Common garden skink

Etymology

The specific name, guichenoti, is in honor of French zoologist Antoine Alphone Guichenot.

Geographic range

In Australia L. guichenoti is often seen in suburban gardens in Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, and Brisbane, but also is common across most of Southern Australia and some of New South Wales.

Description

Lampropholis guichenoti can grow to a maximum of 14 cm, but rarely exceeds 9cm. According to statistics, the average common garden skink lives up to 2–3 years. The garden skink usually has a browny black colour and sometimes may appear a dark shade of red when bathing in the sun. They have small sharp teeth which easily slice through smaller prey. Even wild individuals are very docile, and rarely bite humans when touched or picked up.

Gender

The female pale-flecked garden sunskink has a yellowish, almost orange tinge to her underside, however the males have a light grey tinge to their underside. Females are often bigger than the males in size.

Diet

Garden skinks feed on larger invertebrates, including crickets, moths, slaters, earthworms, flies, grubs and caterpillars, grasshoppers, cockroaches, earwigs, slugs, dandelions, small spiders, ladybeetles, ants and many other small insects, which makes them a very helpful animal around the garden. They can also feed on fruit and vegetables, but the vegetables have to be cooked for the skink to be able to eat it. Skinks especially love bananas and strawberries etc. (no citrus fruit). Garden skinks rely purely on the movement of their prey when hunting. When hunting, the skinks will either hide and wait for prey to come by or actively pursue it (this depends on how hungry they are). Once they have caught their prey, they shake it around vigorously to kill it before swallowing it whole. Once they have had one meal, they begin to actively pursue prey for a short while with their newfound energy. Skinks only need one prey item per 4 or 5 days, but will eat every day if conditions are good, thus, making it an ideal pet for small children. They can eat worms if you drain the soil out of them with salt water because worms are too high in soil for them.

Habitat

Skinks are often seen under leaves, in long grass and under rocks so that they can watch their prey, they also love hiding in logs where their big predators can't get them. As all reptiles are cold blooded, you may see them on top of rocks or paths in the morning trying to warm their blood. Skinks enjoy large areas with a lot of leaves and soft dirt. You normally find them around hot and dusty areas that have lots of trees and stumps.

Predators

The garden skink's predators are mainly birds and cats. Even tiny birds like robins are a threat to skinks. Larger lizards and snakes will sometimes try to eat them as well. Like many other skinks, its tail will drop if grasped roughly. The disconnected tail will twitch vigorously for a while, capturing the attention of the predator while the lizard makes its escape. This survival tactic may seem hard for the skink to tolerate, but it is quite the opposite. Although it may cost the skink some energy, the skink's tail will eventually grow back to normal.

Eggs

The common garden skink reproduces through oviparity, laying small, white eggs from summer through mid-autumn. Typically, a female will lay approximately six eggs, frequently in shared nests that can accumulate up to 250 eggs collectively. These communal clutches are often strategically placed beneath rock clusters to protect them from predators. The incubation period lasts several weeks, culminating in the hatching of the eggs, which are generally about 10 mm in size.