Found in eastern Australia, from the southern Cape York Peninsula to New South Wales, the pink-tongued skink occurs in both coastal and upland habitat. At home on the ground as well as in low vegetation, the pink-tongued skink frequents wet sclerophyll forests, rain forests and moist woodlands. Hiding within logs and underneath leaf litter during the day, it tends to be crepuscular to nocturnal. Considerably more slender, but only slightly shorter than your average blue-tongued skink, the pink-tongued skink averages about 17 inches in length, of which half consists of its lengthy prehensile tail. Attractively patterned, it is typically a light-brown to silver-gray color, with a series of dark-brown to black crossbars traversing down its entire dorsum. Completely patternless individuals are known, and there appears to be a variance in color within its range, with more silver and black individuals being found in the New South Wales area. However, even within a single litter, the variation  can be significant. The skink’s common name obviously refers to one of its most prominent features: its pink tongue.

 

Housing for Pink Tongues 

 

Pink-tongued skinks are surprisingly easy to maintain in captivity, and this is one reason, as well as being attractive and docile, that makes this Australian lizard a much-wanted herp. An adult pink-tongued skink can be comfortably housed in an enclosure the size of a 10-gallon aquarium, but larger cages will allow the skink room for more exercise as well as additional hiding places. Hiding places are especially important when housing more than one animal together. Given that they will fight, I suggest maintaining these skinks separately and only introducing them under a watchful eye. The option of communal housing may work for pairs or multiple females, but males should never be kept together because serious injuries may result.

 

There is no steadfast rule for substrates used in pink-tongued skink enclosures, but they do like to burrow. While I favor cypress mulch for its moisture-retention qualities, other possibilities include soil, aspen shavings or bark chips. In the wild, pink-tongued skinks have a propensity to climb, so the addition of vertically oriented pieces of cork bark or branches will be appreciated.

 

Always offer a water bowl. I tend to slightly overfill their water bowls, letting the water flow into the substrate — a great aid when the skinks need to shed. Although humidity is not an overall critical factor in maintaining this fascinating lizard, an occasional misting of the cage has the wonderful effect of stimulating them to actively search their surroundings for food.

 

I suggest using an ultraviolet light source when keeping pink-tongued skinks. While there is no evidence, to my knowledge, that Hemisphaeriodon gerrardii needs UV lighting for successful maintenance and calcium assimilation, an occasional individual may develop physical abnormalities that suggest metabolic problems, so why take the chance? Fluorescent UV bulbs are relatively inexpensive and are easily purchased from a variety of businesses that cater to the reptile hobbyist. Place the fluorescent bulb within a few inches of the enclosure’s screen top to allow the maximum amount of UV to enter the cage. A basking lamp should also be provided. Place the lamp immediately above an appropriate area, such as a branch or vertically positioned piece of cork bark. It is important to use an appropriate bulb wattage; you want to heat a specific area but not the entire cage. Pink-tongued skinks do well at temperatures in the upper-70s to mid-80s degrees Fahrenheit for most of the year. The basking area should reach into the low-to-mid-90s-degree range. Do not use hot rocks, as they may result in thermal burns to the skink.

 

Unlike some blue-tongued skinks and most prehensile-tailed skinks, which bite quite readily and hard, pink-tongued skinks are in my experience one of the most docile and easy to handle of all the skinks. Rather slow in movements as adults, they are easily picked up and do not have the propensity to lose their tails, a rather common attribute of faster moving skinks, including the North American skinks of the genus Eumeces. As with most reptiles, however, handling should be kept to a minimum to avoid the possibility of potential stress to your pink-tongued skink.

 

Bon Appetite

 

In the wild, pink-tongued skinks relish snails and slugs. To accomplish the task of crushing the snail shells, they possess large, flattened teeth in the rear of their mouths on both the upper and lower jaws. Wild-collected snails and slugs, however, should be fed sparingly in captivity due to the potentially harmful parasites and garden pesticides they may harbor. Additionally, feeding snails collected from areas planted with oleander trees and other poisonous plants has been known to result in pink-tongued skink fatalities. Frozen snails, available in some Asian grocery stores where they are sold for human consumption, are a potential alternative.

 

Fortunately, captive pink-tongued skinks will usually feed quite readily on more easily available food items. In captivity, this species will eat a variety of foods including, but not limited to, earthworms, waxworms, mealworms, bananas, mice, cat food, dog food, chicken and beef. I have found that pink-tongued skinks will feed quite readily on Mazuri’s omnivore diet. The omnivore diet is produced in a dried-biscuit form and is easily softened when soaked in water. I mix a small amount of beef dog food with the omnivore diet at a 3:1 (omnivore diet: dog food) ratio and supplement every second to third feeding with a light dusting of calcium with D3 and a reptile vitamin. Once a week, dead pinks are offered to the skinks and generally eaten with relish. All food is offered on small plates, which are left in the enclosures overnight. 

 

Reproduction :

 

Breeding the pink-tongued skink is actually quite easy, but a close eye on the proceedings is strongly recommended. Having multiple males and females will help to ensure success. I have found that some males show little to no interest in breeding while others are extremely proficient at this endeavor. The same can be said about females. While a particular female may breed, she may not produce, while others seem to be particularly fecund.