adult male broadhead skink	Adult female broadhead skink

photo credit: J.D. Willson

Description: 6.5-12.75 in. (16.5-32.4 cm)  Broadheaded skinks are the largest skinks in our region.  Adults are usually olive-brown, and males have orange-red heads which fade by early summer.  Adult females are often striped, resembling adult five-lined skinks. The young are dark brown or black with five, sometimes seven, yellow stripes and bright blue tails. Broadhead skinks can be distinguished from five-lined skinks by larger size and five labial scales rather than four.
Range/Habitat: Broadhead skinks occurs throughout most of North Carolina, except in the northern mountains.  They can be found in most habitats but are most common in swamp forests to empty urban lots strewn with debris.  They are often found in branches or under bark of dead or decaying trees.
Habits: Broadheaded skinks are the most arboreal of native skinks and often live high in trees.
Reproduction: Nests have been found in old sawdust piles, under logs, and under similar surface cover. Females lay from 8 to 22 eggs.
Prey: Broadhead skinks typically eat arthropods such as earthworms, grasshoppers, butterflies, cockroaches, and small beetles.
Remarks: Skinks, particularly young with blue tails, are often called "scorpions" and are thought to have a poisonous sting. This myth is false, and although a large skink can deliver a powerful nip, no lizards in the Southeastern United States are dangerous to humans.

 

Female broadhead skink with eggs	Range of the Broadhead Skink in the Carolinas and Virginia	adult male basking on a tree