ensure that they can’t escape or overheat.
Please note: Despite what the above article says, at Sugarloaf Animal Hospital we have seen many lizards with impactions of sand and other particulate substrates from the cage. While this type of substrate looks lovely in your cage, we consider it unsafe for your pet. We recommend simple newpaper to line the bottom of your dragon’s enclosure. It is inexpensive, easy to clean and will prevent this potentially fatal condition from occurring.
If you have any questions or concerns about your Blue-tongued lizard please call our staff at the Sugarloaf Animal Hospital on 4955 1833. We love our lizards and want to make sure yours are looked after as well!!
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