Pink-tongued skink

- Cyclodomorphus gerrardii

The Pink-tongued skink reaches more than 45 cm.. The female measures 42 cm long, of which 18 cm correspond to the trunk of the head.

Coloration is grey-brown with a hint of silver, about her until 40 dark brown horizontal stripes, on juveniles strongly contrasting black stripes , that fade in the first year of life after several moults.

Yellow background is not uncommon in young. Adult specimens without transverse stripes have also been seen, raised in the third generation.

The underside is solid gray to pink.. In the young, the tongue is deep blue and only turns pink after two years, which explains the English name «Pink-Tongued Lizard«. Oral mucosa is bright cobalt blue in young, later fades.

In the lower jaw there is an enlarged molar on the left and one on the right, a functional device for crushing shell snails?.

The claws are rather short, they only allow safe climbing even on smooth bark, because the body is relatively light and the long prehensile tail and the long prehensile tail supports it. Once the tail breaks, it only regenerates 1-2 cm..

The sex of an animal can only be determined with certainty it can only be determined with certainty if comparison animals can be used. As is often the case with skinks, males tend to have thicker and wider heads.

Then compare the root of the tail from the ventral side: the female's tail tapers immediately after the cloaca, in contrast to that of the male.

The Skinks (Scincidae) they are the most diverse family of lizards on the Australian continent, with 140 species. The genus Cyclodomorphus comprises 10 species, 9 of which are restricted to Australia, with at least one species represented in each state. the tenth species, Cyclodomorphus gerrardii, lives outside of Australia in Indonesia and New Guinea. Cyclodomorphus gerrardii is an active skink like Cyclodomorphus casuarinae, but the only species in the genus with a long prehensile tail.

The females of all species of Cyclodomorphus are viviparous. They have a simple built placenta.

The Pink-tongued skink is located north of sydney, in the Gosford/New South Wales region, to Cape York/Queensland. Lives in the coastal jungle on the ground, but also likes to climb low vegetation. It was found in a banana plantation near Coff's Harbor., as well as in a dry hardwood forest in North Queensland.

They prefer snails to any other food. Field observations in Australia showed that the usual garden snail (Helix sp.) is their usual prey, even if a second, smaller species (Mitor sp.) is present in the same biotope.

It is important to add fiber, for example, cooked rice or buckwheat flakes, as well as calcium, lime, vitamins and trace elements.

A very elaborate substitute food could be mussel meat after having watered it several times.
The drinking needs of the Pink-tongued skink are easy to satisfy. Or they quench their thirst by licking the water sprayed or from the drinker.

A terrarium with the dimensions 60 x 60 x 80 (Length x width x height) is enough for a couple of Pink-tongued skink, even for a third animal.

It is important that the Pink-tongued skink, as climbing animals, can also use the side walls. Cork or tree fern boards are good for covering. Tested glass containers with a ventilation hole on the side and another on the lid.
At the top there is a separate lamp box in which the electrical system, including lighting, is built-in, inaccessible to animals.
If high humidity is created by spraying, the lamp box also ensures more security.

After some experiments, bark mulch with a ratio of sand and peat in the ratio is preferable 3 : 2 : 1 as a substrate. Various ornamental cork tubes serve as decoration and as climbing and hiding places for animals. The walls are covered on all sides with flat cork boards. You can also integrate plants, like ivy (Scindapsus) or a wax flower (Fleshy hoya).

With a sufficient distance to the plant, you can use an HQL lamp from 80 W as a light source, what benefits animals and plants. High luminous efficacy, a certain amount of UV rays and the heat of the focus and ballast make it stand out. It also, there is a focus of 60 W from above.

HQL lamp ballast heats the terrarium floor from the outside. As such, a small Eternit plate is glued under the glass floor as protection against overheating and the ballast is mounted underneath. Try to maintain a constant relative humidity around the 70 % in the terrarium, as well as an air temperature of 28° C. For the soil, 20°C is enough. For the soil, 20°C is enough.

Manual spray can be replaced, time-consuming, by an automatically controlled spray system.

The Pink-tongued skink they move in their terrarium from the 16:00 until midnight.

Another notable feature is the technique of cracking the shell snails or removing them from it. The small shell snails are swallowed whole by the Pink-tongued skink. If the shell snail is large, the skink they try to break it with their jaws.

The price of a Pink-tongued skink in the exotic animal market is about 200 EUR.

1. Pink-tongued lizard (English).
2. Scinque mangeur d’escargot (French).
3. Rosazungenskink, Schnecken-Blauzungenskink (German).
4. Lagarto de língua rosa (Portuguese).
5. Escinco gigante de lengua rosa (español).