WEBVTT - How Does the Blue-Tongued Skink Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogelbaum. Here looking for a reptile to keep as

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<v Speaker 1>a pet whose heart is as true blue as its tongue.

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<v Speaker 1>You may need to look no further than the aptly

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<v Speaker 1>named blue tongued skink. Certain subspecies of blue tongued skinks

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<v Speaker 1>are intelligent and personable critters that may even enjoy limited

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<v Speaker 1>interaction with humans in the wild. Blue tongued skinks are

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<v Speaker 1>found in the warm sandy areas and grassy savannah like

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<v Speaker 1>regions of Australia, New Guinea, and Indonesia. They'll often dig

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<v Speaker 1>a burrow with their snouts or legs, or find an

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<v Speaker 1>abandoned one to live in. They look very much like

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<v Speaker 1>snakes with stubby legs, which they used their advantage for

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<v Speaker 1>the article. This episode is based on How Stuff Works,

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<v Speaker 1>spoke Norris and Nagelae, an educator at the Elmwood Park

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<v Speaker 1>Zoo in Norristown, Pennsylvania. As she explained, skinks are a

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<v Speaker 1>fairly harmless animal. They aren't poisonous, they don't have big teeth,

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<v Speaker 1>they can't constrict their food or anything. So when there

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<v Speaker 1>are predators like hawks around, one of their biggest defenses

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<v Speaker 1>is to pretend to be something a little scarier. In

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<v Speaker 1>their case, it's a snake. The skink has a type

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<v Speaker 1>of light sensing organ called a parietal eye on the

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<v Speaker 1>top of its head that can detect when a shadow

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<v Speaker 1>passes over, thus sensing a predator flying by. Nagelaei said,

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<v Speaker 1>the skink will actually tuck their tiny legs under their body.

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<v Speaker 1>They will actively slither around, very similar to a snake.

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<v Speaker 1>They're going to stick their tongue out and try to

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<v Speaker 1>slither their way away from predators. The skinks also have

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<v Speaker 1>the ability to lose their tails and regrow them. These guys,

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<v Speaker 1>for sure have quite a few defenses against predators, and

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<v Speaker 1>that actually includes their eponymous blue tongue. In nature, vivit

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<v Speaker 1>colors often means something is highly toxic. Think jewel toned

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<v Speaker 1>poisonous tree frogs, bright banded venomous snakes, or the red

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<v Speaker 1>caps on some poisonous mushrooms. The phenomenon is called apissematism.

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<v Speaker 1>It's basically a warning sign to potential predators. Don't even

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<v Speaker 1>try it, I'm not worth the effort. The blue tongued

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<v Speaker 1>skink employs the same technique, though it's an ecological fake out.

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<v Speaker 1>That vibrant blue tongue looks gnarly, but these guys are

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<v Speaker 1>not toxic. Blue tongued skinks can grow to between twelve

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<v Speaker 1>and twenty four inches long that's thirty to sixty centimeters,

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<v Speaker 1>about half of which can be tail. They have wide,

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<v Speaker 1>flat heads and thick bodies, often patterned in silver, yellow, brown,

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<v Speaker 1>or black in contrasting bands or irregular sections. That blue

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<v Speaker 1>tongue is wide and sort of bluntly triangular like their heads.

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<v Speaker 1>It's nearly impossible to tell the difference between a male

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<v Speaker 1>and female because their reproductive organs are internal, though you

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<v Speaker 1>can get a blood test to determine the sex. Speaking

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<v Speaker 1>of reproduction, blue tongued skinks are ovoviviparous, which means the

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<v Speaker 1>eggs are carried and hatched inside the female, which then

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<v Speaker 1>birth's live offspring, usually ten to fifteen youngsters at once.

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<v Speaker 1>Nagola said, we think it's all about energy saving. Laying

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<v Speaker 1>eggs takes a toll on the animal's body. It's biologically

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<v Speaker 1>expensive because they need to eat a lot of nutrients.

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<v Speaker 1>When an animal is ovo viviparous, they retain the eggs

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<v Speaker 1>and reabsorb a lot of the nutrients after they give birth.

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<v Speaker 1>It eliminates a lot of the waste. It's an efficient

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<v Speaker 1>way to give birth to their offspring. Skinks also give

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<v Speaker 1>the illusion of looking slimy because of their sleek scales,

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<v Speaker 1>but they're far from it. Nagolay said, whenever I'm talking

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<v Speaker 1>about skinks to children, I always have children feel their

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<v Speaker 1>fingernails because skinks scales feel exactly like your fingernails do,

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<v Speaker 1>and that's because they're made out of the same stuff

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<v Speaker 1>keratin a blue tongue. Skinks are omnivores, meaning they eat

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<v Speaker 1>a little bit of everything, veggies and meat. Nagolay said,

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<v Speaker 1>for our skinks here at the zoo, they get a

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<v Speaker 1>big salad and we feed them lots of insects at crickets,

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<v Speaker 1>and the insects are often and dusted with supplements and

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<v Speaker 1>vitamins to make sure that they're getting all the extra

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<v Speaker 1>nutrients they need. We also feed them something called a reptilolink.

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<v Speaker 1>It's kind of a mix of veggies and meat for

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<v Speaker 1>them and looks like a little sausage. Our skink really

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<v Speaker 1>loves them. The blue tung skink at the Elmwood Park

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<v Speaker 1>Zoo is named Sydney, and he's estimated to be seventeen

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<v Speaker 1>years old. In captivity, blue tongued skinks will often live

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<v Speaker 1>up to twenty years or longer. Sydney is one of

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<v Speaker 1>the animals in the zoo's educational collection, meeting the public

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<v Speaker 1>as one of the Ambassador animals, Nagela said, Sydney does

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<v Speaker 1>lots of programming. He goes out to meet lots of

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<v Speaker 1>children and adults of all ages. We do educational programming

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<v Speaker 1>and we talk a lot about pet care and doing

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<v Speaker 1>research about their habitat and things like that. On that note,

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<v Speaker 1>although blue tong skinks can make great pets, they're probably

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<v Speaker 1>not a good choice for first time pet owner. Nagolie explained,

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<v Speaker 1>you have to pay attention to their lighting and heating requirements.

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<v Speaker 1>If blue tunged skinks don't get the appropriate kelci and

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<v Speaker 1>appropriate lighting which helps them metabolize the calcium, they can

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<v Speaker 1>develop metabolic bone disease. They really need UV lighting to

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<v Speaker 1>help them turn calcium into something usable to stay strong,

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<v Speaker 1>or they can develop calcium deformities and disease. Also, because

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<v Speaker 1>they grow to two feet long or half a meter,

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<v Speaker 1>they really need to be kept in a very large terrarium.

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<v Speaker 1>But she also said that temperamentally speaking, a blue tongue

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<v Speaker 1>skinks are jolly good fellows. Quote. Sidney really loves to

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<v Speaker 1>explore new places, he loves to hunt for his crickets,

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<v Speaker 1>and although I wouldn't necessarily call it affectionate, you can

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<v Speaker 1>build a relationship with reptiles, which I think a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of people don't think of. When you think of scaly creatures,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, your first thought is an, oh, we can

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<v Speaker 1>be friends and hang out. But they definitely have their

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<v Speaker 1>own unique personalities and even though some of them may

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<v Speaker 1>not be the cuddliest, they might not curl up with you,

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<v Speaker 1>although some definitely do. They're a real joy to work with.

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<v Speaker 1>You can really tell that they have a certain intelligence

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<v Speaker 1>to them. According to most experts, the best species to

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<v Speaker 1>keep as a pet is the northern blue tongued skink.

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<v Speaker 1>The cost of a healthy one should run between one

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and fifty and two hundred and fifty dollars, though

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<v Speaker 1>that's just the animal itself. Other things you'd need include

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<v Speaker 1>a sixty gallon aquarium tank, a heating and lighting element,

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<v Speaker 1>and material for the skink to burrow into. Today's episode

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<v Speaker 1>is based on the article The Blue tongue Skink has

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<v Speaker 1>a heart of Gold on how stuffworks dot Com, written

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<v Speaker 1>by Patti Resmusen. Brainstuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership

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<v Speaker 1>with how stuffworks. Dot Com is produced by Tyler Klang.

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