The Garden Skink, Lampropholis guichenoti, is dark grey, with a darker stripe commencing in front of the nostril, continuing through the eye and above the ear onto the tail. A broad dark vertebral stripe commences about the level of the forelimbs and continues onto the tail. It has a snout vent length of up to 40 mm.
Garden SkinkPhotographer: Peter Robertson / Source: Wildlife Profiles Pty. Ltd.
The Garden Skink is the most common skink found in suburban gardens around Melbourne. It is found over most areas of the state except the semi arid northern and western regions. It lives in a variety of treed habitats.
Active by day, this is a sun loving species which feeds on small invertebrates. Females lay from 2-6 eggs in a communal nest which can contain up to 250 eggs. Females often produce more than one clutch per season.
Cogger, H. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia. Reed Books.
Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2003. Reptiles of Australia. Princeton University Press.
Hi Sylvia,
The rule of thumb with skinks seems to be: the bigger they are, the longer they live. Garden skinks have a short life span of only a few years, whereas somewhat larger varieties live six to 10 years, and the largest skinks can live 20 years or longer. The colder climate does slow their growth rate and results in a slightly longer life span.
A substrate of sand or cocopeat or a mixture of the two should be at least 5cm deep with leaf litter at one end that will encourage them to lay eggs. Most southern Australian species need a period of cool temperatures without a basking light and without feeding for them to hibernate if they are to breed. We don't know any other method to encourage breeding without a hibernation period.
Skinks generally require a specialised incubator and quite specific conditions for them to survive. Your set-up is reasonably good, but may not be exactly what they need. The best thing is to let them go in the garden as soon as they hatch.
Hi Georgie, Garden skinks are very hard to tell male or female and so photos that guide you are not available. Some experienced owners suggest the following: if the base of the skink enclosure is a smooth dark coloured mat you may find clear waxy bits on it during spring. This depends on your skink being an adult and the presence of these waxy bits would mean it was a male.
Hi Holly!Yes, a female skink does need a male skink to reproduce. Depending on what species you have, it will usually lay eggs. Some species, however, do not lay eggs and give birth to young skinks.
Hi Jane, on the one hand, garden skinks definitely feed on earthworms and that's probably the reason the skink is living there - an almost limitless supply of food. Not to mention all the other small invertebrates that inhabit worm farms and would make equally good food. On the other hand, there's only so many earthworms a single skink of that size would be able to consume, so it may not have much impact on the overall worm numbers.
Hi Evan, providing good habitat for your skinks is the best way to encourage them into your backyard. Giving them shelter to retreat to (such as rocks to hide under / between) and places to bask in the sun close to these retreats is ideal. They feed on invertebrates from around the garden so ensuring you don’t spray too many pesticides around the garden is also important. Another factor that may help encourage skinks into your garden is to consider if there are any pets such as cats and dogs who quite enjoy chasing skinks. Keeping these animals away from the habitat you create will be important to help the skinks establish into your garden.
All the best with making a comfortable home for the local residents.
Hi Pearl, many skinks have yellow bellies for at least some part of their lives, so it depends which species of skink you’re referring to. For example, both sexes of the Water Skink (Eulamprus tympanum) have yellow bellies, but in other species only the male has a yellow belly and only in the breeding season. The colouring may be a warning to other males or to make them more attractive to females. If this doesn’t satisfy your curiosity, send in a photo and we’ll try to tell you which species you have.
Hi Joseph, most fish in fish ponds tend to be live bearers and so the lizards won't be eating eggs. There aren't really any types of skinks in your area that would pose a threat to pond fish of any age. The Eastern Water Skink has a semi-aquatic lifestyle but they tend not to feed in the water, and Eastern Water Dragons might but they are distinctively different to skinks and not easily confused with them.
Hi Chloe, the fact the eggs have been laid in the enclosure suggests the adults consider the habitat you've provided to be suitable for incubation. So the best option is to leave them where they are, whilst keeping them warm and moist. Alternatively, you can remove them and place them in an incubation medium (such as vermiculite) in a shallow container, leaving about one third of the egg surfaces exposed. The container should have a lid with small holes punctured in it, the humidity should be kept high by spraying every day, and the temperature should be kept around 25 degrees celsius. The eggs will begin to shrivel if they become to dry (and also if they die). If you need more information, there are plenty of reptile discussion forums on the internet.
If the eggs hatch, you should remove the young skinks and keep them separately. They will feed on a similar diet to the adults, just much smaller quantities.
Hello Rachel - we checked this with our Live Exhibits team, and they've responded as follows:
The best way to stimulate the appetite of the skinks is to offer them live prey. You can either catch some yourself, and this is a good time of year to do it, or you can buy small crickets from most pet shops. You don't mention the species of skink you have, but small individuals don't need a lot of food to sustain themselves.
Once a skink becomes adult, particularly small species, it is difficult to determine their age. Particularly because their size is due more to the amount of food they consume than how long they have been alive.
Hi Brodi, read through some of the response above in regards to sexing your skink. Check out the response form the Discovery Centre on January 18th 2012, or March 23rd 2012 or June 5th 2012!
Hi Tahlia,
The answer partly depends on what type of skinks you have. Most of the smaller skinks appear quite happy living in the same enclosure, but other usually larger species will fight if males are left together. And as a general rule skinks will not be able to climb out of their enclosure, although some species can climb up the corners of glass tanks if the circumstances are right. So unless enclosure furnishings are close to the top or there is some other means of assistance, the lizards should be fairly safe without a lid.
If you do place a lid on the enclosure, you’ll need to allow for UV light to enter, as all lizards require this light to remain healthy. UV light is blocked by a range of materials, including glass, so a mesh lid is preferable.
Remember too that in Victoria you must have a licence for skinks (depending on the species) and have bought them from a pet shop, otherwise it is illegal to keep them.
We love receiving comments, but can’t always respond.
Hi Katie,
Generally a yellow belly signifies a male, although in some species the belly of both male and female can be yellow. It depends which species you have. There are more than 40 skink species in New Zealand, so it is difficult for us to pin down the right one. The adult body length of the skink will also be determined by which species it is.
Skinks will eat small snails and finely diced vegetables as well as lettuce and banana. They also eat crickets and cockroaches and prefer to chase these around the enclosure.
Hi Katie, in the wild, garden skinks would generally feed every day and can be fed daily in captivity, but will also be fine if fed every second day. You’re feeding it an excellent range of food, and any one of those components can be included on any particularly day (the skink doesn’t need fruit and eggs and vegetables and live prey every day). It sounds like it’s being well looked after.
If you’re worried about the skink’s health at any time, you should take it along to the vet. There are vets that specialise in reptiles and these are listed on the internet but you can also be referred to one from your local vet.
Hi Lone - in most cases a permit is required to keep native animals depending on the species, and in all cases the animals kept in captivity should come from captive stock such as from keepers or pet suppliers rather than capturing the animal yourself.
You shouldn't capture a wild native animal and keep it as a pet for a number of reasons, so we strongly reccommend you let the skink go in the same location you found it for its best chance at survival. You can read more about wildlife permits, animal welfare considerations and regulations at the DSE website here.
Hope this helps
Hi Katie, at this time of year, skinks do not need much food and will easily cope for a week whilst you’re away. If you are heating the enclosure, it might help to turn the heating off so the skink becomes less active (they do that during winter anyway). Make sure you don’t feed the skink for a week beforehand if you turn off the heat – this will give the skink sufficient time to digest whatever food it has in its stomach before becoming inactive.
Male Common Garden Skinks do not have a yellow belly – it could be a Three-Toed Skink or McCoy’s Skink.
Hi Haidar - we checked with our Live Exhibits department with your query, and they have said the following: No-one has ever recorded the life span of a male Vi...
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