Eastern blue-tongued lizard – bunmurra

What are eastern blue-tongued lizards?

Eastern blue-tongued lizards are one of the largest members of the skink family. They are known for their blue tongues and are commonly found in the eastern and northern parts of Australia.

The Darug name for blue-tongued lizard is  bunmarra.  Their scientific name is  Tiliqua scincoides.

Eastern blue-tongued lizard

What do eastern blue-tongued lizards look like?

Eastern blue-tongued lizards are covered in smooth, overlapping scales that contain small plates of bone. The bony plates are called osteoderms and provide protection. 'Osteo' means bone and 'derm' means skin.

Found in a range of greys and brown, eastern blue-tongued lizards are most commonly silvery grey colour underneath with black or brown bands across their back and tails.

Eastern blue-tongued lizards are known for their grey-blue tongue.

Features of a blue-tongue lizard |  YouTube  | Field of Mars EEC (1:07 min)

Where do eastern blue-tongued lizards live?

Eastern blue-tongued lizards are found throughout the east coast of Australia from Queensland down to Victoria.

Blue-tongued lizards prefer an open habitat with lots of ground cover such as grass tussocks and leaf litter. They shelter at night among the leaf litter or under large objects such as rocks and logs. In the morning they bask in the sun before they move to forage for food once the day warms up.

Like all reptiles, eastern blue-tongued lizards are ectothermic. This means they do not produce their own body heat and must rely on the warmth of the external environment to heat their body. During winter they may remain inactive and buried, only emerging on warm sunny days to bask in the sun.

Eastern blue-tongued lizards like to hide amongst ground covers such as this blue flax lily.

What do eastern blue-tongued lizards eat?

Eastern blue-tongued lizards are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and animals. They eat a variety of fallen native berries and fruits, carrion and insects. Slugs and snails are a favourite food item as eastern blue-tongued lizards are not agile and therefore mostly eat slow-moving animals.

How do eastern blue-tongued lizards reproduce and what is their life cycle?

Mating between eastern blue-tongued lizards occurs between September and November. During this time males may fight between each other whilst trying to find a female mate. Eastern blue-tongued lizards will breed every year if they have enough food.

Unlike most reptiles who lay their eggs, female eastern blue-tongued lizards give birth to live young. Females give birth to an average of 10 live babies in a clutch. They are usually born in December and January when it is warm. Baby eastern blue-tongued lizards are ready to disperse and look after themselves straight after birth.

At birth, eastern blue-tongued lizards measure around 14 centimetres long from the tip of their snout to the end of their tail.

As blue-tongued lizards grow, they shed their skin in patches, usually several times a year. Adult eastern blue tongued-lizards can grow up to 30 centimetres long from the tip of their snout to their back legs and can live to over 20 years old. Adults often have toes missing which are lost during skin sheds.

An adult eastern blue-tongued lizard using a hollow log for protection

What adaptations do eastern blue-tongued lizards have to their environment?

Blue-tongued lizards have a number of adaptations to help them survive in their environment. Their ear openings at the back of their heads protect their ear membranes from dirt as they nuzzle through the leaf litter. Scales over the ear openings further prevent dirt from entering these openings.

When threatened, a blue-tongued lizard will turn towards the threat, open their mouth wide and stick out their bright blue tongue to frighten away predators. Their blue tongue contrasts vividly to their pink mouth. The lizards will also hiss and flatten their body to make themselves look bigger.

The colour of the scales on a blue-tongued lizard help them to blend in with their surroundings. This is called camouflage.

When basking in the sun, blue-tongued lizards flatten their bodies to maximise the area for heat absorption.

Eastern blue-tongued lizards blend in with their surroundings. Their blue tongue helps scare away predators.

What is the role of eastern blue-tongued lizards in the environment?

Eastern blue-tongued lizards help maintain the balance of nature by eating slugs and snails and other invertebrates. As fruit and berry eaters, they help disperse seeds.

What threats do eastern blue-tongued lizards face and how can we help them?

Habitat loss and fragmentation impact blue tongued-lizards. In urban areas domestic cats and dogs can kill them and the use of pesticides to kill slugs and snails in the garden can poison blue-tongued lizards if they ingest them.

People can provide 'lizard lounge' areas in their school grounds and gardens. A lizard lounge should provide food, shelter, water and basking areas such as:

• hollow logs and rock crevices for shelter
• native ground cover grasses such as lomandra species and dianella species for shelter
• rocks for sun basking
• leaf litter or mulch to attract invertebrates for food
• native flowering plants that attract invertebrates
• small pond for water.

Eastern blue-tongued lizard habitat includes ground cover plants and mulch or leaf litter.