July 17th, 2025Hepburn Wildlife News with Marita McGuirk
Blue-tongue lizards
In the cooler months of the year lizards such as the blue-tongue, often disappear from view.
These lizards don’t actually hibernate but go into a dormant state known as brumation. This allows the lizard to conserve energy. Lizards do not produce their own body heat but rely on heat from their surroundings.
Blue-tongue lizards are territorial, and they will have safe places in their territory.
They are most active in the warmer months of the year during daylight hours and take shelter at night inside holes and burrows.
They are well adapted to suburban areas and will live in the same place for many years. If they are moved or exposed to the weather when they are in brumation it can be lethal to them.
If you accidentally disturb a lizard at this cooler time of year it is kindest to leave it where you find it under that log or rock. If you move a brumating lizard it could become ill and unable to recover, and if you see a lizard outside when the weather is cooler and the sun is not shining, then there is a good chance that the lizard is not well. Lizards are prone to lung sickness (like pneumonia) and require antibiotics to recover.
Lizards love the rocky habitats provided in the Central Highlands. Local gardens will often have resident lizards that have been living there for many years. Problems often occur when new people and pets move into a property with resident lizards.
Many lizards that are brought to the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter to recover have been injured by pets. With persistence it is possible to train our pets to live in harmony with the resident lizards.
It is a kindness to be aware of your resident wildlife when moving to a new location. Another danger to our lizards is all our grass-cutting machinery.
When a lawn mower or whipper snipper is in use near blue-tongue lizards they will not run away but will hide in the longer grass that is about to be cut. The results can be dire and another reason lizards end up in the care of the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter.
Part of the diet of suburban blue-tongue lizards includes snails and slugs, so they are great to have around your garden to protect your plants, but unfortunately they can also be poisoned by eating snails and slugs that have eaten snail bait. It’s good to be aware that if you are using snail bait to kill the snails and slugs you could also be poisoning your local lizards.
Blue-tongues are ovoviviparous, which means that eggs develop and hatch inside the mother lizard; often 10 to 19 young are born. They can live up to 20 years old, so that lizard living in your garden could potentially be older than your teenaged children.
Dr Marita McGuirk is a field ecologist and environmental scientist, and a volunteer at the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter. Marita will write monthly columns about the shelter and the animals it cares for. If you would like to donate or volunteer, or just to find out more information, head to www.hepburnwildlifeshelter.org
