An ordinary gigantic lizard [1] ( lat. Tiliqua scincoides ) is a lizard from the skink family.
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 Eastern Blue-language Skink ( Tiliqua scincoides scincoides ) | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Tiliqua scincoides White ex Shaw , 1790 |
Content
Description
Appearance
Large lizard. The total length of some specimens can reach 60 cm or more, but usually does not exceed 45-50 cm.
The body is long, wide and flattened, covered with large smooth scales. The head is large and massive, with powerful jaws. The limbs are short, five-fingered. The tail is rather short and thick, its length is about 60% of the body length from the tip of the muzzle to the cloaca.
Coloring is very variable and differs among different subspecies.
Spread
It lives in Australia , New Guinea and on the nearby islands.
Lifestyle
Habitats are very diverse: deserts, semi-deserts, savannahs, bushes, dry forests, but these lizards can also be found in moist forests.
Lead a daily lifestyle. Despite the fact that they are able to withstand temperature increases up to 40.5 ° C, in hot weather lizards hide in shelters. Burrows of other animals, hollow tree trunks, and cracks in the soil are used as shelters.
They are territorial and may be aggressive towards other individuals of their species.
Power
In nature, the blue-tongued skink feeds mainly on plant foods, but can also hunt small animals .
Reproduction
Sexual dimorphism is absent. In captivity, the sex of skinks is determined by fluoroscopy or by planting during the breeding season.
In nature, mating occurs in September-November. During copulation, the male holds the female by the neck or behind the teeth with his teeth.
Lizards are viviparous. They form a placenta- like structure (the so-called yolk placenta) through which gas exchange and nutrition of the embryos take place. Females in the wild usually produce offspring no more than once every two years. Pregnancy lasts about 4 months, after which the female gives birth to 25 cubs. At birth, the cubs reach a length of 13-14 cm and weigh 10-20 g. They grow young very quickly and in a terrarium at 8 months can reach a length of 50 cm.
Classification
The species Tiliqua scincoides forms three subspecies:
- Tiliqua scincoides scincoides - lives in Southeast Australia; body length 20-22 cm, total length up to 45-50 cm.
- Tiliqua scincoides intermedia - lives in Northern Australia; body length 20-40 cm, total length up to 48-60 cm or more.
- Tiliqua scincoides chimaerea - lives on the islands of Tanimbar, in Irian Jaya (Indonesia); body length 20-22 cm, total length up to 45-50 cm.
Captive Content
Due to its large size, unusual appearance and calm nature, the blue-language skinks have become one of the most popular lizards contained in terrariums. Most often in captivity contain the northern subspecies of the blue- language skink - Tiliqua scincoides intermedia .
To maintain the blue-language skink, a spacious horizontal terrarium is required.
As a substrate, you can use large wood shavings, crushed bark, synthetic rugs. Sand and gravel are less suitable, since skinks sometimes eat particles of such soil, and this can cause intestinal obstruction.
One or more shelters are needed. The terrarium can be decorated with flat stones, large inclined snags or build shelves to give lizards the opportunity to climb.
As sources of heating, incandescent lamps and heating mats are used. Temperature during the day - 26-30 ° C, under a heating lamp - up to 35 ° C, at night - 20-22 ° C. Humidity is low. A source of ultraviolet radiation is needed.
Lizards eat a wide variety of food : various vegetables and fruits , leaves , shoots and flowers of wild plants , feed insects , mice, boiled chicken and raw quail eggs , pieces of meat and offal , canned food for dogs and cats. In this case, the basis of the diet of an adult skink should be vegetable feed, and animal feed should be given as additives. It is also necessary to introduce vitamin and mineral supplements for reptiles into the feed.
See also
- Blue-language skinks
- Skink
Notes
- Ань Ananyeva N. B. , Borkin L. Ya. , Darevsky I. S. , Orlov N. L. The Five-Language Dictionary of Animal Names. Amphibians and reptiles. Latin, Russian, English, German, French. / edited by Acad. V.E. Sokolova . - M .: Rus. Yaz., 1988 .-- S. 258. - 10,500 copies. - ISBN 5-200-00232-X .