Got time on your hands during COVID-19 social distancing? Put it to good use and 3:58 learn how to create a skink-friendly habitat and 5:48 how to build a DIY skink box at your place!

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A massive 520 species of lizards are found in Australia. They live in almost every environment in Australia – from the coast, to the rainforest, from arid areas to our bustling urban environments and, if we are lucky enough, in our backyards and gardens.

Australian lizards are split broadly into 5 categories:
- goannas and monitors
- dragons
- legless lizards
- geckos
- skinks

Today, our focus is on the little guys – skinks! Emmaline loves skinks and geckos (she has since she was a kid), and is keen to find out more about these beauties, and show us how to get these good guys into our gardens.

To attract skinks, we first need to understand them and the role that they play in our environment. We are to the east of Melbourne, and Emmaline is with Threatened Fauna Expert Nick Clemann, deep in the habitat of the threatened Swamp Skink, which also happens to be deep in the ‘burbs.

Nick explains that “current threats to various skinks include loss, fragmentation and degradation of habitat; elevated predation rates from introduced predators; and climate change affecting the lizards’ thermal biology, but also things like nest temperatures”. “These threats exist both in wild spaces, and in urban areas, like this one, so creating habitat for skinks is important” says Nick.

Geckos and skinks, although generally small, are the unsung environmental heroes of the bush and the backyard. Nick points out that “skinks vary from being almost entirely insectivorous to largely herbivorous, and a handy rule-of-thumb is that the larger a species is, the more herbivorous it will be. Things like Blue-tongued Lizards tend to eat a lot of plant material, whereas the small skinks in the garden will be feeding almost exclusively on tiny invertebrates”.

This makes many skinks extremely efficient pest controllers in their garden, enjoying meals of crickets, beetles, spiders, grasshoppers, moths and cockroaches. Others, like the three-towed skink, will devour worms, beetle larvae and centipedes, while the bigger of the skinks, the bluetongues and land mullets, adore their fruits and vegies, but also LOVE a meal of snails. But, it is this love of pests that often leads to their demise in urban settings. Use of pesticides, insecticides and other chemicals within gardens can have a detrimental impact on the skinks food sources and can, in the case of snail pellets, result in the death of blue tongues if they gobble up snails that have ingested this poison. Reduction of garden chemicals is one easy way that we can encourage skinks back to our gardens. Speaking of pests, our pets can be pests for skinks. Dogs, and especially cats, are generally not good news for garden skinks. As well as the risk of direct predation (especially from cats), “the presence of pets can force lizards to change their behaviour, such as abandoning favoured basking sites in ways that are harmful to the lizards” says Nick.

Another is understanding and creating of suitable habitat for skinks. Nick explains that “some skinks are sun-loving (‘heliothermic’) while others tend to stay under cover, using the temperature of the environment, rather than basking, to control their body temperature (‘thigmothermic’). This is one reason why having a variety of structural and thermal opportunities is ideal for a ‘skinky’ garden”. If you keep pet lizards, creating a suitable outdoor space for them to bask and sunbathe is a great idea.

How to Make a Skink Box

Materials
• 1220 x 810 x 4mm Marine A Grade Plywood
• PVA Wood Glue
• Handsaw

Method
1. Measure and cut the following, using handsaw:
a. 300mm x 200mm – Qty 1 (Base)
b. 250mm x 200mm – Qty 2 (Inner and Top)
c. 150mm x 50mm – Qty 2 (Inner Ends)
d. 300mm x 100mm – Qty 2 (Sides)
e. 200mm x 100mm – Qty 2 (Ends)
2. Place a (base) on flat surface, and attach d (sides) and e (ends) vertically, using PVA glue around edges
3. Once glue has set, place 1 x c (inner end) inside the box, against one end and attach to base (vertically) with PVA glue
4. Measure 250mm from installed inner end, and attach remaining c with PVA glue
5. Once glue has dried, run bead of PVA glue along top of installed inner ends (c) and attach 1 x b. There should now be a smaller “box” with lid, inside the larger box
6. Take remaining b, and place on top of box, covering the “deepest” end, with the opening over the “inner box”
7. Locate the box in an area of part shade, digging into the ground to secure, ideally with some protection from plant coverage.
8. Place a rock on the top of the box to secure, and ensure there is sufficient coverage of leaf litter around the opening to make the box appealing for skinks.