Skinks, geckos and blue-tongues – oh my! South Australia is home to over 190 lizard species. Get to know 5 around metropolitan Adelaide and how to make a home for them in your backyard.
There are lots of lizards you might come across in your backyard, or when you are out and about exploring reserves and parks. There are actually 5 families of lizard types across South Australia including dragons, geckos, skinks, goannas and pygopods (snake-lizards).
You might hear them rustling in the leaves, see them on the hunt for a sunny spot to bask, or even spy them munching on plants and insects.
Many of our state’s lizard species call more regional areas home as urban development reduces space for their habitat, plus cats and dogs are not their friend.
But – there are some species that have adapted well to a city lifestyle.
Here’s 5 species lizards you’re likely to see around Adelaide, and some tips for creating a home for them in your backyard.
1. Common garden skink
The common garden skink (Lampropholis guichenoti) is named for good reason, it is one of the small skinks you are highly likely to come across in your backyard, or spot out in parks and reserves as they look for a sunny spot to bask.
They are quite small at 8 to 10 cm long, have a brown or grey body and always have a brown coppery head with flecks on it.
As with many lizards, if a bird or another predator is hunting them, they can drop their tail – and it will continue to wriggle about. The predator will often go for the tail, allowing the skink to escape!
It is not a foolproof defence though. It takes a lot of energy for the common garden skink to regrow its tail over a few months.
2. Earless skinks
The three-toed earless skink (Hemiergis decresiensis) and four-toed earless skink (Hemiergis peronii) are found throughout south-eastern Australia, including right here in metropolitan Adelaide.
You’ll spot these guys moving through leaves and loose soil. Their long thin bodies and tails help them wriggle through garden layers, searching for their next tasty snack.
Both species are fairly small lizards, around 5 to 8 cm long. They are brown in colour, and the three-toed earless skink has greyish brown sides and a narrow dark line along its head, while the four-toed usually has more of a yellow or lighter coloured underside. As the name suggests, you can tell these guys apart depending on how many toes they have per leg, but make sure you look closely as their toes are tiny.
The four-toed earless skink, sometimes referred to as Peron’s earless skink, is also more likely to be found in dryer, sandier areas like coastal environments.
Similar to the common garden skink, these guys will drop their tails if they feel under threat.
3. Blue-tongue lizard
Now these lizards are a bit more distinctive! There are actually 6 species of blue-tongue lizards across Australia, but here in Adelaide, you’re most likely to spot the eastern blue-tongue lizard (Tiliqua scincoides) or the stumpy lizard (Tiliqua rugosa).
Blue-tongues are some of the largest species in the skink family, at up to 60 cm long. Eastern blue-tongue lizards are grey and have thick brown stripes across their back and tail, and of course have a blue tongue!
You might also spot the stumpy lizard, which is kind of like an armour-clad cousin with black to brown scales that sometimes have yellow patterns.
Both these lizards love sticking their tongues out. Their tongue is used to scare off potential predators – as bright colours in nature can be a sign of danger or poison.
At night and during winter, blue-tongues shelter under large objects such as logs and rocks. You’re most likely to spot these lizards in spring, as they will be on the move looking for a mate. Unlike lots of lizards which lay eggs, blue-tongues give birth to live young. Stumpy lizards give birth to 2 babies while the eastern blue-tongues can give birth to between 8 and 15 babies!
Stumpy lizards can pair up and mate for life (though they don’t spend all their time together) and if you have a local eastern blue-tongue, its likely a female as they tend to live in one area while the males roam around looking for females.
4. Marbled gecko
The marbled gecko (Christinus marmoratus) is well adapted to our metropolitan area because it can easily find food, so you’re likely to spy these lizards around your yard.
These geckos are little, reaching a length of only 6 cm. Marbled geckos are pale grey or brown, with a mix of darker patterned markings, which resembles marble. They have a white or pale-coloured underside. Often these geckos are identified by their large toe pads which can spread out to help them grip onto surfaces.
Their diet of little insects has been made more accessible in our urban environments, thanks to artificial lighting. Street lights or outdoor lighting attracts small bugs which the gecko likes to feed on, creating a perfect buffet. You might see these geckos at night, looking for a feed under lights, and some even make their way inside on the hunt for a potential insect dinner.
5. Stone gecko
The stone gecko (Diplodactylus furcosus) is a small, nocturnal lizard, often found on rocky surfaces.
It is a mid-sized gecko, reaching around 9 cm in length. It has a dark brown body, and pale blotches of a lighter colour down its back. Its toe pads have tiny, hair-like structures (called setae) which generate an adhesive effect, allowing the gecko to cling onto surfaces without falling. It has quite a short and thick tail, which it uses to help it balance while it is climbing, for fat storage, and to help it camouflage.
As with some other lizard species, a stone gecko will try and intimidate potential predators by opening its mouth while balancing on its hind legs and tail to appear larger in size.
The stone gecko (Diplodactylus furcosus) is a small, nocturnal lizard, often found on rocky surfaces.
It is a mid-sized gecko, reaching around 9 cm in length. It has a dark brown body, and pale blotches of a lighter colour down its back. Its toe pads have tiny, hair-like structures (called setae) which generate an adhesive effect, allowing the gecko to cling onto surfaces without falling. It has quite a short and thick tail, which it uses to help it balance while it is climbing, for fat storage, and to help it camouflage.
As with some other lizard species, a stone gecko will try and intimidate potential predators by opening its mouth while balancing on its hind legs and tail to appear larger in size.
What you can do to help
You can help Adelaide’s lizards thrive in our metropolitan area through some of these simple tips:
- Avoid using chemicals, pesticides or snail pellets in your garden. Instead, having lizards in your garden can be a natural pest controller, so the pesticides can be put away.
- Create dog and cat free areas in your garden, so that there are some areas lizards can live in without being worried about your pets.
- Don’t rake up all the leaves, lizards like having leaves on the ground– for 2 reasons: if under threat from predators they can hide and it’s a cool spot to go when it is hot. Leaf litter can also house small insects for lizards to snack on.
- Create warm sunny, open patches near areas of cover, such as leaves on the ground or plants. This is the perfect spot for lizards as bare earth or larger rocks can hold heat so create charging stations for lizards and the cover is protection from predators.
- Create crevices to hide, these might be made up of stacked rocks, hollow logs or sticks.
- Bugs! Having a diversity of plants in your garden will support a variety of bugs for lizards to eat. Some lizards are vegetarians, so a mix of plants will also ensure an appropriate salad bar is on offer.
Learn more about creating a home for native species in your backyard from our wildlife-friendly gardens booklet.