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Description
Northern Blue Tongue Skink
Scientific Name: Tiliqua scincoides intermedia
Common Name: Northern Blue Tongue Skink
Species Overview
Size: Adults typically reach 18 to 24 inches (46 to 61 cm), with a thick, heavy body and a broad triangular head.
Appearance: Northern Blue Tongue Skinks are robust lizards with smooth, shiny scales and bold dark crossbands over warm orange, tan, or golden backgrounds. Their signature trait is the deep blue tongue used for defence, flashed when startled. Northerns are known for being the brightest and most vividly patterned of all Australian blue tongue subspecies.
Distribution: Native to northern Australia, including the Northern Territory and parts of Queensland and Western Australia.
Habitat: This species occupies open woodland, scrub, savanna, and semi-arid regions. They utilize logs, rocks, grass tussocks, and abandoned burrows for shelter, basking in sunlit areas at the edges of cover.
Behaviour: Northern Blue Tongue Skinks are diurnal, terrestrial, and omnivorous. They are typically calm and inquisitive, feeding on vegetation, insects, snails, flowers, fruits, and carrion. When threatened, they hiss, puff up, and display their blue tongue.
Captive Care
Enclosure: Provide a terrestrial enclosure at least 4 × 2 × 2 feet (120 × 60 × 60 cm) for an adult. This size supports proper thermoregulation, movement, and enrichment. Include deep substrate for burrowing, secure hides, logs, rocks, and open floor space.
Temperature and Humidity:
Basking area: 100 to 105°F (38 to 41°C)
Warm side: 90 to 95°F (32 to 35°C)
Cool side: 75 to 82°F (24 to 28°C)
Night temperatures: 68 to 75°F (20 to 24°C)
Humidity should remain moderate, around 40 to 60 percent, with access to a humid hide during shedding.
Lighting: Provide full-spectrum lighting with moderate UVB (5 to 10 percent). While hardy, Northerns benefit significantly from UVB exposure for bone health, appetite, and overall wellbeing.
Diet: Offer a varied omnivorous diet including roaches, crickets, black soldier fly larvae, cooked egg, high-quality wet dog food or formulated skink diets, leafy greens, vegetables, flowers, and occasional fruit. Supplement with calcium regularly and multivitamins weekly.
Behaviour in Captivity: Northern Blue Tongue Skinks are calm, interactive, and tolerant of handling. They thrive as display animals, actively exploring, burrowing, and basking. Their hardy, adaptable nature makes them one of the most suitable blue tongue subspecies for keepers of all experience levels.
Special Considerations:
• Provide deep substrate for natural burrowing behaviour.
• Maintain moderate humidity to support proper shedding without causing respiratory issues.
• Ensure décor is firmly secured—Northerns are strong and can shift items.
• Avoid excessive protein or fruit to maintain long-term health.
Taxonomy Note
Northern Blue Tongue Skinks belong to the genus Tiliqua, a group of large-bodied Australian skinks known for omnivory, durability, and distinctive blue tongues. Tiliqua scincoides intermedia is the largest and often the most brightly coloured of the complex.
Genetics Note
Although most Northern Blue Tongue Skinks available in Canada are wild-type, several inherited morphs do exist internationally, including Albino, Hypo, and reduced-pattern forms, along with selectively bred high-colour lines. Due to strict export restrictions from Australia, these morphs are rarely accessible in the Canadian market. Natural variation in band width, background tone, and orange saturation is common and reflects normal individual and locality-based diversity.