Common Garden Skink

Although small, common garden skinks are great garden helpers!

Common garden skinks are lizards native to forests, and grassy or woody habitats in southern and eastern Australia.
‘Common garden skinks’ are also known as ‘pale-flecked garden sunskinks’ and ‘garden skinks’.
The scientific name of a common garden skink is Lampropholis guichenoti, and it is from the family Scincidae, the family of skinks.
The colour of the skin of a common garden skink is mostly a brown-grey colour, and it usually has a black or dark coloured stripe down either side of its body and a copper coloured head.
The diet of common garden skinks generally consists of insects and vegetation, and can include caterpillars, spiders, slugs, cockroaches, crickets, worms and ants, and fruit and vegetables.

Small and enclosed spaces, such as rocks or trees, are the sought after home for common garden skinks, and they are commonly found in urban gardens, hiding in among plants or leaves.
Common garden skinks generally grow to a length of 9 centimetres (3.5 inches), and they have five toes on each of their four legs, as well as a long tail.
Common garden skinks can release their tails when caught by predators, such as birds, cats and larger reptiles like snakes.
Female common garden skinks generally lay their small white eggs in a communal location, each contributing two to six eggs to the nest of up to 250 in total.
Common garden skinks have tiny teeth, and the lifespan of the reptile generally ranges from two to three years.

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