By Tie Eipper
Bobtail, Sleepy Lizard, Pine Cone Lizard, Double-headed lizard, Stumpy Lizard, Stumpy and Boggi. These fascinating lizards go by many names. Prized overseas and loved in their native country Australia, they are unquestionably a lizard anyone who loves keeping lizards should keep if they are able to get their hands on them.
There are four recognized subspecies:
Western Shingleback – Tiliqua rugosus rugosus (south-western Australia)
Eastern Shingleback – Tiliqua asper (eastern Australia)
Rottnest Island Bobtail – Tiliqua konowi (Rottnest Island)
Shark Bay Bobtail – Tiliqua palarra (mid-west coast of Western Australia)
Shinglebacks are easy to distinguish from other lizards by their large, ridged scales. They average 25-30cms in length and weigh between 550 -700 grams as adults. Like other members of the Tiliqua genus, Shinglebacks have an elongated body with stout limbs and a blue tongue in a pink mouth. The colouration of Shinglebacks is quite varied – location and subspecies are the reason for this. Tiliqua rugosa rugosa have three distinct colour forms loosely based on location. The coastal form is pale grey to whitish with or without darker markings, usually with 3 to 7 pale cream crossbands. The Perth Hills form are usually brown to brownish orange with darker markings, usually with 6 to 9 pale cream crossbands.
Finally, the Goldfields form, one of the most stunning, is dark brown to black with bright reddish orange markings that can sometimes form orange crossbands. Tiliqua rugosa konowi is smaller in size and dark in colour with numerous grey, greenish yellow to white speckles on the back and below. Tiliqua rugosa asper by far the most robust of the species and is also the heaviest. They can range in any shade from pale yellow to black, with or without pattern. The colouration seems to be localized with certain colour forms being known from a particular region. The edges of these “forms” is not well understood and intermediate forms are known. The last subspecies Tiliqua rugosa palarra, is robust and similar in appearance to a dark brown to black T. r. aspera with white markings and sometimes bands. However, the head shape tapers more finely in T. r. palarra.
The females have a larger, more triangular shaped head than the males. This is an indicator when obtaining them as young lizards, not a solid way of determining sex, as growth spurts can confuse the matter. It is more of a reliable trait when sexing adult lizards. The tails are also different – the female’s tail is noticeably wider and has an oval shape to it, while the male’s tail is more gracile in appearance. The males are usually stockier in build and the females longer in length. It’s easy to see why the females are built the way they are when you see the size of the babies! They are massive compared to the size of other new-born skinks. A normal litter is 1-2 young, occasionally a trio will be born. If a trio is the litter for that year, the babies are generally born at half of their adult size. If it is a smaller litter of one or two babies, they can be born up to 70% of their adult size.
These new-born lizards can weigh up to 200 grams each. They can breed annually in captivity. In Australia we tend to rely on the visual differences noted above to determine the sex of Shingleback lizard. Popping and probing are not good ideas with this species – especially if you are new to sexing animals this way as they are easily damaged internally. X rays are expensive and only useful for adults, not all males are quick to show off their hemipenes and if you keep more than one in an enclosure you cannot always be sure who the sperm plug came from. Some people go by the scarring on the neck. Train of thought is the scaring was from mating. That can be an indicator that it is a female lizard, however If it’s two males in an enclosure, the more dominant one will be scar free. Some people will determine the sex of their lizards using behavioral cues. Generally speaking with Shingleback Lizards a good indication of a male lizard is the one following the female round the enclosure/pit right before mating season. Another good indicator is the one biting and mounting the female!
Shingleback lizards make wonderful pets, especially for a child that will want constant interaction with their companion. There is so much personality packed into those little bodies! Regularly handling them brings out the sweetness of their nature and complete trust. We got our boys one each when they were young. (Bay was 6 years of age, Cody was 4). Those lizards would be quite content spending time with the boys no matter what they were doing. They would sit in their laps while the boys were sitting cross-legged on the floor playing the Playstation or watching TV, Cody’s would sit on his bed or desk with him while he was drawing, playing lego and not doing homework, Bay’s would sit on the deck of his scooter while he slowly took him round the yard, tongue flicking, looking around while he was getting chauffeured around by a two-legged giant. We did have to watch them around food. Anything they thought they should be eating with us (which was pretty much everything we ate) they believed they should also be eating.
They are also extremely intelligent. When Cody first picked his up, he held it up to his face and smiled, pure delight on his face. His lizard promptly defecated all over him. Cody, put him down in a hurry, somewhat grossed out. We told him that he had to persevere and not do that or the lizard would know to do it if he didn’t want to be picked up. It took a few more “Ugh”s, and quick put downs for Code to realize he had to hold him out for a minute or two before putting him to his chest, but he got there. 17 years down the track, you pick up Cody’s Shingleback and he audibly grunts and forces himself to empty his bowels. I’m laughing as I write this as I’m remembering Savannah Boan’s interaction with Cody’s shingleback. She came out a few years back and was so excited to hold a Shingleback. She got her hands around him (there were a few in the pit outdoors so we didn’t see which one she grabbed at first). When we saw she’d picked up Cody’s and was excitedly giving him a cuddle we managed to get out “Hold him away from you for a bit” and Savannah asked “Why?” before we could respond she was covered in waste. I’ll say he put on an impressive display, a LOT came out of that little body, but Savannah wasn’t letting go. She was very damp but happy she got a cuddle with a Shingleback. These guys have a lifespan of 50+ years in captivity. Our boys are now in their early 20’s and have left the nest, but we still have the boy’s Shinglebacks living with us. They live in outdoor pits with Blue-tongue lizards.
They are the heftiest lizard in the Blue-tongue genus (when you take into account their length to mass ratio) and will co-habitat well with Blue-tongues if there is plenty of food on offer. They are not picky eaters by any stretch of the imagination. We have a large female we affectionately named Tank. She didn’t get the name because she likes army vehicles. She can put away a large food bowl in the amount of time it takes you to do up the locks on the enclosure and step away. When housing multiple lizards together we prefer to have to throw away food than risk anyone going hungry or worst still, injury from a fight over the food. (It’s actually never wasted, any unturned food bowl from an outdoor pit is jumped upon immediately by the dogs) We use multiple food bowls for our Tiliqua enclosures, so everyone is able to comfortably fit around a bowl. It’s not uncommon to see a shingleback try to take food from another’s mouth instead of putting their head into the bowl and getting their own mouthful.
Shinglebacks are omnivores/garbage disposal units. Bananas, figs, strawberries, blueberries, peach, raspberries, watermelon, rock melon, grapes, apple, kiwi fruit, peas, zucchini, sweet potato, carrots, squash, spinach, silverbeet, corn, mushrooms, parsley, endive, alfalfa, sprouts, mung beans, celery, broccoli, bok choy, cauliflower, (they eat more fruit and vegetables than my husband!) lettuce (we never use Iceberg lettuce as it contains zero nutritional value), baby food, dog and cat wet food – both tinned food and kibble – although avoid any containing fish) chicken breast, chicken mince, ground up chicken carcass, turkey mince, beef mince, kangaroo mince, eggs, snails, slugs, earth worms, crickets, wood roaches, spiders (and a few bugs I couldn’t identify in the outdoor pits!) pink mice and pink rats. They will also eat some flowers such as gardenias, dandelions, A varied diet of quality food that has had vitamin & calcium powder and access to U.V. is a must. We also add pellets to the food (ground up or the picky Bluetongues eat around them.) They are fed a rotation of the above foods three times a week in summer and tapering down to once a week as it heads into the cooler months. They also only get fed once a week for the first two weeks after coming out and becoming active after winter to allow the digestive system to adjust to food again. Every time they come out of brumation they look as healthy as they did when they went into brumation after the last feed, with little to no weight loss. Water is always available, and the bowls are washed out and topped up weekly.
While we haven’t had a problem with any cohabiting with our Shinglebacks and Blue-tongues, I feel it’s important to add that we only keep a single pair (male, female) of Shinglebacks together in each enclosure. More than one male will induce fighting for dominance. Females generally don’t fight, so you generally won’t have a problem with more than one female per enclosure if you have the room. A few years back we started keeping all the lizards that we could in outdoor pits instead of enclosures. The Shinglebacks and the Alpine Blotched Lizards are the only lizards that remained tame and friendly. They still don’t mind being picked up, meander on over when the food bowl is put down, the water is being changed, pit maintenance etc. All other species started to see us as wild lizards see humans, even after being born in captivity a good several years back!
In the wild
Shinglebacks are found in every mainland state of Australia except for the Northern Territory. Their preferred habitat is semiarid, open country with an abundance of ground cover such as leaf litter, grasses, logs, fallen bark, low bushes etc. A typical day for a wild Shingleback is a period of basking in the morning which leads to foraging and then a bit more basking until the days end nears. Shelter will then be found under any debris on the ground.
Shinglebacks have the same threat display as blue tongues when they feel threatened. Head up and out comes that ample blue tongue. If that doesn’t deter you, they then follow that with a lot of hissing. None of the Tiliqua species are all bluff. Both may bite when they feel cornered with no way out. And I can tell you it doesn’t tickle. Your first Tiliqua bite is always the worst. It catches you off guard, as so many lizards bluff and don’t follow through with a bite. If you don’t know what to expect you will lose a decent chunk of skin. They bite, sink their teeth in good and proper and do a mini version of a crocodile’s death roll. Sounds cute and mildly amusing. It probably is if it isn’t your body part in their mouth. You are actually better off ripping yourself out of their mouth before they are able to get that mini death roll happening. If you don’t and leave yourself in their mouth to be able to do that roll there will be a lot more blood, a lot more pain and a lot more cussing. (I just assume everyone swears like a trooper like I do when in pain).
In Western Australia there is a virus known as Bobtail Flu, Shingleback Nidovirus 1. Bobtail Flue is highly contagious and unfortunately easily spread in both wild populations and captive animals. It was first recorded in the 1990’s and is wreaking havoc on our wild populations. It presents with normal flu symptoms in the Shingleback Lizard initially: discharge from the eyes, nose or mouth, significantly increased amount of sneezing, lethargy, and weight loss. Shinglebacks that have become infected with the virus have the tendency to become infected with a secondary infection. These infections are bacterial, fungal, or parasitic and generally require treatment for both illnesses. Without veterinary treatment, bobtail flu usually results in death. If veterinary treatment is sought and supportive care is given, the success rate is quite high. There isn’t a singular course of treatment for the virus. Fluids, anti-inflammatories, and nebulizers are all used as part of the treatment. It can take months of rehabilitation to get a Shingleback up to a healthy condition once infected with Bobtail Flu.
This lizard is so captivating that Professor Bull from Flinder’s University devoted over 30 years studying them in the wild. The study took place at Bundey Bore, in South Australia. Sadly Professor Bull passed away in 2017, but his study still continues to this day. From this study we have learnt so much about Shinglebacks, not just the lizards themselves but social interaction, monogamy, necrophilia and parasite loads. It was this study that led us to the knowledge that shinglebacks will mate with the same male year after year. He will find her after an absence during the colder months of the year where they brumate in their shelter sites under logs, large rocks, leaf litter etc. He then follows her around for several weeks and then mate with her during the months of September, October and November. From what I have seen with our Shinglebacks it’s a gentle mating, not the vicious mating that the other species of Blue-tongues do. After a gestational period of three to five months the babies are born in the months of December – April, depending on when the successful mating took place.
Unfortunately it’s a common sight seeing a Shingleback on the side of the road, staying vigilant by its life-partners side, stressing as the partner is dead, having been hit by a car. The male will eventually find another female, but females tend to stress and mourn a lot more over the loss than the males, sometimes to their detriment.
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