Text Written by James Wilson
For years, the Indonesian blue-tongued skink was thought to be the only
blue-tongued skink that was not found in Australia. Being of Indonesian origin, it
was fair game for the import/export market, making it an affordable import
option to the more expensive Australian blue-tongues. In-spite of its frequent
bad disposition, and high mortality rate, the Indonesian blue-tongue
maintained a relatively solid place in the hobby, due mainly to the fact that it was
quite inexpensive. This all changed in the early 90's with the discovery of
another blue-tongue from Irian Jaya, which was soon, named the Irian Jaya
blue-tongued skink. It proved to be a much better captive, and it was not long
before this new competition caused the Indonesian blue-tongue to become almost
obsolete.
The Indonesian blue-tongued skink is still imported into this country
in small numbers, with captive-bred specimens being available on rare
occasions. This has caused the once common Indonesian blue-tongue to be sought after
by many serious blue-tongued skink collectors, and breeders, and it is starting
to get the credit that it deserves. Unfortunately, the Indonesian, and Irian
Jaya blue-tongue, are often confused for each other, because of the close
proximity of their ranges, and the misuse of their common names in current
literature (Both species are often referred to as the New Guinea blue-tongue).
Indonesian blue-tongued skinks have a very extensive range that includes many
islands, which creates a great deal of variation in color and form. Many of these
color variations are thought to be local specific.
There are currently three
recognized subspecies: The Common Indonesian blue-tongued skink Tiliqua gigas
gigas, the Merauke Faded blue-tongued skink Tiliqua gigas evanescens, and the
Kei Island blue-tongued skink Tiliqua gigas keiensis. Because it has been
divided into subspecies, I will also cover this species on the subspecific
level.
Description
Their coloration varies from light grey to silver with other
specimens ranging from gold to brown. Some brown specimens from Ambon and Ceram
Island are almost solid black with very little brown showing. The specimens
from these two island locals frequently make poor captives, coming in with high
parasite loads, and bad dispositions. They are apt to squirm, bite, and
defecate whenever they are handled, and they have high mortality rates. On the
other hand there are other brown specimens of very similar coloration and
pattern, from the Sarong region of Irian Jaya, that make much better pets. The
Sarong specimens are docile, quite hardy, and they get a lot bigger. Indonesian
blue-tongues are usually banded with thin black bands that may or may not have
peppering of the background color in them. One of their distinguishing traits
is the coloration of their limbs. Their fore and hind limbs are always
black, and may or may not possess a certain amount of white spotting on them. Most
specimens also have a large black rectangular blotch on the side of their
neck that starts just behind the ear, and extends back just past the front legs.
Indonesian blue-tongues usually have a single black stripe on the top of the
neck. The ventral surface may be orange or cream in coloration, sometimes
with varying amounts of black, forming a reticulated or almost checkerboard
pattern. The tail is the longest of all the blue-tongue species, accounting for
85-95% of the snout-vent length. Of course, this is taking into consideration
that the animal must have its original full tail. The tail's banding is
usually obscured or totally absent and it is often black with some white, gold, or
brown flecking on it creating a granite-like pattern. A broken thin black
temporal streak may or may not be present. The anterior temporal scales on the
Indonesian blue-tongue are elongated and much longer than the other temporal
scales. It is also very common for them to have a black outlining on the edges of
the large scales on their heads. Many Indonesian blue-tongues are a bit
smaller than the typical blue-tongue, with adult sizes ranging from 17-19 inches
(43-48 cm). It is important to remember that a 19-inch Indonesian blue-tongue
is usually considerably smaller in snout to vent length than a 19-inch Common
blue-tongue. Still, there are some forms that can grow considerably large. I
have a Brown specimen from the Sarong region that is 24 inches (61 cm).
Females can produce up to 15 live young.
Distribution and habitat:
The Indonesian blue-tongued skink's range includes
the sub-humid tropical forests to the arid scrub and grasslands of Northern
Irian Jaya, New Guinea, and its many surrounding Indonesian islands, including
the Moluccas island chain. There is literature that inaccurately states that
their range extends farther west to the lesser Sundas, and on through the
Greater Sundas (Java, Borneo, and Sumatra). In actuality, according to current
locality data this is highly unlikely, as there have never been any specimens
documented in those localities.
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